Nu-Nu the eel
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just remember that the pistol shrimp is agressive towards most oter shrimp.
ClamSnorkler said:Thanks, definitely gonna read up more on a yasha goby/pistol pair.....one day I'll have that mandarin tank.
There's a great article in coral mag this month all on dragonettes. Yes it's possible to train them on live and frozen brine, Copepods can be purchased at most lfs.
mwilliams said:Well I could not find that magizine at any of the LFS in my area of town. So I got through subscriptions. I have not read all of the article yet but it has me extremely worried now. They mentioned several times how they are posionous to their tankmates and how that when they have died either in the tank at the store or in the bag so did the other fish that just happened to be in the same bag.
So if that is the case would I want to risk my other fish if I should put one in my tank and it dies?????
Has anyone ever experienced this before??????
Well I could not find that magizine at any of the LFS in my area of town. So I got through subscriptions. I have not read all of the article yet but it has me extremely worried now. They mentioned several times how they are posionous to their tankmates and how that when they have died either in the tank at the store or in the bag so did the other fish that just happened to be in the same bag.
So if that is the case would I want to risk my other fish if I should put one in my tank and it dies?????
Has anyone ever experienced this before??????
Andy Sager said:I have been in the fish business for over 40 years and would question the reliability of the author of the article if he states that they are poisonous to their tankmates.
As mentioned above, Mandarins have a thick slimecoat which protects them from other species. I can't say for sure but we can assume it has an unpleasant taste to it. As for it killing the other fish in a tank, your biological system should be set up to handle it. As for killing the other fish in the bag, shop at another pet store! No intelligent pet store employee who knows anything about fish would pack a mandarin with other fish. The slime it produces from the stress of the move would make the water unsuitable for the other fish to breath. Mandarins know how to get around this just as parrotfish don't suffocate themselves when they "cacoon" at night. The slime coating the other fishes gills is what would be the cause of death, not poison.
The biggest challenge to keeping mandarins is the food. Reef tanks that have plenty of copapods and small crusts. for them to eat are ideal. Community tanks with no means of small foods would be a problem. A single tank of dragonetts, smaller gobies and blennies might be a better alternative.
Hope this helps...
I recently bought a mandarin that looked extremely healthy from the Lfs. I only bought him since I knew this one was healthy because he looks like a little sausage. It is a male and he's done fine so far in my tank. I have a 40 g with a 20 long refugium teeming with Copepods and amphipods. I'm going to see if this one can make it. I'm also going to try to teach it to feed on frozen brine shrimp.
I haven't had that luck over the past several decades. I have a large healthy reef with lots of natural food sources, but I have given up on Mandarines as getting a healthy one from the LFS is like winning the lottery. They just don't make it, while I have other fish that are 15 years old. Just my case.
slitherbomb said:That coral magazine article that was posted here really went in full detail of how to do it. I'm determined to keep this guy alive and it is in better hands with me than with the lfs.