Opinions Please !!!!

[chuck116]

What are your thoughts of mandarins in a reef tank? How long would you wait before introducing a pair of mandarins into a 180 gallon reef tank? What components are a must before introduction??

Thanks for your opinions?

Chuck P:thanks:

 

[Deanos]

What other fish will be in the tank?

 

[mckostya]

here is good read
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1499179&highlight=mandarin

 

[chuck116]

IT would kinda open its a 2 year old system with a refugium . I have a blonde naso and a pair of clowns, a lyretail anthia and a file fish but have other tanks running that I could move stuff around if I had to .

 

[chuck116]

Great Read Thanks. More Opinions ???

 

[Arati]

Your systems sounds fine for a pair of Mandarin as long as you have a good amount of LR.
The thing to keep in mind is that mandarin prefer to hunt for thier food, and they are bad at it. they hunt constantly so they survive but can easily be outcompeted for food by other fish. Sixline wrasse and those little yellow coris wrasse can easily decimate a mandarins food supply. If you keep that in mind when you stock the tank, I think you are all set.

good luck!

 

[Bob 1000]

Pods eat detritus if you get rid of all you pods who'll eat the detritus,,lol... But true..

 

[chuck116]

Thanks for your thoughts , and thats a great read. will keep checking back for more input.

Chuck P

 

[NYreefNoob]

I Wouldnt Do It, Thats One Fish Ive Never Been Able To Keep After Trying 10 Times And Always Got Nice Fat One's And I Have A Ton Of Pods In My Tank

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

:sad2: Mandarins belong on the reef where they can live long full lives.

 

[DHaut]

:sad2: Mandarins belong on the reef where they can live long full lives.

Wouldn't this logic carry over to everything we have in our tanks?

180 up for 2 years should be fine with a pair of dragonets as long as nothing will outcompete them for food. Even better if you have a refugium where the pods can breed (macro algae like chaeto is a great habitat for pod breeding in a fuge).

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Wouldn't this logic carry over to everything we have in our tanks?

180 up for 2 years should be fine with a pair of dragonets as long as nothing will outcompete them for food. Even better if you have a refugium where the pods can breed (macro algae like chaeto is a great habitat for pod breeding in a fuge).

Yes this is very true however, the mortality rate of mandarins in captivity is significantly higher than percula clowns. Mandarins usually starve to death in our tanks because they need a huge amount of pods and we can't provide it or because by the time they get to us they are already too far gone from starvation to save.

 

[marrone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefmcfuz

:sad2: Mandarins belong on the reef where they can live long full lives.

Wouldn't this logic carry over to everything we have in our tanks?

No because a lot of fish do fine in our tanks and live very long lives, while others, like Mandarins, usually don't make it or the ones that do eat live much shorter lives than in the wild.

180 up for 2 years should be fine with a pair of dragonets as long as nothing will outcompete them for food. Even better if you have a refugium where the pods can breed (macro algae like chaeto is a great habitat for pod breeding in a fuge).

The amount of time that a tank is running has nothing to do if it is good enough to keep a Mandarins or not. It's the pod population that counts and the ability to replenish that source of food in the long run.

 

[DHaut]

Quote:

No because a lot of fish do fine in our tanks and live very long lives, while others, like Mandarins, usually don't make it or the ones that do eat live much shorter lives than in the wild.

The amount of time that a tank is running has nothing to do if it is good enough to keep a Mandarins or not. It's the pod population that counts and the ability to replenish that source of food in the long run.

You focused on a small part of my statement - the whole part about the fuge providing a breeding ground for pods seemed to be overlooked. I hit on your concern. Also, time up and running does matter. After two years, the pod population has settled into a steady growth cycle and is not booming and busting erratically like during the first 6 months of a tank's life.

The mortality rate of mandarins is higher due to poor husbandry, but that doesn't mean that they can't be kept responsibly. To say that they all should be left on the reef is a generalization.

It is true that we should do what we can to educate each other on these fish. There are a lot of unnecessary deaths.

 

[DrCooper]

Get one! I have one in my tank and its happy and eating frozen brine and best friends with my yellow watchman!

 

[chuck116]

Thanks for all your imputs , still doing research. ALOT OF INTERESTING READING.

 

[marrone]

You focused on a small part of my statement - the whole part about the fuge providing a breeding ground for pods seemed to be overlooked. I hit on your concern. Also, time up and running does matter. After two years, the pod population has settled into a steady growth cycle and is not booming and busting erratically like during the first 6 months of a tank's life.

The mortality rate of mandarins is higher due to poor husbandry, but that doesn't mean that they can't be kept responsibly. To say that they all should be left on the reef is a generalization.

It is true that we should do what we can to educate each other on these fish. There are a lot of unnecessary deaths.

This is what you posted:

180 up for 2 years should be fine with a pair of dragonets as long as nothing will outcompete them for food. Even better if you have a refugium where the pods can breed (macro algae like chaeto is a great habitat for pod breeding in a fuge).

I focused on part of your statement that has very little to do with keeping a Mandarin. I didn't over look the part about the refug, as it can play an important part in the replenishing of pods. The thing is that the amount of time a tank is up and running doesn't mean it's going to have a lot of pods in it and regardless how long the tank is up, you're still going to go through periods of boom and bust from everything from snails to worms to pods. somthing that happens in my tanks all the time. Even though a tank that has been running for a long time maybe more stable, it's still changing all the time.

As for poor husbandry being the cause of death, well if you go by the principle that if you feed a fish the correct food, give it the correct enviroment and correct tank mates it will live then you could keep anything. The problem with that is most of time people can't supply what the fish needs and a lot of time even it they can does fish still doesn't make it. The question is what is considered a success? Keeping something for 3 month? 6months? A year or 5 years? In the end there are plenty of fish that do very well in our tanks and we should probably leave the ones that don't in the ocean.

 

[NYreefNoob]

i can if i took the time count 500 plus pods on my glass as well as i have a ton in my cheato and imagine a ton more in my rock work ect, not that i think i have a special tank, but like i said ive tried several times with no luck even when i had one that would eat frozen cycoplez and artic pods. just a $15 fish i wont try anymore as much as i want too, as well with a few other species

 

[chuck116]

CAN ONE OF YOU GUYS POST A PICTURE OF THESE PODS YOU SPEAK OF PLEASE!! thanks

 

[DHaut]

CAN ONE OF YOU GUYS POST A PICTURE OF THESE PODS YOU SPEAK OF PLEASE!! thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod

http://images.google.com/images?q=c...&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

They look like tiny bugs on your glass, sand, and rocks.