New tank is up and running

[Torq21]

I finally got my 180 set up and filled over the weekend. I still have a little more I need to buy for it, but it's pretty close the way it is now....

 

[Torq21]

A couple more pics....

 

[cee]

A mandarin in a tank that "new"? Good luck.

 

[Spongie]

The tank looks good!

Cee is probably refering to Mandarin's being notorious for perishing from starvation in newer tanks. This is mostly due to their diet consisting entirely of micro fauna (live copepods, mysis shrimp, and most likely amphipods). A newer tank rarely has established populations of these for the Mandarin's to subsist off of. They can be added manually and will help keep your tank clean as well as provide food for the Dragonet.

 

[Torq21]

Most of the rock and part of the sand came from a tank established for over a year. Also, he's eating frozen food now too.

 

[Spongie]

Nice! Is he eating frozen Mysis? I have always heard that they can be trained to eat frozen but have yet to see it done. Seahorses have similar dietary needs but are much easier to trasnsition to frozen foods. Feeding them 3-5 times a day is the only real problem.

 

[cee]

Sorry, came across a little brash. Such is life typing on a smart phone. Tank just looks a little "sterile" for a mandarin IMO. I just have a special affinity to mandarins and don't like to see them put in non-ideal conditions. If he's eating frozen that's a plus. Mine do the same and if I add one of the opposite sex they will train their "partner" to do so with no effort.