Green mandarin

[jones1483]

Will this fish be okay in my fowlr tank?

 

[sim1killa]

It would depend on the size and age of the tank. also do you have sump. and how much live rock do you have.

 

[jones1483]

75 gallon put my first two clowns in on April 20 so the tank is brand new. No sump.

 

[jones1483]

I would guess at least 70 pounds of rock only twenty is live the rest was base

 

[Mrc8858]

A mandarin will starve in new systems unless they are trained to eat frozen(which some just wont)...most people would reccomend giving your tank a year to mature for one

 

[jones1483]

Trying to find fish to stick my tank with. Right now I have two ocellaris clowns and planning on getting a fox face lo and yellow tang. Would eventually like a raccoon butterfly and flame angel. What are some other suggestions? That would give me 6 fish and about 34 inches of fish

 

[Mrc8858]

The 34" of fish is irrelevant that is a very "old school" method that doesn't really work especially in saltwater... You need to figure out your Bioload and what your biological filtration can handle

 

[jones1483]

How do I do this? If I plan to do pwc every other Saturday and I test my water on Friday and all readings are correct that means my bio load can handle those fish fine? Then if I add two I can continue to monitor it and if it stays at-required levels that means it can handle those fish as well?

 

[carey]

As staed above a mandarin shouldnt be attempted until your tank is stocked with pods which can take a year or more. :-( Definitely NOT a fish for a new or even somewhat new tank.

Also, a yellow tang will require a larger tank, 6 foot long is preferable since they zoom zoom all day long. lol The foxface should be fine though and pygmy angels also would be fine, you can only have one angel though, they will fight if you get more than one.

I have a single butterfly fish, I used to have 2 but the one didn't make it. They are notoriously difficult to keep and most are not reef safe. Angels aren't really known to be reef safe either, at least not long term.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!

 

[jones1483]

Not planning on a reef tank. Would it be okay to remove some of my base rock and add decorative hiding spots?

 

[Mrc8858]

A minimum that you would want is lb per gallon which still leaves you 5lbs short...you can try rescaping to add space

 

[Mrc8858]

Could you post a picture of your current setup?

 

[jones1483]

I read where it was only necessary to have a pound per gallon if I wasn't going to use a filter. I more than likely have almost 100 pounds but it's mostly base rock. I just guessed 70 to be safe I know the base rock I bought was a heck of a lot heavier than the 20 pounds of live rock I purchased

 

[jones1483]

This is from my phone if it posts right

 

[carey]

LOL, I missed which forum this was in, you'll be fine with an angel then if you won't have corals. You'll also save a fortune on lighting too since FOWLR doesnt have any lighting requirements like corals do.

With a mandarin it's not really about the hiding spots but the diet issues. The one I bought was an ORA one that was supposed to be eating pellets. Well, got her home and no go on pellets or ANYTHING I fed her. She just hunted for the pods I had in my tank. It took about a month of multiple feedings a day and an insane amount of time and effort but she started eating frozen food for me. I also had to shut off all water flow and target feed her with a turkey baster full of food. If I had to do it again I probably wouldn't. Even almost a year later I have to target feed her and watch her constantly to make sure she is eating.

 

[sim1killa]

What I would do, if I were you is make a list of fish you want. Keep in mind this can be a long term list and you shouldn't expect go get everything at once.
Once you do this compare the compatibly of the fish and take it slow. limit your self to 2 or 3 big fish.

Edit
If you want a mandarin. seed your tank over the course of several months with pods. you will need to look into getting some sort of refugium. If you want to keep a mandarin on pods alone.

 

[jones1483]

Was going to ask my lfs what they feed it cause they seem to have one every time u am there

 

[Mrc8858]

Was going to ask my lfs what they feed it cause they seem to have one every time u am there

A lot of times they don't eat at the petstores. They may claim they eat mysis but that's because they just feed the whole tank and its still alive but really they are just slowly starving and once you get it home it may already be to late..only reason the petstores don't see many deaths in store is because everyone looks at it like I want that fish right now because of there unique and beautiful appearance

 

[sim1killa]

if they are wild they only eat pods and might be able to be trained to each prepared food, but thats alot of work. ORA mandarins(don't currently breed Green ones) are fed only prepared food; however, my lfs for example has sold about dozen over the past 6 months and 3 or 4 of them refused to eat prepared food.

Your lfs most likely hopes for high turnover and never feeds them.

 

[jones1483]

I am going to take the advice and not get one til way down the road. Also going to skip the yellow tang and try out a lemon peel tang