brettblackwell
New member
does any won know if i can keep a small spotted marain in a 25 gallon tank with good filtration and with fish that dont eat copepods (clowns,jaw fish). i want to put a 5 of 10 gallon sump on it to?
Mandarin Primer
- Thread starter BrianD
- Start date
Hmmmm....
Hmmmm....
Questions like this get asked frequently on this thread...
The answer is you can but the proper question might be should you?
Unless you are lucky enough to find a Mardarin that is (really truly) eating frozen foods (see the previous 3-4 posts), it is my opinion that you should never put one in a tank that is less than 6-9 months ago, with 100+ pounds of live rock which is teeming with live copepods.
I am not the Mandarin police, so this is just my opinion based on success with mandarins in my tanks...
LL
Hmmmm....
Questions like this get asked frequently on this thread...
The answer is you can but the proper question might be should you?
Unless you are lucky enough to find a Mardarin that is (really truly) eating frozen foods (see the previous 3-4 posts), it is my opinion that you should never put one in a tank that is less than 6-9 months ago, with 100+ pounds of live rock which is teeming with live copepods.
I am not the Mandarin police, so this is just my opinion based on success with mandarins in my tanks...
LL
nanobuds
New member
does this look good? i will use it to help train then add copepods then every week or two i will grab some rock and chaeto and shake it off in the main tank. also i could try to train here once i leave pods alone for a month. so:
2 weeks cycling with LR and rubble, add chaeto and pods
1 month later, make sure pod population is high enough, add mandarin.
continue with the basic training plan
the diagram:
thanks, any other input is welcomed!
oh and can this be used ad a QT tank in the future?
2 weeks cycling with LR and rubble, add chaeto and pods
1 month later, make sure pod population is high enough, add mandarin.
continue with the basic training plan
the diagram:
thanks, any other input is welcomed!
oh and can this be used ad a QT tank in the future?
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14928742#post14928742 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nanobuds
does this look good? i will use it to help train then add copepods then every week or two i will grab some rock and chaeto and shake it off in the main tank. also i could try to train here once i leave pods alone for a month. so:
2 weeks cycling with LR and rubble, add chaeto and pods
1 month later, make sure pod population is high enough, add mandarin.
continue with the basic training plan
the diagram:
thanks, any other input is welcomed!
oh and can this be used ad a QT tank in the future?
I think the reason nobody has responded to your "bumps" is they don't want to be argumentative... the subject has been covered numerous times...
An adult mandarin can go through hundreds of copepods daily - more than this tank could sustain through normal reproduction for more than a few days. The mandarin hunt constantly. Unless there are many places for the pods to hide and reproduce, they will be wiped out in short order.
There is a slight chance what you are suggesting might work...for a while. You might get lucky with one of those rare mandarin that actually will take frozen food over the long term...
But there is also a 90% chance that every mandarin you put in a broom closet like you depict will die a slow death from starvation.
JME.
LL
euromomtx
New member
Thanks for making this sticky. I've always dreamed of having a Dragonet.
Lucky for me my little boy dropped a can of fish food in my 10 year old 30 gallon tank turning it into a horrible mess and my husband agreed to get a 125 gallon with 20g sump off craiglist to ease my pain.
We're picking it up this weekend.
My ocelaris clowns from my 30g will of course move into the 125g.
And then I'll wait for it to mature.
I am glad I read this thread because I was thinking of Cardinals which now of course I will avoid.
Can I have any other small fish besides the pair of ocelaris without messing up my future addition of a dragonet?
I am interested in something like a bicolor blenny, chromis, Grama, etc. I am guessing I need to look for vegetarians...?
Lucky for me my little boy dropped a can of fish food in my 10 year old 30 gallon tank turning it into a horrible mess and my husband agreed to get a 125 gallon with 20g sump off craiglist to ease my pain.
We're picking it up this weekend.
My ocelaris clowns from my 30g will of course move into the 125g.
And then I'll wait for it to mature.
I am glad I read this thread because I was thinking of Cardinals which now of course I will avoid.
Can I have any other small fish besides the pair of ocelaris without messing up my future addition of a dragonet?
I am interested in something like a bicolor blenny, chromis, Grama, etc. I am guessing I need to look for vegetarians...?
Barry Mandarin
Barry Mandarin
Here's Barry: (also my avatar)
LL
Barry Mandarin
Here's Barry: (also my avatar)
LL
Showing off...
Showing off...
Usually because he sees himself in the glass and is showing off - letting his imaginary counterpart know that he is the top dragonette in these parts...
IME.
LL
Showing off...
Usually because he sees himself in the glass and is showing off - letting his imaginary counterpart know that he is the top dragonette in these parts...
IME.
LL
Aqua Keepers
New member
Nice pics
I am stocking my refugium up with copepods for my mandarin to feed off. I have seen there are a few differant kinds of copepods and also live rotifers. what is the best copepods for the mandarin. and do they eat rotifers as well. I have been looking at some rotifers specificely (brachionus plicatilis) but I do not want to waste my money if the mandarin do not eat these.
Madnarin food
Madnarin food
Here is a proven live copepod that my mandarins love:
Tigriopus californicus and Harpacticoid copepoda
Recently I decided to experiment with small amounts of orange fish roe (the type used to make sushi rolls). I can target fish roe to where the mandarin is feeding. The roe sinks to the bottom rather than floating or suspended where faster fish will get to it before the mandarin... we'll see.
LL
Madnarin food
Here is a proven live copepod that my mandarins love:
Tigriopus californicus and Harpacticoid copepoda
Recently I decided to experiment with small amounts of orange fish roe (the type used to make sushi rolls). I can target fish roe to where the mandarin is feeding. The roe sinks to the bottom rather than floating or suspended where faster fish will get to it before the mandarin... we'll see.
LL
euromomtx
New member
I've read that the Tigriopus are more of a cold water species and will eventually disapear. They are more for direct feeding rather than breeding them in the tank/refugium.
The harpacticoid like Tisbe are warm water and will reproduce in the refugium/tank as long as you have phytoplankton the feed the stage1 pods. Adult Tisbe will eat detritus and fish food, etc. but the babies will need plankton to survive/grow so you can sustain them without plankton but you need it to grow/renew your population.
The harpacticoid like Tisbe are warm water and will reproduce in the refugium/tank as long as you have phytoplankton the feed the stage1 pods. Adult Tisbe will eat detritus and fish food, etc. but the babies will need plankton to survive/grow so you can sustain them without plankton but you need it to grow/renew your population.
My old female and male before I sold the old tank
And one of the kids
I found feeding in the one spot every day at the same time was a sure way to teach a mandarin to eat. Decap brine eggs are a great starter to get them in the area at each feeding then I slowly start adding different foods I want them to eat. Live blackworms and flying fish roe where some of the daily feeds along with mysis, brine and a prawn head every now and then. If they don't eat any of the above sprinkle the decap brine eggs over a small pile of frozen brine. That way they have to bite the brine when eating the eggs.
cheers
And one of the kids
I found feeding in the one spot every day at the same time was a sure way to teach a mandarin to eat. Decap brine eggs are a great starter to get them in the area at each feeding then I slowly start adding different foods I want them to eat. Live blackworms and flying fish roe where some of the daily feeds along with mysis, brine and a prawn head every now and then. If they don't eat any of the above sprinkle the decap brine eggs over a small pile of frozen brine. That way they have to bite the brine when eating the eggs.
cheers
iamwhatiam52
New member
Pardon me if this was covered previously, but can a mandarin be sustained for a few weeks on live baby or adult brine shrimp in a small observation/QT tank before putting it in my 180?
