Manderin

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

dwint

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
482
from what ive been reading the only way i can keep one of these is if i buy live rock.if i bought live rock how much would i need for a 75 gallon.its probably not worth it just for one fish in my oppinion.would i need the change my lighting too?
 
Typically 1-1.5 pounds of rock is needed for every gallon. And it the pods that live on the rock that is needed. That is all most mandarins will eat.
 
And you need a large amount of pods to keep a mandarin going. They spend their entire day swimming around hunting for them in life rock. They can easily burn through 1000 in a day.
 
I've got two, male and female and they'll eat anything, live and frozen brine, mysis and flakes. Had them about a year now and it's great watching them dance at night.
 
I read somewhere but don't remember where that 50lbs of established rock could house enough pods for a Mandarin provided they have a place to breed that's safe
 
Sounds right. Things I've read say for the pods, if you don't have a sump/refug to make places that the fish can't get to in the aquascaping.
 
Mandarins fail even in 200 gallon tanks, blowing through pods and starving. Your best bet if you want less headaches and suffering is to only buy one you witness eating frozen, or an ORA mandarin which are raise on frozen etc.
 
Yes they will definitely eat some pods up! I have a green male manderin. I'm currently doing a DIY HOB refugium to house pods. I have plenty of live rock in my 35 gallon and its still just not quite enough. Another really good product that I found at my LFS is prawn roe. Mine eats it up. Its called nutramar ova and its 10 bucks for a flat bag. Good for manderins, pipefish and what not.
 
Back
Top Bottom