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We finally got a pic of the fat mandarin that patrols my reef. Eats everything I put in, except the flatworms it was put in last year to eat.:funny:
Healthy mandarin
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Very beautiful fish aren't they Doug? Very nice pic and the fish does look quite content and healthy!!
Some day I will have another one!
Some day I will have another one!
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Jeeze... that mandarin needs to pay a visit to Jenny Craig.
Nice healthy one you got there.
Nice healthy one you got there.
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·ahhh very nice specimen ya go there!
G
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·jimmer tank 1 yr old with lots of liverock and a fuge with lots of lr is all thats nessacary, just look at your pop population at night after lights go out, if theres lots your okay
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You guys might like this link check it out
http://homepage.mac.com/russellkelley/iMovieTheater5.html
http://homepage.mac.com/russellkelley/iMovieTheater5.html
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·wow thank you so much thats a great link
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Jimmer I would not keep a mandarin in anything less than a 100 gallon tank with at least a 100 lbs of LR or a nice refuguim that has a great population of pods to migrate to the main tank to keep them well fed.
The larger the tank and more LR you stand a better chance with these guys! I had one in a 72 gallon bow front and it slowly starved to death.
I call the mandarin the "Hummingbird of the Reef" as like a hummingbird with no nectar to keep it's high energy level going they will die in a matter of a few hours with a mandarin taking slightly longer to meet it's demise!
The larger the tank and more LR you stand a better chance with these guys! I had one in a 72 gallon bow front and it slowly starved to death.
I call the mandarin the "Hummingbird of the Reef" as like a hummingbird with no nectar to keep it's high energy level going they will die in a matter of a few hours with a mandarin taking slightly longer to meet it's demise!
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·montana i disagree with the size issue, its more of the pod issue now my 55 gal has 140 lbs lr in the display and anadditiona 80 in the fuge. so i know i am in no danger
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I probably did not state that quite right Mnreefman! I would not keep a mandarin in a tank under 100 gallons "unless" you have a refugium to support them! My OFR brain at work here!
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·AH HA!
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Yes Johnny I would agree. A very beautiful fish. I can sit for ages, watching him near the front, picking in the rubble.
I also agree on the larger tank for them, unless fed with a good producing refugium. If they eat introduced foods like mine, thats a bonus, but should not be counted on. As Johnny says, many starve.
Some aquarists hatch their own baby brine shrimp for them to eat, when their is a pod shortage. I think they also learn to eat other foods from the rest of the fish. Mine use to watch his buddy, the leopard wrasse, chasing frozen brine and decided one day to try it. Never looked back since. Eats frozen brine, bloodworms & mysis shrimp. Sometimes even the smaller particles of flake foods. Yea, Jenny Craig would like him.
Jimmer, my tank is a 225g. It has lots of live rock, {although I just removed some} and only enough sandbed in the back, for the leopard to sleep & hide in. I dont have a refugium. However lots of the rock is over 10yrs old and lots of pods. There are several rubble piles in the tank, where pods seem to reproduce & hide better.
I also use pretty passive filtration. I have a 6ft. counter current skimmer, with low flow. I also run a large algae turf scrubber, that in itself is friendly to pod type life.
I also have a low fish load. Only a scopas tang, my pair of cinnamon clowns, the leopard & the mandarin. Now that they are well established, I am adding about 10 jumbo geen chromis. They are fed several times/day, which helps also.
Once your tank is well established and you have pods running around, then one can make mini refigiums in the tank for them to hide. Rubble piles work well. Also calerpa algae gives them hidey places. I have also seen mini eggcrate refugiums in aquarium work well.
I also agree on the larger tank for them, unless fed with a good producing refugium. If they eat introduced foods like mine, thats a bonus, but should not be counted on. As Johnny says, many starve.
Some aquarists hatch their own baby brine shrimp for them to eat, when their is a pod shortage. I think they also learn to eat other foods from the rest of the fish. Mine use to watch his buddy, the leopard wrasse, chasing frozen brine and decided one day to try it. Never looked back since. Eats frozen brine, bloodworms & mysis shrimp. Sometimes even the smaller particles of flake foods. Yea, Jenny Craig would like him.
Jimmer, my tank is a 225g. It has lots of live rock, {although I just removed some} and only enough sandbed in the back, for the leopard to sleep & hide in. I dont have a refugium. However lots of the rock is over 10yrs old and lots of pods. There are several rubble piles in the tank, where pods seem to reproduce & hide better.
I also use pretty passive filtration. I have a 6ft. counter current skimmer, with low flow. I also run a large algae turf scrubber, that in itself is friendly to pod type life.
I also have a low fish load. Only a scopas tang, my pair of cinnamon clowns, the leopard & the mandarin. Now that they are well established, I am adding about 10 jumbo geen chromis. They are fed several times/day, which helps also.
Once your tank is well established and you have pods running around, then one can make mini refigiums in the tank for them to hide. Rubble piles work well. Also calerpa algae gives them hidey places. I have also seen mini eggcrate refugiums in aquarium work well.
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