Mandarin vs Leopard Wrasse

[SoloChromis]

I've always loved leopards, and have heard pretty good things about them taking to frozen, but have started considering a spotted mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) recently. Obviously in my 60g cube I couldn't have both, but I'm trying to decide on one. My tank is 24"x24"x24" and about a year old with mature live rock and live sand, and virtually no competition for pods. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks guys :fish1:

 

[Kidd Reef]

Leopard will be your best bet for long term success. Fairly hardy once established especially in comparison to a mandarin

 

[Fish4udog]

I have a 75 gal reef i have a mandarin and a black Leopard wrasse both are doing great my tank has a lot of pods for them to eat also have a Scooter blenny all are nice and full and have had them for a few years now you should be able to gave both

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[Fish4udog]

At night when your tank light is off use a red light to check out the rocks i see

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[Fish4udog]

Sorry u can see all kinds of reef bugs crawling around the rocks more than the fish can eat my tank has been running for close to 15 yrs now had to tear it down when i moved from okc back to Cleveland i would c g eck it out a night if you see you have a good population of pods you should be good to go

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[ScubaNemo]

I would vote leopard wrasse. I have one and it is eating all kinds of frozen food and throughout the day it is picking pods off the rocks.
They dive into the sand when the lights start to dim and you won't see them until the next morning

 

[Sapelo]

I would not try to keep both, good thinking from o.p.

 

[PeterHall]

I have a spotted mandarin and leopard wrasse in my 150. Both are doing well. But that gives you an idea about a minimum tank size for both. The leopard eats frozen with gusto while I only occasionally see the mandarin eat some mysis floating by.

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[JohnnyHildo]

i have both as well. the wrasse was just introduced recently and is a great fish but doesn't seem interested by mysis just yet.

 

[ThRoewer]

Leopard will be your best bet for long term success. Fairly hardy once established especially in comparison to a mandarin

In the right tank mandarins will do just fine without any further attention.
And they are definitely hardy if provided enough food.

At night my tank is swarming with Mysis everywhere. In the refugium I have clouds of copepods that shoot into the chaeto or the mud when you shine a light at them.
So the mandarins find enough. But they are also going after frozen Mysis if some make it past the regals, the damsel, the blennies or the shrimps.

 

[ca1ore]

IME the leopard wrasse (most species) is far easier than a mandarin. Though the former can be quite tricky to acclimate, once established they all eat frozen with enthusiasm. Most mandarins don't take to frozen, so unless you have an adequate, sustainable population of pods, it will soon starve.

 

[ThRoewer]

... Most mandarins don't take to frozen, so unless you have an adequate, sustainable population of pods, it will soon starve.

Where did you get that from? All the mandarins I had picked up eating frozen mysis sooner or later. It's not really anything they need to learn as mysis is part of their natural diet. What they have to learn is to accept dead mysis.

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[MondoBongo]

Where did you get that from? All the mandarins I had picked up eating frozen mysis sooner or later. It's not really anything they need to learn as mysis is part of their natural diet. What they have to learn is to accept dead mysis.

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that's been my experience as well. i've had mandy's take to frozen roe, but mine don't care for other frozen foods.

however my S. ocellatus does love frozen food.

 

[Kidd Reef]

In the right tank mandarins will do just fine without any further attention.
And they are definitely hardy if provided enough food.

At night my tank is swarming with Mysis everywhere. In the refugium I have clouds of copepods that shoot into the chaeto or the mud when you shine a light at them.
So the mandarins find enough. But they are also going after frozen Mysis if some make it past the regals, the damsel, the blennies or the shrimps.

Yes in the right tank . I didnt say mandarin s were undoable just that Leopard wrasses have a better chance at long term survival for most. As getting a Leopard established is usually their biggest hurdle as compared to mandarins issue usually being starving a few months down the road

 

[ThRoewer]

Well, I put my current pair of mandarins into a 4 week old 25 gallon tank (they were small and the tank was crawling with pods at that time). They stayed there for a year before going into my 100 gallon tank. The male at least doubled in size during their stay in the 25 gallon tank. The female was then a more picky eater and only grew a little.
I don't think I could have done that with a leopard wrasse.
Aside from being somewhat finicky eaters, mandarins are among the hardiest fish I ever had.

 

[ca1ore]

Where did you get that from? All the mandarins I had picked up eating frozen mysis sooner or later. It's not really anything they need to learn as mysis is part of their natural diet. What they have to learn is to accept dead mysis.

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From my own experience. I've had a half dozen or so over the years, and only one reliably took to eating frozen. 5 out of 6 = many!

 

[ThRoewer]

I had pretty much every single mandarin I had take frozen food after a while. And I had a good number of S. splendidus and S. picturatus.

 

[MondoBongo]

I had pretty much every single mandarin I had take frozen food after a while. And I had a good number of S. splendidus and S. picturatus.

Congratulations. Plenty of counter examples here though so I struggle to see why you're so insistent that this is a hard and fast rule?

 

[Kidd Reef]

Well, I put my current pair of mandarins into a 4 week old 25 gallon tank (they were small and the tank was crawling with pods at that time). They stayed there for a year before going into my 100 gallon tank. The male at least doubled in size during their stay in the 25 gallon tank. The female was then a more picky eater and only grew a little.
I don't think I could have done that with a leopard wrasse.
Aside from being somewhat finicky eaters, mandarins are among the hardiest fish I ever had.

Being finicky eaters is the reason theyre considered a difficult species. For every 1 person who has an easy time with them 100's find out the hard way they cant support them. Im glad you've experienced general success with them. I just think it easier to acclimate a leopard then ensuring your tank can keep a mandarin long term. Refugiums and feeding stations seem like alot more effort with less room for error compared to the care requirements of the easier leopard species in my opinion. Once established they take to frozen fairly quickly and can be sustained on that diet alone, any pods are just a plus. And while some people may report mandarin s eating frozen they usually have either pods to supplement or a dedicated feeding station or both.

 

[Jeff4777]

Leopard will be your best bet for long term success. Fairly hardy once established especially in comparison to a mandarin

Mandarins are one of the most hardy marine fishes out there.. the wrasse is definitely more sensitive when it comes to acclimation and hardiness.