Mandarin Possibility?

[EELectric]

I have a 55 gal. reef tank that was just converted about a month ago to allow corals and I added about 25 lbs. of live rock. I know how picky they are and that they require copepods and other organisms in the tank but my system has been up and running more about 2 years. I don't have a refugium and I'm not thinking about getting it in the near future. Just wondering about the possibilities. TIA

 

[Hara]

ask yourself if there is enough of a pod population to sustain itself with constant predation. If you answer no...then I think that is the answer you are looking for. Are there other fish in the tank that eat pods?

 

[abnmojo]

I have tried and failed to keep these fish in my 100gallon with 200lbs of LR. They really need a lot of pods and nothing else at all picking on the rock to have a chance.

 

[angelscrx]

I have a 150g tank with over 200 lbs of live rock and my Mandarin girl is FAT!!! She came from a 90g tank and was really emaciated. Tank size doesn't matterbut pod population does unless you can get one that eats other foods (that's rare though). You can buy a HOB fuge to cultivate pods for it too and that's not real expensive to set up. Mine didn't do too good in my 55g and I didn't have fuge either.

 

[EELectric]

I have two questions for your response- 1) What is a good and safe way to check your pod population? & 2) Check "my info" and tell me if you guys think any of my fish eat pods. Also a HOB fuge is a good idea but I don't have enough room behind my tank. I won't be able to respond till monday because I'm going to the beach 8) TIA

 

[stuffer]

you can buy pods and "stock" your tank. try this
http://www.reef-revolution.com/?gad...&OVRAW=copepods&OVKEY=copepods&OVMTC=standard

 

[mp3z24]

you can buy pods and "stock" your tank. try this
http://www.reef-revolution.com/?gad...&OVRAW=copepods&OVKEY=copepods&OVMTC=standard

unless he plans on providing a safe place for the pod population to thrive (i.e. a refugium) then simply buying pods and dumping them in the tank will not work. they will quickly become depleted and he will have to order a new stock of copepods. what he needs is a healthy supply, and NO other pod eating fish.

from the previous posts, he is not planning on putting in a refugium.

i wouldnt recommend simply buying pods to feed.

I have two questions for your response- 1) What is a good and safe way to check your pod population? & 2) Check "my info" and tell me if you guys think any of my fish eat pods. Also a HOB fuge is a good idea but I don't have enough room behind my tank. I won't be able to respond till monday because I'm going to the beach 8) TIA

if you can see little white critters on the glass at night, then you SHOULD have a healthy pod population. however, from your "my info" button, you list a wrasse. this is a pod consuming fish, and much more active than a mandarin. it is likely that your wrasse has already depleted your pod population, and if you do want to get a mandarin fish, you will have to remove the wrasse for the mandarin to even have a chance at surviving.

~mike

 

[stuffer]

okay, add a under tank refugium with chaeto. then add them. doesn't have to be big. mine is only 10 gal. but I would consider more LR in the main tank.

 

[angelscrx]

I agree with all the above post. I have no other pod eating fish in my tank plus i have a fuge under the tank and so I have pods everywhere. My questions to you are 1)How long have you had the wrasse? 2)is he fat, normal, or a thin? 3) if he's fat then you probably have a good enough pod population to keep a mandarin but would you want to get rid of the him? If your wrasse is fat I would think your pod population is fine for now but in time he will deplete it as it is a much more voracious eater than the mandarin. If he is thin than the mandarin will not make it and neither will the wrasse.

 

[abnmojo]

millenium 3000 filter
60bs of live rock
yellowstripe maroon clown
coral beauty angelfish
red coris wrasse
blue dot puffer
arc eye hawkfish

Not only will the wrasse eat the pods but the angel will too. The hawk will eat them if he sees a big one, right in front of his perch, but won't really hunt them. Both the wrasse and the angel 'hunt' on the LR, and pick at it all day long, and thus go out of their way to get to the pods. I think the puffer will eat them if he sees them, but have not kept puffers so don't really know their habbits. So, I would think a mandrin is a no-no for this tank. I have a larger tank, with more LR, and very similiar animals and can not keep mandrins alive. My Yellow coris is very fat, as is my pigmy angel, and longnose hawk. I have tried 3 mandrins and all died after wasting away. I will not try another, and feel bad for basically killing the three I tried to keep. 200 pounds of LR and you think you can keep anything, but you can't.

I really think these fish should be kept in a species tank or maybe with seahorses - something that has to be fed a couple of times a day. Even then, getting it to eat frozen food is an issue. I love them, but can't support anyone unless they have a fuge or a huge amount of LR with no other pod eaters in there, and even then it is a crap shoot. Most of us just don't have the systems to keep these fish alive.

 

[EELectric]

Thank you guys for all of your responses! About the wrasse I'd say he's normal/fat and I have had him for over a year. I don't think I would want to get rid of him, but he is buried all the time except for about a 5 to 7 hour period from 7am- 2pm. Just wondering if this changed anything. Also I didn't know that the angel ate copepods, I just thought that was algea he was licking at on the rock. Thanks!

 

[angelscrx]

You may have enough of a pod population to sustain what you have but nothing additional. Good luck with whatever you decide.