Mandarin?

[Reefguide]

What do you guys think about a Mandarin in a 29g reef? I was told live brine and plenty of LR will leep this guy happy?

 

[SPC]

Live brine is not a substitute for the pods that a Mandarin needs. It is generally recommended that you have a minumum of 100 gallon reef to keep this fish healthy over the long run.
Steve

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Just curious.....Pods aren't available in bulk?

 

[reefland]

A 29g tank really is to small. A 55g is pushing it but possible. 75g and larger it gets much easier. (more rock, more likely a food source can be found).

 

[r6_rider]

i have to agree with spc on this one. i had a mandrian about a year ago in my 72 gallon bow front. before i got him i had pods all over the glass, rock and sand. after about 4 months he totally depleted all the supply of pods. i tried blood worms and live brine but sadly to say he starved to death . fwiw i have heard of people setting up gravity drain refugiums and being able to keep them in smaller tanks due to the pods breeding in the refugium.

 

[reefland]

Just curious.....Pods aren't available in bulk?

If someone has a link please share. Many of the kits that include these are $60+ Carolina Biological sells freshwater pods, I never located a cheap source of marine ones.

 

[danmhippo]

In tanks with high concentration of phyto and rotifer, pod maybe able to reproduce fast enough to meet up with mandarin's appetite. Planktonic food availability is directly correlated with pod density. However, high plankton concentration are also directly correlated with high nutrient content which often led to nuiance algae bloom.

 

[Nelliereefster]

Also, with mandarins, it's important to consider what other competition for the pods are in the tank. Wrasses are really good at snatching up pods like crazy. It's possible they may out-compete the mandarin, if the tank isn't big/mature enough.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

There is no absolute, but in general, you will need at least a very well run 75 g tank with refugium and plenty of live rock, well feed tank to keep a Mandarin healthy. There will be people saying that they are able to keep one in a 29 g for a long time, but Personally, I am very skeptical of these posts. A very well fed refugium will help a lot. I you are lucky enough to get a Mandarin that will eat frozen food; it would be easier to be successful.

Minh

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
It is possible to keep one Mandrain in a 60 gal, but that is already pushing the limit. With small tank, it is fine as long as you only consider the mandrain as a temporary decoration, not a pet. If that's what you want, just don't tell anybody that you got a new mandrain every other month. You LFS going to like you more.
bye -ck-

 

[camp6]

one of my lfs's has a mandarin in a small tank. hes been there for a couple months. frankly he looks like hes dying to me, i thought of getting him myself to see if he could make it in my 90 but was hoping someone else with a larger tank would get him. what do you guys think about a mandarin in a 90 that is about 8 months?

 

[Chucker]

:idea: Just a gentle reminder..... Manadarins have been the subject of many threads in the past. It never hurts to use the search function, and see what info is already out there.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
Chucker, if everybody do a search before posting, this board would be pretty quiet, won't it?

 

[Chucker]

7E - I've got no problem with that. I view our job as making sure people have access to a broad base of information. By not availing themselves of the search engine, they are missing out on valuable past experiences of other posters.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

hi.
Chucker, if everybody do a search before posting, this board would be pretty quiet, won't it?

Often, we don't repost what have being post a lot in the past.

 

[reefland]

But you'll miss out on new experiences if old subjects aren't rehashed every so often. Every now and then we find a gem in these old topics. (hasn't happned in this thread though)