Mandarin??

[rickh]

I have a 37 gallon with a small refugium and about 60 Lbs of LR. It currently has a clown and Black Cap Basslet. I would like to add a Mandarin in 6 months. Can this setup realistically support a Mandarin?? If not I might substitute a Carpenters Flasher wrasse and a Yellow Clown Goby for the Mandarin. The Wrasse would be in competition for the Copapods with Mandarin. Would the Goby also reduce the Pod population if I had a Mandarin and a Goby?? Thanks. R

 

[Tyrosinase]

If you get a mandarin I would recomend a spotted mandarin. From my experience, these guys are easier to get to accept frozen mysis and brine shrimp than the other mandarins.

I seen people succesfully keep mandarins in systems not much larger than yours. It all depends on how efficient you can get pods from your refugium to your display tank.

 

[EdKruzel]

Being you wish to show patience (good for you) then spend that time looking for a Mandarin that will accept prepared foods before you purchase it.

My last Mandarin is 5yrs old and still going strong; frozen mysis and enriched brine are favorites, but he will accept flake or anything else that floats by.
It took me three months of weekly searching to find this one.

Ed

 

[rickh]

Now how did you convince the LFS to feed it??

 

[EdKruzel]

I won't do business with an LFS that won't feed before I purchase.

Ed

 

[El Langostino]

If you do so happen to find a Mandarin that will accept frozen or flake based foods, do they still need copepods and amphipods? Or could you get away with just feeding it frozen and flake foods?

I have a Tank that is only a month old or so, but at night I see an unbelievably high amount of amphipods especially, some almost 3/4 of an inch or even larger! I also notice a fair amount of copepods in my tank. I have about 90 lbs of LR. I'd really like to get a Mandarin.

 

[El Langostino]

Oh, one more thing.....I'm also well aware of the general 6 month rule, and am also cognizant of the fact that for even asking this question I'll probably be lambasted mercilessly, but I had to ask this anyway because if I could find one that would accept frozen foods and I could get away with only feeding it that, I'd love to add one as my first fish in my 90 gallon.

However, being that I do notice significant pod activity in my tank....could it be an anomaly that after only a month my tank has a large enough pod population?

thanks

 

[dave11]

One other food you can also try is frozen blood worm - Mine loves it - When feeding make sure you put some on the bottom and on rocks - He goes along pecking it up

Dave

 

[El Langostino]

My LFS has 4 large, very active looking green mandarins in a relatively small, (smaller than 90 gallons) reef tank that is separated in several ways. I'd really like to try this fish while I have no other fish in my tank so there is no food competition or aggression and so I can more easily experiment weaning it onto live or frozen food.

If this is an abject failure and I can't get it to accept these foods, I plan to return it to the fish store. I'll state again, as crazy as it may sound that after only 5 weeks or so, at night I can see myriad copepods jumping around on the substrate and on the glass, as well as an even more noticeable population of amphipods ranging from small to incredibly large.

 

[EdKruzel]

Many hobbyists believe that the cycle is the final stage and that the tank has stabalized from that point; this is wrong.

While it is important to complete the nitrogen cycle in order to ensure safe dwellings for livestock, the tank with liverock or sand still takes about a year or longer to mature properly.

A common sign of the process is huge amounts of pods as you have now. Parameters and decay plus algae blooms and detritus are still in abundance but with enough bacteria to handle a spike.

With all of this excess food for pods, they are in pod heaven so to speak and therefore are breeding heavily.
This will subside and with the addition of a pod predator will cut or eliminate there presence in a very short period.

If you can find a Mandarin that eats prepared foods it will survive with out any pods to feed from just the same as any other fish in the tank.
Being they are not long lived specimens, I would recommend against by very large specimens as they may be near the end of their exsistence.
A small to medium should provide 5-7yrs of captive living (maybe longer).

Ed

 

[El Langostino]

Once again, thanks for the information Ed. I think maybe I improperly stated that the Mandarins were "very large" I should have said plump. If these fish grow to 5 inches in total length, the ones I saw couldn't have been more than 2-3 inches at most. These guys just shipped in this past week, but I guess it's still possible that they ordered mature specimens.


I just thought logically, with the pods I have, that would provide food for at least a few weeks, and with a 90 gallon tank all to itself, there would be no food aggression issues and I could try and get it to accept frozen foods.

Would I be the anti-christ for attempting to care for one of these as my first fish?

 

[JRPhd]

el, Although I'm not Ed, how I interpret these posts is that ppl. are not in support of you going w/ the manadrine right now...

 

[El Langostino]

All right, fair enough, I just made a trip to the LFS today and posed the same questions so I was given a demonstration of one Mandarin actually eating flake and pellet food. I'm definitely arrogant enough to give it a try, but I may end up resisting the urge.

 

[dead beat reef]

mandrins are not a easy fish. cool looking yes. for most tankers
me included they are over my skill level big time. nough said.

 

[janakaybravo]

Ed, to what do you attribute your pod growth? Do you feed DT's? I feed DT's to my tank, and really don't see any pods. I've been feeding DT's for months. I don't know what they look like though, just never seen anything like that in my tank. I do have a lot of shrimp that could be eating them???

About the Mandarin, I think you should go for it. It wouldn't have any competition and you could feed your pod population and try to get it to eat new foods too. Although ifi there's plenty of pods, it probably won't bother with the other food.

Jana

 

[El Langostino]

Thanks for the vote of confidence my friend =)

 

[JRPhd]

Hey El,
I was in the same predicament. Wanted a copperband butterfly as my first fish in a 3 month old tank. Figured I'd wait, but I saw a CBB that was thriving and eating, and went for it. It's only been a couple weeks, but it's doing great. So while I said it doesn't seem that ppl. are in support of you getting a mandarin under your described conditions, it sounds like you found one that is healthy and readily (operative word) accepting flake and other food items. As such, I say go for it.
J

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6539969#post6539969 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by El Langostino
If these fish grow to 5 inches in total length, the ones I saw couldn't have been more than 2-3 inches at most. These guys just shipped in this past week, but I guess it's still possible that they ordered mature specimens.

You mentioned they were green in an earlier post -the green ones don't get this large - young green specimens can be pretty small - 1-1.5 in. even. 3 inches is pretty big for a green one. How long does it take them to reach full size is another question, though.

 

[El Langostino]

Well, you know, blue/green Mandarin, the Synchiropus splendidus. Not the spotted grey/green Synchiropus picturatus.

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6546804#post6546804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by El Langostino
Well, you know, blue/green Mandarin, the Synchiropus splendidus. Not the spotted grey/green Synchiropus picturatus.

Sorry, please disregard - It must be color vision differences - I know a common name for the splendidus is 'green mandarin' but to me they look red/blue.