Can I get a mandarin?

[ReeferBob]

What about the link above to melevs reef? If I did something like that they could eat all day if they wanted to?

Hmm.. I hadn't seen that. Looks like a good idea. Mandarins are fairly cheap and beautiful fish so worth a try if you are game for the extra husbandry.

 

[Reef kid]

So my basic game plan would be to set up a twenty gallon tank seperate from mine, I would then put live sand in there and seed it with rock from my dt. I would use a hob and lights meant for cheato or red graciliara(want some for my tang but don't have room). So I would use those as an extra nutrient export and homes for pods where the mandarin can't eat them. I would let this run for about a month or two and add a rock or two here or there. Then I would get some frozen brineshrimp and a supplement like selcon to dip it in. Using a syringe Hooked up to a tube or something similar I would then carefully place them in front of the mandarin. Then the hope is he will eventually start to eat it and realize the tube means food. Then gradually try my sis or pellet food?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Training to eat frozen is not really a good method for Mandarins and they will usually still die with this method. They are continuous feeders all day long that is how their metabolism works. You also cannot reseed a tank for mandarins, they simply eat too much. On the order of thousands of pods per day. You should pass on it.

My first Mandarin lived 3years doing this with frozen. Chiller crashed and dumped the tank. I reseed my tank every month or so
depending on what the fuge looks like. I have scooters and pipes too. My male is totally fat and happy and eats just about anything. They are starting to like live worms.
Paul B and Melevs both have good info.
It is a challenging fish yes. Not for the novice. Yes. You need an established tank. Yes.
But get the facts.
Most that say you can't keep a mandarin haven't or can't.
Others can. And do.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What about the link above to melevs reef? If I did something like that they could eat all day if they wanted to?

You will need a refugium to grow pods and give a constant supply of little bugs. Get the bugs going first then a fish.

 

[Reef kid]

You will need a refugium to grow pods and give a constant supply of little bugs. Get the bugs going first then a fish.

I'm looking into doing a horizontal ats. Would this help with pods because if I do this I will switch my modded pro clear back to bioballs because the horizontal would be around 40in long.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Mine lived for 8 years, so even though it is said they cannot live without pods, I haven't found this to be true. You have to be careful to give them a complete diet, but this can be accomplished, IME.

 

[Reef kid]

Ok, random question on here. But it will effect what I do with the mandarin because it could save me some money. If I had say, a five inch acrylic border around my tank, do you think fish like wrasses would still jump out?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

You mean around the parameter of the top?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes it should but Not as good as a fuge with rocks and Chato I'm told. Don't know. I haven't run an ats. But it should help.
Look into the bio ball choice. I've gotten reputable advice and reading that they are not the best choice for reefs.
IMO Live rock has more surface area for denitrifying bacteria and places for bugs.
I've just always used live rock. It's been around a long time.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

They jump up.

 

[Reef kid]

You mean around the parameter of the top?

Yes it should but Not as good as a fuge with rocks and Chato I'm told. Don't know. I haven't run an ats. But it should help.
Look into the bio ball choice. I've gotten reputable advice and reading that they are not the best choice for reefs.
IMO Live rock has more surface area for denitrifying bacteria and places for bugs.
I've just always used live rock. It's been around a long time.

Right now my only wrasse is a Leapord and its all I intend to keep. If I had a four to five inch perimeter would it prevent fish from jumping out, don't want to have accidents but don't like the idea of a full acrylic shield either. I would only run the bioballs because that big of an ats with proper light should be way bigger than what I'd need so It should pull out anything th bioballs creates because it would be after the bioballs. I probably have around sixty to seventy pounds or rock that by now should be "live" and hove more amphipods then I know what to do with.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

You could have only a 1" slot in the top and they could find their way out. They're crafty....

 

[Reef kid]

Even Leapord wrasse? Because if mine wanted to right now it could get out. It could easily jumpintomyoverflow and or out of the back of my tank if it felt like it. I just have a screen without any attachment holding it tight on the back. I know this is the case with a lot of wrasses. But my Leapord seems to prefer the sand bed when it's stressed out. Not the surface.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Reefers choice I suppose.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Ours smacked their head twice on the hood. I was surprised he wasn't concussed.... then again, maybe he was the first time and that's why he did it a second

Your right, when stressed ours dived too. When they were startled, they went up. Maybe mine was a special kind of crazy.

 

[Reef kid]

Reefers choice I suppose.

Haha, it's always how it ends up isn't it? Whatever sounds the best to the individual shall prevail. The main reason I don't want to do full acrylic is I can't imagine cleaning it every couple days. I'll do it if it's best for my fish. I'm holding off on the mandarin for minimum a month anyways. If I have my ats set up well and I feel like it's a good pod contributor I might try the dt without weening him onto frozen. But otherwise I will try to move forward on that because I was intending to set up a qt anyways so besides that the main cost would be the food and time which I'm not concerned about.

 

[Reef kid]

See, my tanks in the basement so I very rarely startle them. I leave the lights off because my tank lights up the basement so they can't see me. I work very hard to make as little noise as possible and find my wrasse to be very friendly even when she sees me I guess. So maybe it's all the fish?

 

[Thunt4jr]

Training a fish to eat frozen can be very taxing on the resources of money and time. You're not too young to handle it, but maybe those resources would be best invested in other aspects of the hobby right now. If you said your parents funded it and they just loved to give you lots of moola, I would say go for it, if it sounded interesting. Give it time and you'll find one that you don't have to train.

Well said, a lot of time and money to get them to eat frozen! I have a pair in my tank and it took a while for them to eat frozen. I'm not worry about the pods since I have hundred of thousands in the sump but it's nice to have em eat frozen. I'd suggest a breeder box that sits in bottom of your tank and keep them in there until they start eating frozen. Eventually they will start eating what sitting in the container. That's how I got mine to do it. If your LFS can teach them to eat frozen then it's worth the buy. If they won't then they really don't care and hoping that you would lose the mandarin to buy more.

 

[Reef kid]

Well said, a lot of time and money to get them to eat frozen! I have a pair in my tank and it took a while for them to eat frozen. I'm not worry about the pods since I have hundred of thousands in the sump but it's nice to have em eat frozen. I'd suggest a breeder box that sits in bottom of your tank and keep them in there until they start eating frozen. Eventually they will start eating what sitting in the container. That's how I got mine to do it. If your LFS can teach them to eat frozen then it's worth the buy. If they won't then they really don't care and hoping that you would lose the mandarin to buy more.

Never thought about that. The only Lfs here who Carey's mandarins has always said I should just get more pods and have patience.

 

[Reef kid]

Lol, thought about that statement. I should add they basically said it's impossible to get a mandarin to eat frozen.