Mandarin's

[zenn]

I know the basics. They can't live without a healthy supply of pods and must be in an established tank to live long term without starving. My confusion is in regards to the amount of pods you have to have to sustain a Mandarin. I have a 75g with 125lbs of LR, and a fuge. The only other tank inhabitants are a pair of clowns, one yellow watchman goby and a yellow tang. I know i have a good amount of pods because it doesn't take me long and i can find one somewhere. Do i dare consider keeping one?

[Florida8]

Tank size and LR amount sound good, even better that I don't think you have anything in there for it to compete with on the pods.

How old is your tank? I know you might have them but they need to be in great numbers to be able to keep up with the Mandarin. I think that is just as important, if not more than the tank size and rock, the age that is... or even the combo of all 3.

Anyhow, keep us posted, I love those fish, but havent braved them yet.

[austinsdad]

I'd go for it with your setup - and assuming you've had it for a while now.

[zenn]

One other thing:

Pods are beneficial to the natural filtration of a reef tank. Does having a mandarin that depletes your supply of pods actually work against the natural filtration ability of your tank? I'm worried that having a fish like that will eat the majority of my pods thus causing a detriment to my water quality. Is there any truth to this?

TIA

[austinsdad]

You've got a fuge, which will keep your pod population up enough IMO. I have a mandarin in a 72g tank and 130 or so lbs of rock. Mine has a fat belly.

[zenn]

Are people able to keep them in captivity for the long term? Wondering how long i can expect it to live if not indefinentally.

[flamingonhot]

Well, most fish can go long periods without eting but dragonets are notorious for starving quickly. Some have even gotten their's to eat frozen food, but like said a million times before this should not be expected.

You can expect them to live many years..don't know the exact emount but probably close to 5 or something like that. Never really looked into how long they live.

Also, pods are beneficial to your system but not having them will affect your tank very little. They do eat detritus and all that up but don't provide such a great service that your tank would differ a whole lot without them.

[zenn]

Originally Posted by flamingonhot

Well, most fish can go long periods without eting but dragonets are notorious for starving quickly. Some have even gotten their's to eat frozen food, but like said a million times before this should not be expected.

You can expect them to live many years..don't know the exact emount but probably close to 5 or something like that. Never really looked into how long they live.

Also, pods are beneficial to your system but not having them will affect your tank very little. They do eat detritus and all that up but don't provide such a great service that your tank would differ a whole lot without them.

i talked to the owner(i think anyways) of my LFS...and he said he's known people to keep mandarin's for approx. a year. He didn't say why they die after a year. SO i'm just wondering if anyone's been able to keep one alive for longer than that and if so what they did right??

[austinsdad]

2 years so far and only eats pods in my 72g.

[afilter]

I had one for over almost two years and it only died because I was stupid and took the sponge off my powerhead and it was sucked in and could not escape

I put the sponges back on before I added a new one.

I also know someone who claims to have one almost 9 years. With the right conditions they can live a relatively long time.

Sounds like your system is ready to support one.

Good luck,

[Mghslowell]

i dont knwo how many fish i lost to the spongless power heads .. power goes off then on and good bye fishes

[heartsx2]

Can you just add pods to the tank? They sell them in a bottle. Would this work for a Mandarin?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume.../Pods/pods.htm

[zenn]

it would, but you'd spend a lot of money buying enough pods to keep it alive. You'd be purchasing pods on a very regular basis. So if you're up to that, go for it.

[TheRealFF]

Couldn't you buy alot of pods at once so they mandarin can't eat them all quick enough so the pods could start to mutiply and so ur tank would never run out of pods?

Just wondering

[mp3z24]

Originally Posted by TheRealFF

Couldn't you buy alot of pods at once so they mandarin can't eat them all quick enough so the pods could start to mutiply and so ur tank would never run out of pods?

Just wondering

i read (probably on wetwebmedia) that you can take a strawberry basket, fill it with live rock rubble, and put it upside down on the sand... you can use this as an area to grow pods. i would think that you would have to keep your fish away from it, to prevent the pods from being depleted too quickly. plus, you would probably want to seed it with some large purchased pods.

ive never tried it, but i know i have read it somewhere...

as some others have said, if you have a fuge, you can use it to grow pods for you main tank. but unless you have a fuge over your tank (with a gravity return) you risk killing the pods in the return pump.

~mike