mandarin compatibility
- Thread starter Caige
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
They are difficult because the little buggers are a pain to feed. Mixing mandarins is NOT a good idea. Unless they are male and female of the SAME variety, they will kill each other. They are fine with inverts. What size tank?
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
They are not nocturnal. I would wait about a year to add so you have a decent pod population. They eat pods constantly and in new tanks will decimate the pod population in a matter of days/weeks. He will be fine with the clown and chromis.
You need a established colony of copepods ( you have a big enough tank to have 1). They are the natural food of a mandarin. You need a refugium to allow these small crustaceans to breed at away from predetors. Once you have a well established population of copepods in your 125 you can put in your mandarin of choice. Thay might eat pellets but they might not except it and there main food anyways should be the copepods. They should be the only copepod eaters in the tank IMO so there is enough food for them. For example a fire fish eats copepods. If you want a second one you have to have the size refugium to breed a large size of copepods and a large enough tank. You have the size tank but the important part is the refugium. What size is your refugium? Also what other fish do you have in your tank?
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Refugium is NOT required.....A simple pile of live rock that the mandarin can't get into will work. You can try feeding it in vitamin fortified brine. If it eats the brine, there is almost no need for pods, but it may munch on a few.
your somewhat wrong about that. If the mandarin can get in the middle of the rocks the copepods will get in it and eat ALL the pods. Now you can make it where the fish cant get in the middle of the rocks then ya it would work. But the fish usually are small enough to get in the middle of the rocks. Also it usually is not big enough in the middle to get a good enough of a population. Now it has been known to put a flower basket of some sort or something like that in the middle of the tank for the copepods to be in and breed in away from predetors. But usually a refugium is the best way to get a good population going. So yes your right that it is not a must, but it is a easier approach to the whole thing. You usually get a more stable population with a refugium. Espcially if he wants 2. Besides, if he has a sump he could simply make a portion of it his refugium.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm still sticking with my previous post. It is a trusted method that many have use and have had luck with. You are right, refugium is a more sound way to approach. I was just simply stating another method, I did not say to toss the idea of a sump. As I have bolded, you can see that I said can't get into. I did not edit this as you can check the quote in your post. Getting two in one tank even with a fuge can have a bad ending IMO. He will need to sex them when he buys them. Two of the same sex WILL kill each other, two of a different species WILL kill each other. It is better to have just one in a tank unless you have them trained on brine. The mandarin may still topple the pod population even with a refugium. As you may have read before, it could take a 100g full of live rock to feed a mandarin properly and may still not be enough. HTH.
I did forgot to mention about that you need to sex them and get a m/f pair and the same species at that or they will kill each other. He is right about that. I just think that a refugium is a better approach. Also if you do his method you can not only do 1 small pile of rock, make sure you have other small piles of rock amongst your cage.
As for this little dance thom we are both right. I feel that my approach is better but that is why we are all different kinds of fish keepers with our own styles.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree, but I think that he should at least try and get the mandarin trained on brine. Just my view on things.
The thing is that this is rare in aquaria. Most of the time the fish won't eat the brine no matter what. Your right, he should try to train it on the brine or the pellet food if he can but he needs a copepod poulation no matter what. They can't live with out it. In other words there staple food should be the pods.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Etunes, it is not rare anymore IME. It is becoming easier and easier now as people find new ways to train them on brine. The spotted mandarins are the easiest to train on brine from what I have read. I have a female spotted mandarin and she took to eating brine right away. I have read many, many articles and threads on people getting their mandarins trained on brine. Many have done it, and I am one of them. I have a first hand experience with them and I know that it works. HTH.
C4t4StRoPhIc
Aquarium Advice Activist
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- Jan 19, 2009
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not trying to get all sucked up in the argument, but this is @thominil.
back before i took my mandarin back, he was eating brine, but still hunting for pods. i dont have the experiance or anything to say either way, but IME, they took the brine as soon as it was offered. no training or anything, just, "here is some brine little guy" to which he responded, "YAY" and proceeded to feast.
back before i took my mandarin back, he was eating brine, but still hunting for pods. i dont have the experiance or anything to say either way, but IME, they took the brine as soon as it was offered. no training or anything, just, "here is some brine little guy" to which he responded, "YAY" and proceeded to feast.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
You are right, they still will hunt for pods, but IMO a pod population is not needed. Many of them DO need to be trained to brine, they may not take brine right away.
I'm going to back down out of this as I have looked over my previous posts and I'm starting to get just a little "into it" and am starting to sound like a jerk. I'm sorry on my part and I never intended to go that way.
C4t4StRoPhIc
Aquarium Advice Activist
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- Jan 19, 2009
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- 116
right, im not saying that they are all like that, just adding my 2% to the conversation.
I am not going to get into this but you are probaly right. I have 0 experience when it comes to SW. So i am not going to really be able to hold up my side very well. But from what i have read and seen they do better with a good population of copepods. I am sorry if i sounded like a jerk as well, so i am just gonna say to who ever started this thread, I would have a population of copepods as back up just in case but do that thom said.
C4t4StRoPhIc
Aquarium Advice Activist
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thats the whole reason i took my mandarin back was because people said he would starve without copepods, and they will if they dont accept brine. but mine did and i just didnt want him to die so i took him back and now he is in a really amazing 300 gal tank. (the guy lets me visit to look at it every now and again.)
but his main food now is brine and he snacks on pods. its all just a crapshoot when it comes to this, its the luck of the draw.
but his main food now is brine and he snacks on pods. its all just a crapshoot when it comes to this, its the luck of the draw.
Where do you live? I was waiting for one of my LFS to get a mandarin and some guy bought the 1 he had before (which was there last 1 at the time) and he ended up returning it and it went into a 300g tank they have.
