how much flourishing LR req'd for mandarin?

[rcl]

I am playing with ideas for a long-term project for a 10g tank i have inherited, and I am considering keeping a mandarin since they seem REALLY cool. I know they require a lot of LR to graze on, and it needs to really mature and be producing a lot of food for him.. but I don't know exactly how much would be required in lbs? Also, I'm wondering how much I could fit into this 10g tank?

This is my first SW adventure (if i end up doing it) but I have learned a lot about SW helping my gf learn about it/set up her tank, and I understand the hobby pretty well (I keep a 120g FW tank). I know this is considered 'expert only' to do something 10g, but I have a lot of patience and think that with a lot of dedication it shouldn't be a problem to keep a system this small. The only problem I could see is if I simply can't fit enough LR for this guy!

Also I am looking for some other ideas for this tank, since I could only keep something small'ish (i don't have room for much more than this 10g in my house) I figure I could only keep 1 interesting fish or invert or coral.. so I am very open to any cool suggestions

Robert

 

[EddieW]

Robert,

I really don't think you will be able to cram enough live rock into a 10 gal for a mandarin. It would also need to be a well established tank to allow plenty of time for the copepods to reproduce. You possibly could get away with it by having the 10 gall as your display tank and a 20 gall or larger refugium/sump packed with live rock with a gravity or overflow return (not pumped). This would allow the pods to grow in the fuge and flow back into the display tank which would prevent the mandarin eating them all. Most people recommend nothing smaller than a very well matured 55 gall for mandarin, but others have managed it. You can get mandarins to feed on other foods such as live enriched brine shrimp but apparently this will not supply everything it needs and it will eventually die.

You could also supplement his diet by keeping copepod cultures separately.

Other fish you could look at for a 10 gall are small gobies such as okinawae, puncticulatus or multifaciatum, a small gramma, a small pyjama cardinal or similar. You would have no problems with soft corals in a tank that size.

HTH, Eddie

 

[RamJet]

You can fit 30 lbs of live rock in a ten gallon with out to much trouble, but you have to remember that it will displace water! In other words, your 10 gallon with 30 lbs live rock may only hold 5 gallons of water. You will need to top it off several times daily, and do water changes weekly.
What kind of lighting do you have for it? Corals will need good lighting. Nothing quite like putting a $150.00 light on a $9.00 tank. Also, you will more than likely have temp problems, you may have to get a chiller for it. That will be another $300.00 or more.
Mandarins have a huge appatite, a very small one might be ok for a short wile, but the tank will need to be at the very least 6 months old. Its not really a good fish for a nano tank. Take a look at some of the cleaner gobies out there, they stay small and can be quite colorful. I have two that I just recently moved to my reef tank from my Nano, they are on of my favorites in the tank. You can see photos of them here: http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...pic=31058&st=16

 

[rcl]

Thanks for your ideas guys, this will give me some things to think about

Robert

 

[Great Lakes]

Hi rcl.

My experience with the Mandarin.

I had one. He was real healthy and doing well. Trouble was, he was not the exact color I had wanted. About a year down the road, I did see the Mandarin that I had wanted all along. So, I got him. After about two months, both mandarins started to lok real bad. They were starving, and malnourished looking. They are almost impossible to get out of an established tank, so I tries brine and n assortment of other foods. Helped a little, then one of them died.

Two months later, I now again have one healthy happy Mandarin. This tells me that my tank is large enought o easily support one, but not two. Therefor, half of my tank specs would be considered real borderline for the support of one IMO.

I have nearly 200 lbs of rock in a 125 gallon, so you can do the math...

GL