Mandarin fish!

[smellyangryman]

I just got a mandarin fish from my bro!!! he just got back from his holiday. He went snorkling and catch this awsome fish for me. He got 2, but 1 was infected so he let it go.
Hes settling in well! for a wild fish he is very tame. Do i need to do anything special with him? how big do they get?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Dude, research research research. It cannot be emphisised enough. research before you introduce anything into your tank. Im afraid this lovely gesture by your brother may be short lived. Mandarin fish recquire a mature SW set-up only. And a much larger live rock system to feed off than a nano. Unless u have a larger tank i dont know about!

 

[smellyangryman]

it was a suprise, i had no idea.
My bro is getting a 6ft tank next week, it will go in there.
Hes awsome! what do i feed him?

 

[Mr Miagi]

They rely on a copepod population for their diet. This is possible with alot of LR or alot of algae or a sump. Do u have either?

 

[smellyangryman]

i got alot of algea on the sides of my tank, I got 8kg of LR in my tank, dont have a sump.

I also got these little white things that dart across my tank, they are tiny, i got a heap of them, but there isnt as much now that i got a clown fish, for some reason.

 

[Mr Miagi]

If you have a slow current, you can feed live or sometimes frozen brineshrimp. Make sure your mandarin can catch some. So aim them towards him or to the live rock. Sometimes mandarins cant compete with the current for food.

A simple search on google provides alot of hints to how to feed your mandarin. I have personally no experience, just trying to guide u a little. On google you should be able to find many personal experiences which deal with feeding mandarins.

 

[smellyangryman]

Thanks man. So i should really give it a bigger tank huh?
are you sure it wont be alright in my tank? my mate has a 20gal with a mandarin fish, he had him for 7 months now and hes fine, hes only got 9 kg of LR with no sump.

Either way, you know more, i will get him a bigger tank, he might have to wait abit tho.

 

[Mr Miagi]

I wouldnt say i know more buddy, its just that i believe these fish are notorious to keep alive in a small system due to lack of food.

You should wait for more replies from the salty crew!

 

[Navarre]

All i can say is that personally i feel the mandarin has just been given a death sentence.

Mandarins that are wild caught are notorious if not impossible to ween over to frozen/dried foods. Therefore i always recomend that mandarins have huge amounts of liverock to keep them well fed as this fish will purely eat only copopods and amphipods. 10 gallons of water simply wont feed it. You are looking at 100 gallons of tank with extremly mature liverock to sustain a fish like this.

I have a mandarin in a nano tank but i did my research and found a fish that was tank bred and eating frozen foods. therefore the large amounts of liverock do not come into play.

Catching wild fish from the ocean without knowing what they are, what they require and how they will interact with other fish in the tank is very irrisponsible. You take up the challenge of a nano and put a clown in there.. things are going well. then you either ignore all web reports or advise of members about the aggressiveness of damsels and add this to the tank.. by your own admission you say you cannot get rid of the damsel and now the mandarin is added.. the tank is now overstocked im sorry to say and i feel that the end result is going to be a death of 1 or more of these fish.. the mandarin will get bullieed (if it survives long enough) from the damsel also.

All these fish are well documented on the internet, 1 click would be enough to tell you what is needed, a single post here will get a response within a couple of hours. Even if your brother did this as a suprise you could have easily done the research before it goes into the tank and then when you realise it was totally unsuitable it could be politely refused and given back or taken to a shop where they can move it to someone with a far more suitable tank.

 

[smellyangryman]

I got rid of the Damsel tonight, gave it to a friend.
How is it over stocked... i got 2 fish that are like 1" each.
I did not ignore any of you. I got rid of my damsel.
You said i could put a pair of clowns in a 15 Gal.

 

[steelhealr]

SAM.....get Paletta's book on stocking a reef tank...it is not expensive. I think you should start to do some research before either your tank crashes or you start to lose some livestock. Just some friendly advice. SH

http/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846

 

[Opcn]

I recomend that you either sell this fish quickly or you convince your brother to get that 100 within a week, fill it, add all your live rock and live sand, buy extra live rock, buy macroalgea, keep only a few small fish for now (a pair of clowns in the 100 maybe) add the cured live rock you need, don't buy any sessile inverts or filter feeders for atleast 3 months and seed hevily with copopods and amphipods.

 

[smellyangryman]

Dont Worry guys, i took it to the lfs and traded it for a Mandarin fish that eats frozen foods. Hes eating heaps! its all good

 

[smb7676]

I saw this fish ( mandarin) and now want to set up a sw tank. I have done a ton of research and spoke to a bunch of people at my LFS. And was told that it was more of a established tank issue than size (though I was told I shouldn't go less than 30gal) and to have one of these fish and do it right would take 9 m to a year to introduce and sustain this fish.Navarre I posted a mandarin question before and I just went back and reread and you did mention getting one already on frozen food. So can I maybe shorten this time. I still would add live rock I'm just looking to have my cake and eat it to.

By the way I want to get a tank in the area of 70 - 110.

 

[J-Money]

I'd forgotten how cool these fish looked. I want one again . I decided not to get one when I first started up my tank in Nov. but I think if I don't add another fish in the next 6 months I'll add one of these. Over 100lbs of LR and 1 year of establishment will be enough to keep him going right?