Mandarin fish

[MATESkid2016]

How many gallons can a mandarin fish live comfortably in?

 

[Foskett96]

At least 30 gallons but a better larger tank that has been established for at least a year is better as it has a higher coppapod population

 

[MATESkid2016]

Ok so one of the bigger nano tanks would work as long as it i an established tank?

 

[Foskett96]

Yes. And when you buy it it's best to get one that is at least eating frozen food at the pet store. Ask them to show you it eat before you buy it.

 

[MATESkid2016]

Ok thank you that is my ultimate dream fish

 

[Foskett96]

The blue are a beautiful fish. If you wanted something different you could go for the red mandarin or the spotted mandarin

 

[MATESkid2016]

No i like the blue with the different color "swirls" on its body they look amazing

 

[obscurereef]

It was my dream fish too, but I held off getting one until I found one that ate something other than live food (was supposedly eating oyster feast).

What's hard about these fish is that they are almost like seahorses, where they are very finicky, eat constantly, and eat live foods. Even with a large copepod population & refugium, it can run out quickly (can eat 2,000+ copepods a day!).

Plus, even if they do eat frozen foods, they aren't aggressive feeders like all the other tank mates. You can have a little plastic cup/box with a hole for the mandarin to go in and eat without competition or spread small foods on the rock.

I've fed it frozen nutramar ova, brine shrimp, cyclops, cyclop-freeze, & mini mysis. I've seen it eat mysis, but don't know if it ate the other foods. He's fat and I've had him for 7 months so he must be eating something! I added him when my tank was 6 months & had a good copepod population.

 

[bettaowner]

I'd love to get a mandarin fish. They are stunning fish

 

[Mebbid]

I saw a baby brine shrimp feeder that mandarins would eat from. It looked like a really nifty set up for continuous feeding. I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[Mebbid]

Check it out.

They all love the feeder - Reef Central Online Community

 

[carey]

My Mandy eats anything I put in the tank these days. lol She finally started on pellets about a year or so ago and has never looked back. She even likes them more than her favorite bloodworms! She didn't eat anything but pods for her first month, I was afraid I was gonna lose her but she came around to frozen food after ALOT of time and ALOT of effort and alot of money too buying every frozen food I could find. lol

I've read they dont have an active feeding response but mine will see me coming and come around and get ready for the food to be dropped in, then goes quickly around the tank trying to eat all she can. My scooter dragonet, similar fish, was different in that he never actively went after food, if it floated in front of him then he ate it if not he just kept to his business. hehe

 

[Mebbid]

My Mandy eats anything I put in the tank these days. lol She finally started on pellets about a year or so ago and has never looked back. She even likes them more than her favorite bloodworms! She didn't eat anything but pods for her first month, I was afraid I was gonna lose her but she came around to frozen food after ALOT of time and ALOT of effort and alot of money too buying every frozen food I could find. lol

I've read they dont have an active feeding response but mine will see me coming and come around and get ready for the food to be dropped in, then goes quickly around the tank trying to eat all she can. My scooter dragonet, similar fish, was different in that he never actively went after food, if it floated in front of him then he ate it if not he just kept to his business. hehe

I had a completely different experience with my scooter. As soon as my feeding tube went in the water he would swim up just to attack it. It was kind of crazy seeing how he never really left the rock or substrate.

 

[Sniperhank]

These fish are quite hit or miss. Can it live in a small tank? Yes. Can a small tank supply the food it needs to survive? No. Even if they eat frozen or even pellets, that won't stop one from reverting back to only eating pods. I have one in my 55 and after a year of only pods, it started eating frozen mysis out of the water column like the rest of my fish. Totally random and highly unlikely. Though this behavior began, I still make sure my tank is stocked with pods. Let me be the first to tell you that it isn't cheap. Best I can find is reefs2go's BOGO pod deals when they come around.

 

[Ericwm]

I'm not recommending this but I work with somebody that had a psychedelic mandarin in a 5 gallon that he fed flakes only. He had it over a year before selling it. I don't think that could be reproduced, he was just lucky.

 

[obscurereef]

Check it out.

They all love the feeder - Reef Central Online Community

Really cool thread and some other clever inventions. Thanks.