green mandarin

[DEEPWATER]

great to hear duke ,I have acrtic pods if you need

Ronen

 

[joseney21]

I got a mandarin in the past for my 65g setup, didn't look too good after some time so i gave it to jonathan. He has pics of what a healthy mandarin should look like, that fish is obese. i would advise not to wait until you notice that the mandarin is getting skinny to try and find a new home. if it's stomach isn't constantly full (looking fat) it's probably not eating enough. you lucked out if the mandarin is eating prepared foods. good luck with it, post pics and keep us updated.

 

[masterswimmer]

Good luck with the new addition. As already stated, a very mature tank (6 months to a year) is the generally accepted timeframe for an established system before adding a mandarin.

Success is not measured in the # of days you have him, but the number of years. Please keep us updated on how he's doing. Someone here will be more than happy to give it a good home if he starts looking malnourished.

I've had mine for almost three years now and I wouldn't consider putting another one in there with him. Please reconsider that wish.

swimmer

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Duke, if you can, start collecting cheato from fuges that are well established.
the cheato will contain pods for the mandarin. you can shake the cheato in the main tank to seed the tank. watch the mandarin close, if it starts to get thinner you will know it's time to find it a new home asap.

J,

1)How long have you had your mandarin?
2)How big it was first introduced into your tank?
(I have seen yours so I want to know how long does it take to grow to that size.)
3)How long would you define that keeping the fish is a success?
4)Do you have a lot of pods at night and if so, what types are they?
(I cannot see them everytime I was there-your water is just crystal clear. Instead, many other member's tank have so many things swamming around.)


Everyone,
4)Anyone has mandarins mated?
5)Anyone has raised babies to adults?
6)Anyone has some more findings about these besides eating issues?


Some sightings I have with mandarins, mine would swallow some sand and puff them out thru the gills. Not sure if they also sift sand for food like the double dots, that was a pretty odd findings to me. I thought they would not do that nor anyone else in this fourm has ever mentioned that they would do this.

 

[fluidimagery]

mine do the mating dance about 3 - 4 times a week (lucky them ) I've only seen the eggs released twice but I don't watch all the time. Both my mandarins are on a frozen diet. The male was a bit skinny when I picked him up, he hasn't gained much weight but I finally have him eating piscene mysis which is high in protein so I'm hoping to see a change. The famale looks like she's about to explode.

I don't think babies have been raised in captivity, I could be wrong. There's a hobbiest over in RC that has come pretty close and has a lot of great info on the process.

The biggest challange is the feeding with the dragonettes. They seem to be pretty hardy fish if they're well fed.

The problem with the frozen is that naturally they're continuously on the hunt for food and eat very little many times a day. So in attempts to help both the Mandarins and my pod population I feed them about 10 times a day in very small amounts since my tank is too new to have sufficient enough pods. The fuge is starting to explode with pods but I guess not full enough for them to start flowing into the tank.

They're definately a rewarding fish that you grow very attached to, but certainly too demanding for many hobbiests.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

So in attempts to help both the Mandarins and my pod population I feed them about 10 times a day in very small amounts since my tank is too new to have sufficient enough pods. The fuge is starting to explode with pods but I guess not full enough for them to start flowing into the tank.

Your fish is in luck and you are even luckier because you can afford such time and effort.

I can look at them ten times a day but not feeding them ten times a day:sgrin:

 

[fluidimagery]

hopefully I'll be sucessful with them!

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

hopefully I'll be sucessful with them!

I am about to make my next batch of fishery cultures, let me know if your fish release eggs. I may have some left for you to try to raise them.