mandarin :o(

[trickyy21]

no matter how often i put pods in my mandarin keeps getting skinnier my tanks been going for almost a year and a i have a little over 1 lb of rock per gallon...i see her picking off the rocks but it doesnt seem to be doing anything for her. ive put in packets of 200 pods 3 times since ive had her (christmas)...is there anything i can do?

 

[Mike612]

Most mandarins are doomed to starve before you even buy them unfortunately. You said you have a pound of live rock in your tank per gallon. That doesn't tell us much. How many gallons do you have? If you're saying that and only have 30 gallons of rocks, then of course the mandarin is getting skinnier because mandarins need well over 100lbs of live rock to survive.

 

[ChrisRD]

You mentioned having a 29 gallon tank in an earlier post. Is this the tank the Mandarin is in?

 

[Anonymous]

Mandarins and Scooter Blennies need large tanks, 100 gallons plus IMO, with lots of live rock. Putting a poundage requirement on this is tough since not only do different types of live rock weigh more than others, some are more porous and therefore more appropriate as well. More important than weight, is structure. You want lots of holes, nooks and crannies. I also pile up live rock rubble behind the main live rock structures, as well as in the sump or fuge.
I also feed a tank that holds a Mandarin a bit more heavily...food for the pods.

 

[jhemdal1]

I agree, without specialized supplemental feeding, mandarins require a huge base of inverts to browse on. We have one large mandarin in a 1300 gallon reef that is doing fine for 5+ years.
Refugiums are a nice idea, but remember that unless you enhance the primary productivity of the system, they will not be able to supply a mandarin with enough food either.

JHemdal

 

[trickyy21]

yes ive heard that they can only survive in enormous tanks with large amounts of rock...yet i have two friends who each have a mandarin in a 29 and 50 gallon and theyre both doing just fine (i'm not doubting anyone, its just what ive seen done)..is there something theyre doing that im not??? i feel dumb

 

[Anonymous]

OK, first of all let me apologize for posting above under my alias, that's supposed to be only for the Sump, but I always forget which account I'm logged into. :x

Second, how long have your friends had Mandarins in these tanks? I always tell people, 'nothing is all the time'. You shouldn't use an anomalous occurrence...or even two of them...ahem.... to govern decisions about housing or compatibility. A small percentage of Mandarins will do fine in smaller quarters. Many times, they appear to be doing fine for quite some time, then decline rapidly.

 

[trickyy21]

the 50 gallon has had his mandarin for almost a year and the 29 gallon for over 3 years...the both probably just scored part of that small percentage of the hardy ones. eh, just my luck..

 

[ChrisRD]

Some people get them to eat frozen mysis or cyclopeeze in which case they could survive in a smaller tank, but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule...

 

[trickyy21]

hmm i will have to try the cyclopeese....i had some success with sea urchin eggs (uni) for about a week when i first got it and then it changed its mind...so theres gotta be some potential for feeding it other foods