what kind of fish is this?

[ChrisfromBrick]

Let me preface this by saying that I would never buy a fish without heavily researching it. That said, a nice guy sold me his tank and all livestock. I think it’s a mandarin but wanted to make sure.

Anything I need to know about him/her?

 

[CO2TLEY]

Definitely mandarin. Never had one. I’ve heard they need an established tank with a lot of pods to eat. Supposedly they don’t do well on prepared foods. Hopefully someone that actually has one and experience can chime in

 

[jtf74]

Yeah find out if its been eating prepared/frozen. These need to be eating something or you need a lot of pods to sustain one. That being said I had one that was the last fish to survive in a neglected 30 gallon that was left with my ex wife during our separation.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Yeah find out if it’s been eating prepared/frozen. These need to be eating something or you need a lot of pods to sustain one. That being said I had one that was the last fish to survive in a neglected 30 gallon that was left with my ex wife during our separation.

i’ve been feeding the tank frozen mysis which the guy who gave to me said was good for it.

Where do i get copepods? Are they frozen?

 

[jtf74]

i’ve been feeding the tank frozen mysis which the guy who gave to me said was good for it.

Where do i get copepods? Are they frozen?

Live critters. If it eats frozen mysis already you are good.

 

[Lavey29]

Mandarins need to eat constantly because their digestive track does not allow them to store food. They need live pods. I dose pods weekly for mine and he also nibbles frozen and ROA ova eggs.

 

[litsoh]

Is your tank dosed with pods? How old is the system? The rock doesn't look too mature

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Is your tank dosed with pods? How old is the system? The rock doesn't look too mature

i have a few new pieces but most is very mature. No, i don’t have pods, only dry food and frozen mysis shrimp.

Would I just go to lfs for pods?

 

[Hubert J. Farnsworth]

don't panic, if it came from someone that had it a while, there's a good chance its eating frozen already, so try to confirm or deny that. if it's eating frozen already, you should be pretty set. depending on the source, its possible it is a tank bred fish that was already eating frozen when it got to the lfs.

if its not eating frozen, and depending on the size of your tank, i don't think you are going to sustain it on pods long term unless you are buying them weekly and that's not really sustainable as a practical matter imo.

in thi case, its possible to train it. it takes some effort and patience, but its worth it and its the best move for long term survival in your system without relying on constantly replenishing pods or trying to make sure your tank is producing enough of them. imo and ime anyway.

to train one, i have used a mesh breeding/isolation box to house the mandarin while you coax it into eating frozen. start by offering it frozn bloodworms and brine shrimp in small doses with a dropper. it helps to have a gentle current inside the enclosure, which is why mesh works well. the current will help give the frozen a little movement to make it seem like live food. it may be a few dies before the fish even tries the food, but stick with it and only add a few pieces of food at a time.

once its eating, you can try larger mysis, and once its eating all that well, its time to try it in the main tank. you'll have to feed enough that food can reach the bottom and enough to give the mandarin time to find it.

 

[littlefoxx]

i have a few new pieces but most is very mature. No, i don’t have pods, only dry food and frozen mysis shrimp.

Would I just go to lfs for pods?

You will need to get a ton of pods. And I mean a ton!!! They pick at them all day and its the only food they eat. Most LFS stores near me sell bottled copods. @Reef By Steele actually sells pods he cultures. Maybe hit him up!

 

[litsoh]

You're gonna need a lot of pods to be able to keep up with its feeding. Being able to accept frozen/pellets is good, but at best it's a supplemental diet only. They need to be eating throughout the day so that won't happen without any pods in the system

 

[i cant think]

Let me preface this by saying that I would never buy a fish without heavily researching it. That said, a nice guy sold me his tank and all livestock. I think it’s a mandarin but wanted to make sure.

Anything I need to know about him/her?

The Blue/Green Mandarin. This is a fish I would never trust with feeding frozen/prepared foods - a lot of the time they either don’t wean onto it or they just revert to pods again anyway.

 

[Reef By Steele]

The green mandarin is probably my favorite fish, ours is named Rainbow Wish by my daughter because of its psychedelic coloration. You should see it hovering over the rock like a humming bird with its fins fluttering.

As for dosing pods weekly, I agree that it isn’t very practical unless you have a very large wallet. What I don’t agree with is that you have to. You can get copepods to colonize in you aquarium even with a mandarin, but you need to get the right ones. Our blended or premium pods are the right species for the mandarin, and our unique Harpa pods are a great supplement.
Apocyclops and Tisbes have the best track record for populating a tank, and they are benthic (crawl on the rocks and sand) Apos have two stages on pelagic (free swimming) and one benthic. The Harpas are very closely related to the Tisbe, only smaller and have shown to establish very well in my tanks. Daily dosing of a quality live phytoplankton will help sustain and increase pod populations and increase their nutritional profile.

Thank you @littlefoxx for the shout out, sorry don’t know if your a customer as don’t get R2R names off the site lol, but @litsoh has been a repeat customer, hopefully he would agree, we offer a high quality product at very reasonable prices.

I don’t usually respond with an (AD) lol, but today is our last day of my birthday celebration sale so if you want to give us a try I want you to get the best deal. If you spend over $56 with us we add a free gift. If you choose to do this, place your order and PM me and I will add the Harpas as your gift (everyone else is being surprised but knowing your needs I want to tailor it to your tank).

www.reefbysteele.com. Shop the combos as they are discounted off of individual pricing, and there is a 15% site wide discount as well through midnight. If purchased early enough, and over $75 I can get it out 2 Day today for Friday arrival. If Under $75 and placed early enough I can ship today if USPS priority or UPS if they shows 2 day standard service.

Another option is to culture your own pods. We first started for our little guy. We can help you with that as well. And we guarantee your satisfaction.

 

[Doctorgori]

just adding testimony, not disagreeing per se but I’ve kept a few mandarins, all of mine ate frozen.
I never saw the need to add pods, but I can see it under certain setups using original dry rock or tanks unsuitable biomes for pods.
I’ve found many pods like the detritus’s build up in dead spots….Ive watched many anthias and cardinals pick off pods trying to make a dash outta the debris fields towards the rocks…

 

[Reef By Steele]

just adding testimony, not disagreeing per se but I’ve kept a few mandarins, all of mine ate frozen.
I never saw the need to add pods, but I can see it under certain setups using original dry rock or tanks unsuitable biomes for pods.
I’ve found many pods like the detritus’s build up in dead spots….Ive watched many anthias and cardinals pick off pods trying to make a dash outta the debris fields towards the rocks…

I will not say that mandarins cannot be maintained with frozen. Yes they can be trained. However if going that route, like with wrasses and anthias, to properly provide for them they must be fed multiple times a day. As someone else stated the mandarins gut track is small and will not retain enough food in one feeding to provide for its daily needs. While we might keep them alive, in our tanks we strive to provide as close as we can to their natural habitat and environment.

 

[tuveyReefes]

i have two ruby dragonets they can eat thousands of pods but they love benabets and mysis shrimp.

 

[twentyleagues]

As stated above the issue is not will they eat frozen or even dry its getting them enough food. They are slow to eat and their digestive tract is very short. If that is the only fish in the tank and they eat frozen great if you are capable of feeding 6+ times a day and they get all or most of the food you feed. Most tanks with any amount of corals or live rock will have some pod population. Mandarins can eat 10,000 pods a day which seems like a lot and is but most pods have 1000s of babies every few days. If you have hiding places for pods or no predators you'll have some.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

i’ve been feeding the tank frozen mysis which the guy who gave to me said was good for it.

Where do i get copepods? Are they frozen?

You can order copepods from Algae Barn .com that is where I get mine. That looks like a female. Great little fish, but you will definitely need to keep pods up in the tank. I order monthly

 

[Kasrift]

Yeah find out if its been eating prepared/frozen. These need to be eating something or you need a lot of pods to sustain one. That being said I had one that was the last fish to survive in a neglected 30 gallon that was left with my ex wife during our separation.

Most likely a neglected tank still grows pods, since the increase in pest algae and things we consider undesirable become great breeding places for pods. This makes it simple automatic feeding for something like a mandarin.

For the OP, as long as you bought a whole tank setup it probably has the pods. Mandarins get a stigma (maybe rightly so) of being hard, but they have some good advantages of being able to eat the natural fauna of the tank and they can be more resistant to disease due to their slime coat which reduces chances of things like ich.

If you are worried about feeding, buy a brine shrimp hatching setup and feed daily to make sure the mandarin is fattened up.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

You can order copepods from Algae Barn .com that is where I get mine. That looks like a female. Great little fish, but you will definitely need to keep pods up in the tank. I order monthly

Thank you so much!