Mandarin

[frinklinduds]

Been thinking about getting a Mandarin they are beautiful. Was wondering what their requirements are tanks mates, ect.

 

[thirty5]

Been thinking about getting a Mandarin they are beautiful. Was wondering what their requirements are tanks mates, ect.

Please read up on mandarins. They are not easy to keep for the most part.

You need to have a well established reef or at the minimum have a fuge with macro algae and copepods. Mandarins eat pods as their main source of food.

What size tank do you have? How much rock? How long established? Do you have fuge?

These are important things.

I do have a Mandarin in a 28 gal Nano. But mine eats frozen food, I do have pods in my tank but for the most part she eats when I feed the rest of the fish, but I do target feed her so that she can get to the food.

If you decide to buy one and can find an ORA tank raised, you will have a better chance of having it eat frozen if the tank itself cannot support it.

If you goto a store make sure that you have them feed the mandarin in front of you and WATCH it eat. Don't just take their word for it. A good LFS will probably not even sell you it if they do not think that your tank can support it. They should ask you questions about your setup.

 

[frinklinduds]

I actually don't have a tank set up yet was considering a 40g but I'm doing all of my research first before I make any moves. It's definitely a fish I really like and would love to have some day

 

[Treef]

tiger pods are suppose to be a good food source and they sell them in bottles, when your tank gets setup you can buy a bottle of them to seed the tank with, better if you have a refugium but really any area where the pods can safely breed is ok so you dont have to keep buying them, they cost about 15-20 a bottle. the bottles come with a lot of pods, but was told you should give it at least a month to develop a good population before adding fishes that will eat them.

Alt food source is something like nutramar ova which is prawn eggs or some such. seen reefers keeps mandarins with it, but it costs i think 7-12 bucks per package and you probably have to target feed them often.

 

[thirty5]

IMO 1 month is not enough for Pods to populate. Read up on Mandarins specifically if you want one. Since your tank is not set up, you may be able to make it easier to support one. Some say that you need an ESTABLISHED tank at least 6 months old, if you plan on it supporting itself with Pods. A mandarin will strip a 40 gal of Pods in no time if the population is not up to snuff...

 

[Awibrandy]

I have a 4 year 7 month old 155 gallon reef with approximately 2 - 300 lbs. 20 year old live rock.
I had a mandarin which I managed to keep thriving in my tank for about 3 years. I did add a bottle of pods per month up until this past winter. I got involved in other things, and my tank suffered for it. Needless to say that I barely remembered to feed my animals, or perform water changes. All I did was top off my ATO, and throw some pellets in the tank.
Guess what? I NO LONGER have my sweet little manderin......;( I tell you this, in hopes that you will understand that these little guys require a great deal from you.......

THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE YOU GO OUT AND GET ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Research, research, and then do some more research.....

 

[frinklinduds]

Yes I'm going to continue to research for a long time before I purchase anything, but I am going to consider getting a mandarin because they are one of my favorite saltwater fish

 

[jcs11236]

just read up and when you feel you are ready for your mandarin-you go out and get it.

 

[frinklinduds]

Is it possible to have 2 mandarins in the same tank or they wont get along?

 

[thirty5]

Is it possible to have 2 mandarins in the same tank or they wont get along?

I would try to get a male and a female. Just like any fish they may fight. Males will fight with males. 40 gal with 2 mandarins? That might be really hard unless you get them to eat frozen or pellets. Unless you plan to have like a 70 gal fuge to support pod population :joke:

That is what I have heard so if that is wrong hopefully someone will chime in.

 

[Imbarrie]

Since the main component of Mandarins is a steady food source you should consider adding macro algae to your main tank is a good way to get pods to reproduce. They live in the rocks and they thrive in macro algae.

There are many types that look great and can shelter pods populations.

 

[frinklinduds]

Okay thanks for the feedback I will try it out!