green mandarin

[duke62]

i was recently given a green mandarin. it is by far the most beautiful fish i have ever seen.i dont know how many of you guys ever seen this fish but it is a site to watch swim through the rocks and caverns in my tank.i dont really know the exact care of this fish but i am going to research it to make sure it stays in my tank a long time,maybe even get a mate for him. if you love the fish in your tank setup a green mandarin is definatly a fish i would recomend but for an expierenced reefer with an established tank.i wouldnt recommend this fish for a beginner.

 

[crox99]

Duke

do your researches before you buy. Mandarin needs lots of pods. Also if you want 2 of them make sure that they are a pair if not they will fight.

 

[DevIouS]

I don't think so Duke...

Please re-search the fish. Your tank isn't ready yet.
I will not recommend this fish to just anyone.

 

[DEEPWATER]

i was recently given a green mandarin. it is by far the most beautiful fish i have ever seen.i dont know how many of you guys ever seen this fish but it is a site to watch swim through the rocks and caverns in my tank.i dont really know the exact care of this fish but i am going to research it to make sure it stays in my tank a long time,maybe even get a mate for him. if you love the fish in your tank setup a green mandarin is definatly a fish i would recomend

these fish are one of the hardest to keep in a saltwater tank and should only be put in mature tank.

Hope yours is eatting and that your tank is loaded with pods and mysis for him to eat ,and getting a mate ,i highly dout it ,if it does live and you try to put another one ,it will kill it HTH

Ronen

 

[NYreefNoob]

manderin

thats why i havent got one, i want it every time i see it, but i know it's money down the drain, best of luck

 

[duke62]

i was given this fish i did not buy it.so far its going around the rocks eating and it looks very well.i didnt say beginners go out and buy it. and that is also why i added a fuge to my system today is to gather pods for him.man ill keep this info to my self next time. i did some looking around on the internet to see the care on him. and i feed all my other fish mysis. i put this thread on to talk about what a great fish it is not to debate me keeping it,

 

[Deanos]

:sigh: Didn't we have a thread about bad advice already? :headache:

 

[duke62]

im not given any advise.man you guys are reading into my thread.i said i need to do research on him.and i didnt say for anyone to go out and buy him .i just recommended this beautiful fish.hey you know what take what u will with this thread i really dont care. but if someone who had this fish said take him because i dont want it you would take it to and try your hardest to make it survive which is precisely what i am doing.so for all the newbies without an established tank and someone who doesnt have a fuge with pods dont get this fish.for all others who can provide a great habitat for this beautiful fish i recommend him but research it before you buy it

 

[DevIouS]

Come on Duke...

How are members suppose to read this?:

i dont really know the exact care of this fish but i am going to research it to make sure it stays in my tank a long time,maybe even get a mate for him. if you love the fish in your tank setup a green mandarin is definatly a fish i would recomend

You already have it...so do what you have to do.....it's on you, but just because you didn't mention "beginners" when you recommended the fish without explaining it's care, is pretty rough.
Beginners are not looking for "beginners" in the front of a post to see if it applies to them.

 

[duke62]

i fixed my first post and i do hope that this fish does well in my setup.i am trying hard for this 1 fish.because i really think its an absolute beauty.but if you have any more advise on this fish i would love to hear it.and like i said i added a fuge for pods for him.i spent all weekend planning and adding the fuge so you can see im trying to do well by it.

 

[DevIouS]

I would definitely ask Jhale & Ronen....
They have long term success, that I know.

 

[drperetz]

Come on Duke...

How are members suppose to read this?:


You already have it...so do what you have to do.....it's on you, but just because you didn't mention "beginners" when you recommended the fish without explaining it's care, is pretty rough.
Beginners are not looking for "beginners" in the front of a post to see if it applies to them.

I agree, we all have impulcive buys, and if some 1 gives us an animal we take even though sometimes the care for that animal is not suited for our home made habitats.........It is very hard to ristrain ur selves from taking such animals but its our responsibilty to brake that earge and some times stop our selves on our impulses.

Please try to be a responsible reefer....

People are not trying to get u down Duke, we all (most) went through the same attitudes about aquiring animals, but with time speaking for myself, I understood that lest death=perfect husbandry.

Good luck with this great fish.

 

[fluidimagery]

I totally agree with you that they are beautiful fish, but very touchy around the boards for good reason.

Do you have any idea if it's been known to eat any prepared foods? If you can get him to accept some frozen foods you're well on your way to being successful. I have a pair of mandarins in a month old 100g (rock from 2 yr old 40g system), the only reason I bought them was because they were eating the frozen. So far, they accept piscene mysis, sally's mysis, hikari enriched brine, hikari mysis, and arctic pods. I also purchased 5 bottles of live pods to help jumpstart the tank and have a 30g fuge as part of the system.

Start with some arctic pods and maybe some small mysis (hikari or sallys)and take a turkey baster and try to shoot some food to him and see if it's interested. Be careful not to over feed and foul up your tank. Keep the pumps off and give him some time to browse around.

I could honestly take out all the fish and just watch the mandarin's all day. Awesome fish, mine have already mated twice since I've had them for 2 weeks.

 

[[email protected]]

I think it would do just fine in a mature tank with an established refugium. I actually had one for 2 years, but I had to relocate and gave it away. It's been 3 1/2 years and it's still alive. Doesn't really eat any frozen foods, but is constantly eating pods. He's one fat sucker now and is about nearly 3 1/2 inches long.

 

[jhale]

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.

 

[digitalreefer]

Duke... the fuge is the right place to start, but you'll need to get your pod population up quickly. Like John said, get some cheato from fuges that are established. Also... pods multiply quickly with proper nutrition. Get a bottle of phytoplankton and start feeding phyto to your fuge. This will cause a rapid increase in pod growth, but be careful how much of it you feed, as too much can cloud the water. The fact that it is eating is a good sign... now just keep the food supply up and you'll be ok.

 

[KathyC]

I generally don't echo prior posts but Duke, listen to these guys...we all wish you the best with this little guy, and understand you didn't purchase him but instead he was a rescue. Sometimes it's best to accept the rescue and put a shout out here. You'd have re-homed him in an established tank in a heartbeat.
The moment you notice he isn't eating (they do so constantly), or his belly looks sunken, you must get him into an established tank immediately. They won't resume feeding once they start fading...

I applaud the efforts you have made.





If somebody else doesn't adopt this quote..I will.

Beginners are not looking for "beginners" in the front of a post to see if it applies to them.

 

[DevIouS]

Awwww shucks..

 

[ellebelle]

The only thing I would add to this is that it is not particularly easy to find female manadarins. I would bet money that yours is a male and they have the dramatic dorsal fins and are commonly available. If you end up with another male in your tank, either one will kill the other one, or they will kill each other.

Good luck. I've had a mandarin for a little over a month now in my set up (which is smaller than yours, but more mature), and I am seriously thinking of giving him up because I don't feel like I can provide for him.

FYI:

That's a photo from wetwebmedia of what a mandarin looks like when he's starving to death. Note the pronounced line on his abdomen. If you start seeing that, it's time to find another home for him.

 

[duke62]

ive watched the mandarin today as i feed my fish.he is eating frozen zoo plankton thank goodness.ive also noticed him wandering around the tank and it seems like his tongue comes out and grabs something off the rocks.its a freakin cool site.reminds me of a frog going after a fly.well its been 5 days and it seems like it is doing good.keeping my fingers crossed.will update soon