Mandarins

[Fishnewb1]

I was wondering what i should look for in buying one. I saw a green spotted one earlier at the LFS but it had a pinched in stomach and some ripped fins... So i didnt buy it. What should i look for to ensure survival?

I have a 55g with a fuge and a ton of copeopods.

[Fishnewb1]

oh yea i forgot to ask some things:
which type should i buy spotted or green?
should i use a QT w/o any copeopods?

[CollegeReefer]

Fishnewb,

Mandarins are somewhat hard to care for. They are hard because the need a large coloney of pods. Without them, they will slowly starve to death, even if they appear to be eating frozen or flake foods. Mandarins are only for tanks that have been up for a year or two with a refigium where the pods can reproduce and multiply. I am not sure how long your current tank has been up and running, but this is one thing to consider. As for the madrine not looking good at the pet store, it could be for many reasons, but i am guessing it is slowly starving to death.

[Fishnewb1]

well i have had my tank set up for over a year.

[leveldrummer]

your gonna need a good way for your pods to be removed from the fuge and put into the main tank, just switching some peices of live rock every couple days usually works.

a 55 is kinda small for a mandarin, even though its loaded with pods now, a mandarin will eat through those in a months time.

to find a healthy one, look for a fat happy looking one, colorful and alert, see if you can get the lfs to drop some prepared food in there. if it will eat frozen brine or mysis, thats a good start to keeping one in a smaller tank.

[harif87]

Ive heard some bad stories about mandarins' survival. But like leveldrummer said, make sure he looks fat and happy.If he isnt fat, odds are hes not finding what it is that he likes. Some mandarins can be taught to accept frozen food but this isnt easy. Many times theyll take cyclopeeze but many times they wont. And when asking the guy at the LFS to drop in some food to see if he eats, make sure that the mandarin is really interested in the food.

[flamingo]

As a note, don't expect your mandarin will ever accept frozen, if it does, then that's just an added bonus and less of a hassle.

Just because your tank has been up a year, doesn't mean you will have enough copepods, etc. for it to thrive. Some specimens will only eat pods, and it's suprising how fast they go with a fish that size. Unless you can literally see them crawling around everywhere, then I wouldn't even try IMHO. Idk, I had a heck of a time trying to culture and raise pods just for my dwarf horses (which are about the size of a fingernail or bigger) and I know what it's like to do it for a fish that size. I only had a mandarin once, personally didn't like it much, but that's my opinion.

[Reefneck]

Just go to www.riptidesreef.com and buy one! He will not sell them until he has them eating frozen foods. If none are available on his site, send him a message. He may have some he is working with and can let you know when one is ready.

[Fishnewb1]

Originally Posted by Reefneck

Just go to www.riptidesreef.com and buy one! He will not sell them until he has them eating frozen foods. If none are available on his site, send him a message. He may have some he is working with and can let you know when one is ready.

Ok now i got a hold of the owner now the only question is which kind, green or spotted?

and weather i should qt with a tank with no LR??

[CollegeReefer]

Which ever one you like better

[Reefneck]

Originally Posted by CollegeReefer

Which ever one you like better

Agreed! I got the spotted from him. I love her but that is my preference....What is yours?

[Reefneck]

Originally Posted by Fishnewb1

and weather i should qt with a tank with no LR??

I have found QT to not really be needed with Mandarinfish. Dragonettes rarely carry illnesses.

[Fishfirst]

Originally Posted by Reefneck

I have found QT to not really be needed with Mandarinfish. Dragonettes rarely carry illnesses.

I would take a different approach to qt a mandarin. They don't come with much disease as Reefneck said, but just to be safe I'd do a malachite green dip/methaline blue dip before putting him in the main tank if you indeed have qt all your fish in the past.

As for keeping food in the tank for him... do what I did... A) have a fuge, B) make plenty of spots where fish can't go such as a rubble pile, or cheato in the main tank (if you don't have herbivores) I have all three and it works like a charm. My mandarin is fat and he's been with me over a year,

[vvolfe1]

I like the spotted ones. Mine is kinda hard to find alot of times in the tank but me and my kids have a little game of "Where's Spot" every morning.
I have not had my tank set up for a year yet but there are things other than a fuge you can do too. I have some piles of LR rubble hidden behind some rocks. I also put in a couple of LR tubes I made with some mesh and very small rubble pieces also hidden out of sight. They seem to work good cause Spot is one fat fish and I can see pods of all sizes day and night.
With a Mandrin you might want to carefully select other fish in the tank though too. My mandrin hunts very slow and alot of other fish will eat the same pods. Which will inderectly starve a mandrin.
As for which one to get well flip a coin both are awesome.