Mandarin Fish

[juin21]

I know i've heard nothing positive about keeping a mandarin dragonette in a nano, but what if you had a 2 or 3 gallon refugium, in which copepods could reproduce, would that be enought to keep a mandarin in a 7 gallon aga bowfront without starving??  I love the way mandarins look and behave.

[Daniel]

It is not a good idea to keep one unless your tank is big(more than 70 gal) and around a year old just to get a good pod population going

I wouldn't even try it in my 30 gal. I might be tempted when I get the 175 next year, and if I do. I will still half to wait at least a year before I would be comfortable getting him.

But in a nano I wouldn't try or attempt to keep a mandarin fish.

A close cozen to the mandarin is called the scooter blenny he would be a better choice. Mine as well as a lot of others have had good success with feeding them frozen  foods and flakes

hth

[The Unit]

i think most if not all will say no...Daniel said it perfect...it has already been proven a bad idea by many who mistakenly buy them...there are other fish in the see...

[dawn]

when you find manderin fish at the store ask them

what it is eating

i got mine after i saw them(male and female) eat reg

frozen brine shrimp

but they do grow to about 4 inches so you need atleast

a 20 or 30 gal tank with lot of live rock and sand

and live plants if you can get them basicly keep it as

real as reef as you can to encorage the corpods ect ...

but the main thing is see the fish eat befor you buy them

a good store will oblige you 8)

[pulpsmack]

Mandarin fish can be kept in any sized tank provided that one of 3 scenarios occurs:

 

1. You have a refugium/other tank (I like that above post, "a 75 gallon refugium"). This is no joke. They really need a larger tank to keep copepods regeneration.

 

2. You purchase mysid shrimp (not brine) from mail order/online distributor periodically to add this live food to the tank. Feeding brine to your Mandarin is as sinful as feeding tour baby a steady diet of M&Ms. I'll take anybody on regarding that point. they are a nice treat for any fish, but they are unacceptable as a diet. The only acceptable dietary staple is frozen brine shrimp that has been enriched/fortified. which brings us to #3.

 

3. Have a mandarin that enjoys eating nonlive (frozen) meals. This fish eats copepods & mysids exclusively. The food must be alive and kicking or the mandarin will not touch it. Mandarins of this caliber are about 1 in 50,000. Trans: Don't even think of relying on option #3. It almost never works out.

 

Pass this info on to your friends with bigger tanks too. I have one in my 40 gallon reef, which has 60-70 llbs of live rock in it. Additionally I treat the tank to some live mysids. These animals require an established reef (or FOWLR) tank with peaceful tank mates. I have run many people out of the store that I work at because these jerks don't have any info on the fish (and diet) nor do they care to acquire it. Too many of these beautiful fish are killed (in tanks of all sizes) because the ignorant fool who bought it didn't bother to figure out what it eats. The death is slow and drawn out, and as you, my fellow reefers can see is a very sore spot with me as these fish are quite dear to me. I hope this helps you with your descision, and good luck.

[pulpsmack]

Let me amend my first statement to: "any size within reason."

[Cam barr]

i have  one in my 40 gal he does fine i have slowly gotten him to eat a viriaty of foods (various flake myist shrimp also what ever he can find that comes outa my refugem) also when buying one be shure u see him eat because this fish  is real picky on what it eats if u dont have an established tank and  dont have a refugem then i wouldent even try

[Strife]

with a mandarin...all you have is luck....alot of people will do what they want anyways....so if you "ever" do...make sure the one you buy have been trained to eat prepared food's like formula 1 and brine shrimp...

 

good luck

[pulpsmack]

You are right that people some people will do what they want but the luck thing will never fly with one of these guys, particularly in the feeding department. Either get a 75, or get a refugium/buy live mysids often.

[pulpsmack]

Male Mandarin in my 40 gallon, "Manny".

[gabe3eb]

Hey Pulp... You say that you have a mandarin in your 40 gallon but not to keep one in less than a 70. Do you have a refugium. I have a 28 gallon with a 10 gallon refugium, not that i really want a mandarin, but then what is the difference? Just curious

gaber

[pulpsmack]

Indeed Gabe. I have a 30 gallon refugium, and I also purchase live mysid shrimp for the tank. In the future the 30 will be a mysid retreat.

[iFish]

I had a feeling that PULPSMACK would have completley covered all of the topics. Although I am still unsure, Even if I buy the iso/copopods needed to feed a mandarin, I couldnt, put him in a thirty gallon w/out refugium, right?

[pulpsmack]

Let's get down to brass tacks here. Unless you have a free standing reef system of 75-150 gallons your mandarin is very likely to die. There are possible "loopholes" but you can be sure that they are so troublesome that all but those who truly love this fish would/and should forget the whole thing. If you have a nano with a nice refugium you will NOT be able to keep up the numbers of copepods,isopods,amphipods, etc. to keep a mandarin alive and kicking for long. The only way to keep one in a small tank is to have a well-sustained outside food source. Should you be able to purchase live mysid shrimp (NOT BRINE) and/or copepods on a regular basis then you will be fine. Keeping a larger refugium will help you stretch your dollar, by letting some of your investment reproduce, but you will still have to purchase live nutritious foods for the survival of the mandarin regardless. the only exception is if you have a 75 gallon refugium dedicated to your nano, and who would do that?!