Adding a Mandarin??

Thank you SushiGirl, I was reluctantly going to weigh in.

I would not buy this fish in the hope it may do ok. Even ORA Mandarins have issues with nutrition.

Yes a very stunning fish physically and fun to watch it roam the tank searching for food, realistically long term ( a year or more) success is dismal.


JM2C.

 

I agree with M-Ocean Man. You need to go slow. Also, you may have a lot of pods, but in a small tank a mandarin can decimate them quickly. I would be very patient and wait until you find one at an LFS that readily eats prepared food. Probably only one in 100 actually does, so it will likely take some time and by then your tank should be ready

 

This is an excellent link.

lgreen's Mandarin FAQ - Nano-Reef.com Forums

 

as Corailline, and many others states, tank is small gonna need lots of pods, on top of that you have a blenny who also eats pods, two pod eaters in that small a tank will end badly

 

Even with lots of pods this tank is just too small for a mandarin. Eating prepared foods or not. IMO. I have had mine in a 90 with over 100 lbs. of live rock and this fish has decimated the pod population. The problem with these fish is there fast metabolism. They need to eat constantly and feeding as often as needed is just not practical IMO.

 

like a nem you should wait 8 months to a year for a mandarin to insure an established tank. yours isnt established enough for a mandarin. i dont think many newcomers realise how hard these guys are to care for and how much those little guys can eat in a day. they will diminish your pod population in literally days. i would not do it. also vinny brings up the problem of not a large enough tank and i agree, i would not do a mandarin in anything less than a 75 other than a couple exceptions.

 

I want a mandarin too but....I have been up over a year with sump/fuge. I have about 60 pounds of Marco rock. The tank and fuge are full of pods and I am STILL Waiting...

The last thing I want to do is to starve one of these beautiful little fish...

Very few eat prepared foods. If you watch the LFS feed it you will most likely see it picking at the food. It you watch it very very closely you'll see it's not really eating...just picking...

Mandarins have tiny mouths and it's very hard for them to become adapted to prepared foods unfortunately.....

Please wait.....4 months is now very long in this hobby. It is hard to wait...trust me I know....I'd like a nem too......hahahah wait wait wait....hurry up and wait some more...

Rely on success....you will feel better if you are successful with everything you do in your tank.....that should be your only goal...go into every purchase or change knowing you will be successful with it.....even then you will have some setbacks.

If you do things that are risky or premature then you will face greater problems or additional costs....

 

That is a very good link for reference.

I'll throw mo .02 in as well. I'm adamant about feeding Mandarins Nutramar Ova. After convincing a LFS how easy it is to get them eating it, he now sells the Ova with his Mandarins. I helped a friend of mine setup a new reef three months ago. I showed him how to train his Mandarin to eat from an inverted shell, and after a week or so, the Mandarin has started eating the Ova.

I didn't think this up. I'm simply following what ORA has done in their breeding program. IMO, it completely changes the game in Mandarin survival, but not many people are doing it. That needs to change.

 

Thanks BarbianJ. Let us know of any results you aquire for there long term health.

 

I've had the male Mandarin for a year and two months, and the female for 11 months. There is a recent thread of them mating and laying eggs here. http://www.3reef.com/forums/tropical-fish/mandarins-xxx-must-over-21-a-110935.html

I started using another feeding technique lately that works very well. I sprinkle the Nutramar Ova onto the Plate or Acan Echinata coral. The coral eats what the Mandarins don't, and it doesn't harm the corals. Virtually no mess and good for everyone.