Mandarins

[Astinus]

Look into a Helfrichi Firefish as well as the Purple. They are gorgeous. Other friendly beautiful nano fish are Pink-Streak Wrasses, many different gobies paired with shrump with Yellow Watchman Gobies and Yasha Gobies being my personal favorite, ORA Whitespotted Pygmy Filefish just to name a fish.

Indeed the Firefish U mentioned! Love the COLORS!

lol! It's funny u mention the Goby/Shrimp pairing. I have been waiting for the LFS to get something in for us.

Saw this on a Google Search...Last week?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+3483&pcatid=3483

 

Also saw this while doing same search

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1636+173&pcatid=173

 

I think the Helfrichi Firefish Might be 1 of those 2 links...1 is s'posed to be "Exquisite" and other is "Purple" Firefish.

BUT Damn, ya. That Helfrichi certainly is a Nice showy specimen

[Astinus]

I know That mandys want Pods and that it would be ideal to get a Mandy that is eating frozen.

But which Pod? Tisbe, Tigger or Apocyclops? All 3? like this product?

https://www.algaebarn.com/product/5280pods/

Just to get something started? I'd like to seed our tank more. I also want to start culturing, as I have read, it seems pretty easy and straight forward.

 

[Mariaface]

I'd start with a tisbe culture; they're super easy and really tend towards the benthic lifestyle. I usually see mandarins hunting along surfaces, but I also haven't seen one sitting in a copepod storm so who knows, maybe they'll go for the free swimming ones too

 

The Apocyclops sounds cool!

 

I've read that keeping multiple kinds in one culture leads to competition, and one kind ultimately thriving? Not sure.

[Astinus]

TY

[xAyanex]

Good luck if you do end up getting a mandarin! They're sooo beautiful. However, with my Biocube 29, my tank is far too small and I would not have the patience to farm pods. Also, I have a very limited access to mandarins, so the chances of finding one that's trained to eat frozen are next to impossible. So I'll just admire everyone else's from afar, and enjoy my clownfish (for now, teehee... thinking about a 3rd fish! Maybe firefish)

[Astinus]

I posted some links to 2 different Firefish I am considering. Will only add 1 of course, to avoid Aggression.

A 3rd Firefish which is just as beautiful is the Helfrichi....

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2971+171&pcatid=171

[xAyanex]

Wow, that's so pretty! My LFS has only ever gotten in red or purple. If I got another fish, I would only get one because I'm trying to do everything in this hobby as slow as possible and I definitely don't want to overload my tank. I know that my one tiny clown is fine. After I add the second clown, they'll still both be fine. But after a third fish, I'll start to feel uncomfortable because I have no experience and didn't research much past 3 fish for my tank.

[Astinus]

What size Tank?

[xAyanex]

Biocube 29, build thread is in my siggy.

[Astinus]

Nice I like ur Scape. Looks like it needs some more time to "Mature"?

But then, I too have a Bio-cube 29. And, well, although I have some good things going on, I also have issues.

Aiptasia and different types of Algae growth.

 

I just read thru ur Build Thread. Very Nice Coralline growth

[xAyanex]

Nice I like ur Scape. Looks like it needs some more time to "Mature"?

But then, I too have a Bio-cube 29. And, well, although I have some good things going on, I also have issues.

Aiptasia and different types of Algae growth.

 

I just read thru ur Build Thread. Very Nice Coralline growth

Thank you!

It terms of the tank needing time to mature... my tank was just started in May, and it is my first ever tank. So to say it needs more time is probably an understatement-I'm new to the hobby and my tank is still a baby! Lol. I haven't experienced any Aiptasia yet, but I'm sure I will someday. And algae growth doesn't seem to be a problem... yet.

 

[Astinus]

Thank you!

It terms of the tank needing time to mature... my tank was just started in May, and it is my first ever tank. So to say it needs more time is probably an understatement-I'm new to the hobby and my tank is still a baby! Lol. I haven't experienced any Aiptasia yet, but I'm sure I will someday. And algae growth doesn't seem to be a problem... yet.

 

Algae...keep an eye on Nutrients! My Mistake.

Our Tank is still fairly new as well. Tank went wet on Valentine's Day this year.

Regarding Fish...Be sure not to add more than 1 at a time and allow for ur Bio-filter to catch up...takes time.

I saw that U have 2 Clowns, 1 in DT and 1 in QT. Smart move. Wait a few weeks after u add the 1 in QT to ur DT

before U add another Fish.

[Tamberav]

I kept 6 in a 29g that was hooked up to another 40g and 20g fuge. My oldest was 4 or 5 years with me. Sadly I lost some due to disease that made its way into the tank via another fish and sold the rest after. I may set up another mandy tank in the future. If you can find my old thread you can see somewhat how I did it. I dedicated the tank entirely to them with macroalgae and heavy feeding. It has pictures of just how fat they were. Even with 6 in there, I had so my pods that when I took the tank down it was almost kind of gross to see the large ones scurry out of macro (like cockroaches).

 

Again though, I dedicated a tank entirely to their needs, it was basically a species tank. It is possible to keep these guys very healthy but it is best to give up hopes of having clownfish, SPS, ect in the same tank with them. Their only tank mate if I remember correctly was a green banded goby.

 

I built my tank after Matt Peterson who successfully kept breeding pairs in a 29g, except I even tried to make it better by having a dedicate 20g fuge and ran biopellets so I could feed tons of food which is why I had so many pods. There is an article about it in Coral Magazine you can find, it will be the mandarin issue.

 

Here is a pic of one of mine to show you how well it worked:

 

 

 

I see people set up species tanks for mantis, anglers, garden eels, seahorses, ect. Since these fish also have special requirements, it seems fair to say they would also benefit to a species tank as well.

 

I'm getting close to taking on this project again, but need to get the husband on board.

[xAyanex]

Algae...keep an eye on Nutrients! My Mistake.

Our Tank is still fairly new as well. Tank went wet on Valentine's Day this year.

Regarding Fish...Be sure not to add more than 1 at a time and allow for ur Bio-filter to catch up...takes time.

I saw that U have 2 Clowns, 1 in DT and 1 in QT. Smart move. Wait a few weeks after u add the 1 in QT to ur DT

before U add another Fish.

I actually didn't plan it that way. I bought 2 clownfish together at first, and one died in QT unfortunately. I decided to go ahead and finish QT on the other fish before I even bought a replacement clown for the one that died. The replacement is the one in QT now.

 

Regardless of how long it has been since I last added a fish to the DT, I QT all fish for a minimum of 4 weeks. So, it will always be a minimum of 4 weeks between adding fish to the DT. That allows plenty of time for the bio-load to adjust.

 

And I keep a semi-close eye on all my parameters.

[ReefWeeds]

I kept 6 in a 29g that was hooked up to another 40g and 20g fuge. My oldest was 4 or 5 years with me. Sadly I lost some due to disease that made its way into the tank via another fish and sold the rest after. I may set up another mandy tank in the future. If you can find my old thread you can see somewhat how I did it. I dedicated the tank entirely to them with macroalgae and heavy feeding. It has pictures of just how fat they were. Even with 6 in there, I had so my pods that when I took the tank down it was almost kind of gross to see the large ones scurry out of macro (like cockroaches).

 

Again though, I dedicated a tank entirely to their needs, it was basically a species tank. It is possible to keep these guys very healthy but it is best to give up hopes of having clownfish, SPS, ect in the same tank with them. Their only tank mate if I remember correctly was a green banded goby.

 

I built my tank after Matt Peterson who successfully kept breeding pairs in a 29g, except I even tried to make it better by having a dedicate 20g fuge and ran biopellets so I could feed tons of food which is why I had so many pods. There is an article about it in Coral Magazine you can find, it will be the mandarin issue.

 

Here is a pic of one of mine to show you how well it worked:

 

 

 

i'm getting close to taking on this project again, but need to get the husband on board.

Having the fuge is a key I think. And the ability to feed a lot. Which means having a good skimmer.

[spectra]

Make sure you have them show you it is eating frozen. Many will say they are but they actually aren't.

 

Yep I have a few that have said oh yeah it eats........ok feed it then and well it just watches it hit the rocks...........

[Newstead]

I dedicated the tank entirely to them with macroalgae and heavy feeding. It has pictures of just how fat they were. Even with 6 in there, I had so my pods that when I took the tank down it was almost kind of gross to see the large ones scurry out of macro (like cockroaches).

 

Again though, I dedicated a tank entirely to their needs, it was basically a species tank. It is possible to keep these guys very healthy but it is best to give up hopes of having clownfish, SPS, ect in the same tank with them. Their only tank mate if I remember correctly was a green banded goby....

 

 

Here is a pic of one of mine to show you how well it worked:

 

...

 

I'm getting close to taking on this project again, but need to get the husband on board.

Would love to see pics of this tank for inspiration. Ditto on the macros - after I moved the clown pair to our 75, I noticed the pods multiplying once they were gone even with Jimi the target in there - had not even realized the clowns were eating pods til then. I have 2 types of red macros and Jimi hunts pods through them. Its only him and a ywg/pistol pair in the 29 along with softies and a sun coral since the heavy feeding for Jimi and the sun means nitrates run 10 to 20 even with a skimmer, 2 layers of filter pads changed daily and weekly 20% water changes. The macros and softies love it.

[NYfishies]

Indeed the Firefish U mentioned! Love the COLORS!

lol! It's funny u mention the Goby/Shrimp pairing. I have been waiting for the LFS to get something in for us.

Saw this on a Google Search...Last week?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+3483&pcatid=3483

 

Also saw this while doing same search

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1636+173&pcatid=173

 

I think the Helfrichi Firefish Might be 1 of those 2 links...1 is s'posed to be "Exquisite" and other is "Purple" Firefish.

BUT Damn, ya. That Helfrichi certainly is a Nice showy specimen

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2971+171&pcatid=171

 

Those 2 you posted a different. Also very pretty. The Helfrichi is a bit more rare and just amazing color.

[Muraki]

Having the fuge is a key I think. And the ability to feed a lot. Which means having a good skimmer.

 

Yea, I overfeed daily. I think my huge Refugium is the only reason my tanks nitrates stay at 0 without a skimmer. The number of bristle worms that come out of the rock work is almost terrifying during feeding.