Mandarin Fish

[Ehudd]

Cant help but take photos of him, he is pretty much posing for me

 

[TigerIssey]

I am in Love

 

[Ehudd]

I am in Love

i know i am a lovable guy.... oh wait, the mandarin!

Yea hes is a stunner!

 

[TigerIssey]

Still in Love

Yes with the Mandarin I am afraid, have really soft spot for these guys.

 

[youngfisher]

Oh my god...

How much did that beauty cost?

 

[bagu]

LOL that's my dream fish right there

They were around 25-35 at crowland mate, sad thing was that they were in tiny tiny tanks =[

 

[youngfisher]

How big does the tank need to be for 1 of them on there own

 

[TigerIssey]

75 gallon with lots of rock is recommended usually as people don't like to bother with culturing copepods. They can be kept in smaller tanks (30g minimum IMO) IF you culture additional copepods to give them the nutrition they need. Some will eat frozen aswell but they cannot survive on frozen alone.

After my holiday at end of June I will begin my culture so that I can purchase one as soon as tank is ready. They need a more mature tank than most fish.

 

[Ehudd]

How big does the tank need to be for 1 of them on there own

its not the size of the tank thats the issue its the pod population in your tank. Alot of them die due to starvation. You have to have a big population, and try get it on frozen, mine is almost eating it so im lucky.
he cost $60 AU

75 gallon with lots of rock is recommended usually as people don't like to bother with culturing copepods. They can be kept in smaller tanks (30g minimum IMO) IF you culture additional copepods to give them the nutrition they need. Some will eat frozen aswell but they cannot survive on frozen alone.

After my holiday at end of June I will begin my culture so that I can purchase one as soon as tank is ready. They need a more mature tank than most fish.

I will disagree with you here. Unless you stating that they will not eat ANY pods. But most tanks will have some population. I had a breeding pair for a long time untill i gave them to my mate (still alive) All they ate was frozen brine and just hovered around rocks. they were in a 15g to. There maximum size is the same as a clown, and we keep them in 15gal.

 

[TigerIssey]

I will disagree with you here. Unless you stating that they will not eat ANY pods. But most tanks will have some population. I had a breeding pair for a long time untill i gave them to my mate (still alive) All they ate was frozen brine and just hovered around rocks. they were in a 15g to. There maximum size is the same as a clown, and we keep them in 15gal.

Can I ask you to explain what you mean by will not eat ANY pods. Unless you add extra in a smaller tank there is just not enough for them to survive on. Yes there will be a pod population but will be depleted extremely quickly once the Mandarin is in the tank.

 

[Ehudd]

I will disagree with you here. Unless you stating that they will not eat ANY pods. But most tanks will have some population. I had a breeding pair for a long time untill i gave them to my mate (still alive) All they ate was frozen brine and just hovered around rocks. they were in a 15g to. There maximum size is the same as a clown, and we keep them in 15gal.

Can I ask you to explain what you mean by will not eat ANY pods. Unless you add extra in a smaller tank there is just not enough for them to survive on. Yes there will be a pod population but will be depleted extremely quickly once the Mandarin is in the tank.

yes but it will always recover. As i said. mine lived on frozen brine for years assuming there was pods in the tank also, but there may not have been.
Regardless, i do see your point, and he will be moving onto a 50gal to spend the rest of his live soon, id much rather him to eat pods than frozen brine. But for now, i have pods all over my glass, they breed in my fuge and i dip the macro in the main tank once a week, seems to keep it going.

 

[TigerIssey]

There will always be some people that can manage to get them to survive the sad truth is though that many die each year from being put into tanks that are too small and people expecting them to live on frozen foods alone. Many people recommend these are left in the sea for this very reason. We can keep them alive, we just have to be responsible aquarists and provide them with as much of their natural diet as is possible for their continued nutrition.

Seffie will tell you as will Ben, they have both lost Mandarins despite having pod cultures going. They just (as a group not individual cases) need the extra nutrition that a pod culture gives them in a smaller tank.

Trod has successfully kept one this way. Hers does eat frozen food aswell, this may be key to keeping them, they rarely will survive on frozen alone (unless in a large enough tank to have a large pod population).

 

[Trod]

There will always be some people that can manage to get them to survive the sad truth is though that many die each year from being put into tanks that are too small and people expecting them to live on frozen foods alone. Many people recommend these are left in the sea for this very reason. We can keep them alive, we just have to be responsible aquarists and provide them with as much of their natural diet as is possible for their continued nutrition.

Seffie will tell you as will Ben, they have both lost Mandarins despite having pod cultures going. They just (as a group not individual cases) need the extra nutrition that a pod culture gives them in a smaller tank.

Trod has successfully kept one this way. Hers does eat frozen food aswell, this may be key to keeping them, they rarely will survive on frozen alone (unless in a large enough tank to have a large pod population).

I do have to agree with Tina here, I think more Mandarins die, through not being kept properly than survive, Just because I have been successfull in keeping a Mandarin in a nano it doesn't follow that this is best practice. I was lucky to get a tank bred one eating frozen, but I regulary add extra pods, So following on, just because you managed to keep a pair, without adding extra pods, it doesn't mean everyone can do it. Like me you have had some luck. I would say to anyone thinking off buying a Mandarin, to give them the best possible chance of survival, plan ahead of getting one, put it in the biggest tank possible with plenty of LR and a tank that is at least 6 months old and supplement with extra pods by starting your own culture. There will always be exceptions that prove the rule

 

[Trod]

OK I couldn't resist either here is Fizz

She is gorgeous too

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Love these fish Once my tank has settled down for a few months and the pod population has built back up I will definetly be getting one (100g tank with about 80kg of LR and a 70g sump with cheato).

Have to agree with Trod and Tina, I tried keeping a scooter blenny (which is also a dragonet) in a 30g. I had a massive pod population in there to start with and it ate frozen mysis and brine but after a few months the pod population was very noticably a lot smaller and my scooter started to lose weight.

The problem with them eating frozen is that while they may eat it most other fish in the tank will out compete them for it. I had to target feed mine to make sure it got any at all. Also brine shrimp has very little nutritional value.

Unless you have a large, mature tank with lots of rock work (and a large pop population) or you are willing to culture pod's constantly I would not recommend them as their survive rate is very low.