Ready for Mandarin?

[westin]

I have had my 36x15x20 55gal tank 70lbs LR for over a year now with a 25gal fuge with 25lb LR. There is tons of cops of many sorts in there. I curently have a pair of ocellaris clowns that host a BTA and one daimond goby. I do have some corals, the biggest is a frog spawn about the size of a soft ball.
Just making sure that this tank will have enough room and the right tank mates to be a friendly environment.

 

[Serioussnaps]

here are my tips:

-Start feeding weekly phyto (DT's) so long as you dont get an algae bloom and you will see your pods explode more or at least sustain them for your mandarin
-also, you may want to pull the diamond goby....they could scuffle and i would think the mandarin would lose out...plus it is food competition...
-also, you have plenty of live rock(is there chaeto in your fuge?)
-i say go for it(watch the clowns w/ a mandarin they get territorial over that BTA)
_finally, you need to set up a bunch of lr rubble in a nice cluster where they mandarin cant get into where they(pods) can explode in tank along with the fuge...

Happy reefin...go for it(get rid of the goby if you can)

 

[Serioussnaps]

If you see the pod population declining from your mandarin you may have to order some pods online or get some at a friends who has them in their fuge.

 

[westin]

I am currently culturing some phytoplankton right now actually. Its day 5. Looking really green and dense. Excited. I do have some chaeto, Garcia, and 2 more different kinds. I was wondering about the diamond thanks for clearing that up for me. I originally got him to clean my 3-4” sand bed after letting the tank cycle for about 8 months. He did the job well!! So would it be to much to get a pair of Mandarins if I do catch the diamond?

 

[expertreefer]

go for it. a year is plenty of time to cycle a tank for a mandarin. with good water quality and regular D.T. dosing you should have no prob keeping a healthy pod population. you might even get lucky enough to buy a mandarin that eats frozen brine. these fish are really worth a shot.

 

[nctommy]

I have a psychedelic mandarin, Synchiropus picturatus, and he has been eating fish roe for almost two weeks. Saw it on here and tried it. He ate them as soon as they hit the bottom. Now my other fish all want it too.
Here's the link I saw
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=869850