Mandarin in 20 gallon.

[Dark_ice]

Correct. If you want pods to be a large part of her diet and supplement with food.. I would..

 

1. Set up a sump/fuge. You can buy a hang on overflow box, pump, and plumbing. Research how to do this and ask help with your local forums. Make the fuge part as big as possible. I would only do 1 partition for the return and make the rest into a fuge so you can utilize almost the full 10 gallons. If you can go large than 10 gallons, that would be even better.

 

2. Plant your display heavily with macroalgae

 

If you can't do #1. At least do #2 with and still run your HOB if you want pods to be a large part of her diet. Obviously this can't happen overnight but macro-algae grows quickly and you could feed her until it grows in. It would be a good long term plan if you want to keep pods in the tank.

 

Here is a pic of my 20g hex macroalgae tank that supports 4 dragonets. I feed frozen but only once every other day to every 2 days. There are pods ALL OVER THE GLASS and EVERYWHERE even with 4 dragonets. I use a large fuge and macro in the display to keep the pods reproducing out of control.

 

@_@ this looks better than my DT!

[Icywater]

She does eat ova. Sadly its only when in not watching her. I will have pods but i will also feed her some frozen ova once in awhile.

[Icywater]

Pods are going to be her main food but ova will be a supplement.

[Tamberav]

@_@ this looks better than my DT!

 

pfftt.. yours will be awesome when you get back into it.

[Tamberav]

Pods are going to be her main food but ova will be a supplement.

 

What I mean is a hob with pods won't be enough to feed her even daily probably (they eat 100's of pods a day) and if you have other fish, they will eat them up too. They never stop eating pods and pods often hide and come out at night when the fish is sleeping. I would still train her to a feeding station and feed her 1-2x a day. Just enough to fill her tummy.

 

There is a reason people used to claim mandarin's need 75g+ tanks because they need 75gish worth of pods. Not just the small amount a HOB can provide. Frozen food provides a large easy meal that is high in protein they don't have to hunt for so it works well.

[GlassHouse]

She needs to eat soon i don't know what to do....

Give her away to someone with a larger, established tank.

 

A 10 gallon fuge isn't going to ever be enough to supply food for that mandarin. Stuffing a breeding box with chaeto isn't even close to a viable solution.

 

Mandarins get enormous. I had one that was as big as a coffee mug. There is simply no way for them to live their entire lives in a nano aquarium.

[Icywater]

Okay so what do you think i should do?

 

What I mean is a hob with pods won't be enough to feed her even daily probably (they eat 100's of pods a day) and if you have other fish, they will eat them up too. They never stop eating pods and pods often hide and come out at night when the fish is sleeping. I would still train her to a feeding station and feed her 1-2x a day. Just enough to fill her tummy.

 

There is a reason people used to claim mandarin's need 75g+ tanks because they need 75gish worth of pods. Not just the small amount a HOB can provide. Frozen food provides a large easy meal that is high in protein they don't have to hunt for so it works well.

Didn't read that properly sorry. How do you think i could make or get her to go to a feeding station? After I put food in the tank she goes hunting for awhile. But most of my other fish get it because its not laying on the ground to eat.

[Dark_ice]

italic make's my head hurt

[Tamberav]

Okay so what do you think i should do?

 

 

Didn't read that properly sorry. How do you think i could make or get her to go to a feeding station? After I put food in the tank she goes hunting for awhile. But most of my other fish get it because its not laying on the ground to eat.

 

Is there a corner or an area she hangs out a lot? Maybe in the back of the tank? You just need to be persistent and get her to recognize the dish as the source of food. Jar's tipped sideways may help keep the other fish out if they discover the dish.

[Icywater]

She goes all over the tank. If i keep a jar wouldn't make a ammonia spike?

[Veng]

It's going to die, you're a horrible person, you should just kill your self for torturing that poor animal, it'll never survive a week....

 

...that was the reaction of a lot of this forum when I admitted I was going to try to keep one in my 20L. That was 6 months ago. My spotted mandy is doing just fine. I feed once a day and freely admit I miss a day from time to time. They're not going to survive in a 20L if they don't eat frozen or if you don't dose phyto massively to grow pods in a fuge. It's very simple that putting a massive amount of phyto into your tank will breed pods or you can put a massive amount of food that will break down to feed phytosized stuff in your tank to feed the pods. If you run a ultra low nutrient tank, don't try to do a Mandy. Properly fed either through nutritious frozen or a food chain, they'll do just fine. I think you could keep one in a smaller tank easily as long as you can feed them and your tank can support the waste.

 

But again, I'm a horrible person who keeps a mandy in his 20L and it will surely die within seconds of me making this post because a 20L is too small for a mandy, so don't follow my advise.

 

She goes all over the tank. If i keep a jar wouldn't make a ammonia spike?

Not really. Feeding without a jar vs feeding with a jar, at worst you can remove some of the uneaten food by removing the jar vs broadcast. A reasonable amount of live rock and you won't have a problem. Ammonia is so rarely a problem in a mature tank.

[Icywater]

My mandarin has survived for a week just fyi. And a Mandarin in a 5 gallon is extremely small.....

It's going to die, you're a horrible person, you should just kill your self for torturing that poor animal, it'll never survive a week....

...that was the reaction of a lot of this forum when I admitted I was going to try to keep one in my 20L. That was 6 months ago. My spotted mandy is doing just fine. I feed once a day and freely admit I miss a day from time to time. They're not going to survive in a 20L if they don't eat frozen or if you don't dose phyto massively to grow pods in a fuge. It's very simple that putting a massive amount of phyto into your tank will breed pods or you can put a massive amount of food that will break down to feed phytosized stuff in your tank to feed the pods. If you run a ultra low nutrient tank, don't try to do a Mandy. Properly fed either through nutritious frozen or a food chain, they'll do just fine. I think you could keep one in a smaller tank easily as long as you can feed them and your tank can support the waste.

But again, I'm a horrible person who keeps a mandy in his 20L and it will surely die within seconds of me making this post because a 20L is too small for a mandy, so don't follow my advise.

Not really. Feeding without a jar vs feeding with a jar, at worst you can remove some of the uneaten food by removing the jar vs broadcast. A reasonable amount of live rock and you won't have a problem. Ammonia is so rarely a problem in a mature tank.

[Tamberav]

She goes all over the tank. If i keep a jar wouldn't make a ammonia spike?

 

The point of the jar is so you can feed less in 1 spot instead of adding a bunch all over. She learns to eat from that spot and then you can feed a little pile twice a day.

 

How long has the tank been set up?

 

 

It's going to die, you're a horrible person, you should just kill your self for torturing that poor animal, it'll never survive a week....

 

...that was the reaction of a lot of this forum when I admitted I was going to try to keep one in my 20L. That was 6 months ago. My spotted mandy is doing just fine. I feed once a day and freely admit I miss a day from time to time. They're not going to survive in a 20L if they don't eat frozen or if you don't dose phyto massively to grow pods in a fuge. It's very simple that putting a massive amount of phyto into your tank will breed pods or you can put a massive amount of food that will break down to feed phytosized stuff in your tank to feed the pods. If you run a ultra low nutrient tank, don't try to do a Mandy. Properly fed either through nutritious frozen or a food chain, they'll do just fine. I think you could keep one in a smaller tank easily as long as you can feed them and your tank can support the waste.

 

But again, I'm a horrible person who keeps a mandy in his 20L and it will surely die within seconds of me making this post because a 20L is too small for a mandy, so don't follow my advise.

 

Not really. Feeding without a jar vs feeding with a jar, at worst you can remove some of the uneaten food by removing the jar vs broadcast. A reasonable amount of live rock and you won't have a problem. Ammonia is so rarely a problem in a mature tank.

 

 

 

Was that before we have a forum post dedicated to them? It seems pretty mainstream now. I kept my 1st mandarin secret for awhile, he is coming up on 2 years in a 20g.

[Veng]

My mandarin has survived for a week just fyi. And a Mandarin in a 5 gallon is extremely small.....

It's really quite simple, you've got to feed it. You've either got to feed phyto, which needs to be converted to pods and then it will eat the pods and your tank has to deal with the waste of that process, or the tank has to be able to deal with the uneatten food of feeding the tank feeding frozen.

 

If you're not feeding the mandy it will die, if your tank can't handle the waste, i.e. ammonia generation to feed the mandy, you'll have problems.

 

With a tank of that size, it's not SPS hard, it's NPS hard. It's possible, you can make it easier by breding the pods in another tank and feeding the mandy pods instead of feeding the tank phyto, but that's work. It can be made to work, it's just a matter of how much you want to make it work. And that's a question of how much work you're willing to put in a week, a month, and a year from now.

 

 

The point of the jar is so you can feed less in 1 spot instead of adding a bunch all over. She learns to eat from that spot and then you can feed a little pile twice a day.

 

How long has the tank been set up?

 

 

 

 

 

That must have been awhile ago? Since we have a forum post dedicated to them now? I kept my 1st mandarin secret for awhile, he is coming up on 2 years in a 20g.

It was about 6 months ago, (actually, maybe 9? I got it well before my baby, and the baby is almost 6 now). The reaction was incredibly negative on my thread. People are still quite bigoted about mandies and small tanks.

[Dark_ice]

It's really quite simple, you've got to feed it. You've either got to feed phyto, which needs to be converted to pods and then it will eat the pods and your tank has to deal with the waste of that process, or the tank has to be able to deal with the uneatten food of feeding the tank feeding frozen.

 

If you're not feeding the mandy it will die, if your tank can't handle the waste, i.e. ammonia generation to feed the mandy, you'll have problems.

 

With a tank of that size, it's not SPS hard, it's NPS hard. It's possible, you can make it easier by breding the pods in another tank and feeding the mandy pods instead of feeding the tank phyto, but that's work. It can be made to work, it's just a matter of how much you want to make it work. And that's a question of how much work you're willing to put in a week, a month, and a year from now.

 

It was about 6 months ago, (actually, maybe 9? I got it well before my baby, and the baby is almost 6 now). The reaction was incredibly negative on my thread. People are still quite bigoted about mandies and small tanks.

veng outside of his build thread is quit a rare thing.

 

and i agree people get so mad about mandies in smaller tanks.. like when i put one in my 20g people wanted to murder me..

[Tamberav]

It's really quite simple, you've got to feed it. You've either got to feed phyto, which needs to be converted to pods and then it will eat the pods and your tank has to deal with the waste of that process, or the tank has to be able to deal with the uneatten food of feeding the tank feeding frozen.

 

If you're not feeding the mandy it will die, if your tank can't handle the waste, i.e. ammonia generation to feed the mandy, you'll have problems.

 

With a tank of that size, it's not SPS hard, it's NPS hard. It's possible, you can make it easier by breding the pods in another tank and feeding the mandy pods instead of feeding the tank phyto, but that's work. It can be made to work, it's just a matter of how much you want to make it work. And that's a question of how much work you're willing to put in a week, a month, and a year from now.

 

It was about 6 months ago, (actually, maybe 9? I got it well before my baby, and the baby is almost 6 now). The reaction was incredibly negative on my thread. People are still quite bigoted about mandies and small tanks.

 

You can send them to my thread where I keep... 4 mandarins in a 20g.. two of which are spawning

 

I did have some people in MN act a little... OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING.. so I posted a pic of their fat bellies and they hushed hushed!

[Dark_ice]

You can send them to my thread where I keep... 4 mandarins in a 20g.. two of which are spawning

 

I did have some people in MN act a little... OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING.. so I posted a pic of their fat bellies and they hushed hushed!

ms. pro over here

 

goes to support my point if you know what you are doing it is fine.

[Icywater]

I'll do it but i need to you explain to me what to do its abit confusing.

 

[Tamberav]

ms. pro over here

 

goes to support my point if you know what you are doing it is fine.

 

haha.. I didn't even want mandy's... husband was like gimmi gimmi... then he was like "IF YOU LET MY FISH DIEE....." *insert threats*

[Dark_ice]

haha.. I didn't even want mandy's... husband was like gimmi gimmi... then he was like "IF YOU LET MY FISH DIEE....." *insert threats*

my gf is the same way.. just its with hippo tangs and flame angels.. which need a slightly bigger tank.

 

wait who dosent want mandys? they are so majestic

[Icywater]

I have a Video but its uploading right now. I'll have it soon.

So basically I get a jar stuff it with food. Then put it in the water slowly and place it on the sand in a area he kinda swims at a lot?

[Tamberav]

my gf is the same way.. just its with hippo tangs and flame angels.. which need a slightly bigger tank.

 

wait who dosent want mandys? they are so majestic

 

Ya they are awesome. I just didn't want the labor of taking care of them but what's done is done.

 

I have a Video but its uploading right now. I'll have it soon.

 

So basically I get a jar stuff it with food. Then put it in the water slowly and place it on the sand in a area he kinda swims at a lot?

 

Don't need to stuff it, just put a small chunk in. When I did it, I put a chunk in it still frozen so it wouldn't fly out or use a pipette.

[Icywater]

[Veng]

veng outside of his build thread is quit a rare thing.

 

and i agree people get so mad about mandies in smaller tanks.. like when i put one in my 20g people wanted to murder me..

Haha, that's not true...I visit Metro's thread too Ok, perhaps I can be a bit introverted at times. Really though, it has more to do with how busy I am at work. The less busy the more I'll browse, when I'm really busy I barely check my own thread.

 

You can send them to my thread where I keep... 4 mandarins in a 20g.. two of which are spawning

 

I did have some people in MN act a little... OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING.. so I posted a pic of their fat bellies and they hushed hushed!

Yeah, I've toyed with the idea of adding another. The two clowns are still spawning (have been for a long time now). But if I were to add another, I'd want a blue mandy or a Starry dragonet. Saw a tiny starry the other day, almost picked it up.

[Icywater]

YAY I saw her eat the mysis shrimp I did the Diner thing but I don't know if she ate anything she doesn't eat when I'm there....