Opinions Please !!!!

[Cr@sh]

Mcfuzz,I have a 10 gallon nano with one that's fat like a pig and very happy ,so much that when he get's next to a spot on the glass that reflects himself ,he flares up like entertaining himself ,I assume it's a male and had him in a tank that was set up and stocked the same day.Little ditritis and few pods until cycle and growth of tank was on it's way. In all fairness, I went against everything you do to cycle and acclimate a tank with great results thanks to common sence and quite observations & hands on exp.......my nano stocks two purple fire fish that should jump out ,two blueline pipefish that the intake should suck them up and yellow goby that thinks my clams are cushy pillows to sleep on untill they close on him one day.I cheated alittle here and there with a balanced eco system but this helped also ............... http://www.reefnutrition.com/tiggerpods/index.htm I've been using there products with great results, I agree live food is best but owners have been achieving phenomenal things with captive species .would you agree there ?

 

[lfsmarineguy]

The problem with this hobby is that everyone is a scientist passing off their own experiences and the extrapolations of what they observe in their own systems as empirical evidence of how things are. It's this narrow sighted approach that is the cause of most of the issues I encounter with customers daily and the "Help" threads on here. The other problem is that when people who actually know what they are doing chime in and offer the "not what you wanted to hear" answer, they find themselves in an argument... Why?

As a side note, saying that mandarins are "bad at hunting" makes no sense. Evolution dictates that in order to survive, you must be the fittest. If they were in fact bad at finding food we would never have even known what a mandarin was because it would have died out long ago. Mandarins are a niche predator and very adept at finding and eating pods, it's what they have evolved for. Our tanks are in no way a representation of the wild and putting them in a small box with more aggressive fish is going to cause problems for them. I would categorize mandarins as an advanced fish regardless of tank size. It's just not worth it unless you can offer a tank they could thrive in. Before anyone speaks up, 4-6 months doesn't count as success with keeping mandarins, it just means you were able to starve them slower than most.

 

[duke62]

i had expierence with mandarins.i had 1 in my old 110 for 8 months i did well till my tank crashed.i used to stock tigger pods though.once a month i would buy a bottle.i would though wait till u have some more knowledge on reef keeping.especially since u didnt know what pods were.

 

[Arati]

I would be the first guy to tell someone what they dont want to hear, but in this case, I Think the OP is better suited then most hobbiests to keep a mandarin and the fact that he is learnign before buying one just makes me more confident in him.

Of coarse mandarin are not in nature a "bad hunter" but for the sake of the hobby and the home reef it is important to realize they cant compete with other fish who prey on the same food. If I was to grade a fish on how well it competed against other fish for a single food source in our home systems mandarin would do badly against most other fish. yes they are verry bad at hunting given the available competiton in many home reefs. have you ever watched a mandarin try to catch a live brine shrimp in an current.

Also I dont think its cool to just randomly call everyone inexperienced. Many people are verry devoted to these fish. I also think alot of verry good science come right from the hobbiest. here is a good place to learn more about these fish from people who actually know how to care for them.

http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=d4841d515df3a894ccab5a3b1b3a663d

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Mandarins are benthic, they don't swim like other fish so brine shrimp in a current pose an unusual challenge for them. Some hobbiests can produce worthwhile information, but the majority can't. It doesn't make them bad people or idiots, it just makes them wrong. Stating the events that occured in one instance in your tank as the gospel is the farthest thing from scientific method as it gets.

You have no idea how happy it makes me when I see people asking good questions before they act when it comes to livestock. It's the 6 "P's", Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. I can't imagine the amount of money and livestock that could be saved by cracking a book before hand.

 

[chuck116]

Thanks Again For All Your Opinions!!!

 

[seascape]

i had mine for about 2 yrs and my tank is well established one day i see it out the next havent seen him,so for mandarin leave them on a reef.He became crab food.