Green Mandarin

[aggie112]

Hey y'all! I'm planning on adding a green mandarin to my tank in a couple days. Any good foods they take to better than others? I know it's hard to get them to eat frozen stuff so I was just gonna see if anyone knew of something they like. Thanks in advance!

[Canadian Reefer]

how old and how big is your tank? they are pretty specific eaters and will starve in alot of aquariums

[90GalFOWLR]

Originally Posted by aggie112

Hey y'all! I'm planning on adding a green mandarin to my tank in a couple days. Any good foods they take to better than others? I know it's hard to get them to eat frozen stuff so I was just gonna see if anyone knew of something they like. Thanks in advance!

Dont do it! What are some more details about your setup. I say dont do it because it sounds as if you are expecting him to eat prepared food. He will NOT. They eat Copepods and only them. If you have a healthy population in your tank he will be good. If not, he will starve to death. If you have a refugium populated with pods you should be good. Otherwise forget about it even though they are so cool looking.

I had to purchase a sump/refugium and other stuff to set it up and stock it because of an ill-informed purchase of one.... the store told me they eat prepared food too.

[aggie112]

well 30g and a few months, but i have copepods running amuck in there.

[disc1]

I was researching mandarins on the forum the other night and came across a post where someone was talking about where to get mandarins that are already trained on frozen mysis. Can't find the thread now. Does anyone know? It was an acronym like OAR or ORA or something like that.

[2Addicted]

Originally Posted by aggie112

well 30g and a few months, but i have copepods running amuck in there.

A mandarin wont survive in there.

[neoalchemist74]

Originally Posted by disc1

i was researching mandarins on the forum the other night and came across a post where someone was talking about where to get mandarins that are already trained on frozen mysis. Can't find the thread now. Does anyone know? It was an acronym like oar or ora or something like that.

ora

[Canadian Reefer]

+1 on the mandarin not surviving in a 30g, sorry it will starve. I also read that ORA has tank raised mandarins that will eat prepared foods

[90GalFOWLR]

30 is small, he will consume the pods and starve. They are more expensive but ORA has genetically engineered (or whatever you call it) Mandarins that eat prepared food.

[disc1]

Genetically engineered sounds so scary to some people. Lets say selectively bred.

[olemiss reb]

As stated above, no matter how many pods you see- a 30 gallon is a death sentence. ORA, Ocean, Reefs, and Aquariums is an aquaculture company that has released mandarins that are feeding on nutramar ova and nls small fish formula. There is no guarantee that they will accept prepared foods and the thread in the reef fishes section can attest to that fact. Weening a mandarin to frozen or pellet is not easy and in a 30 will result in a slow death by starvation.

[Lynnmw1208]

can't you add pods every day? You can get them live on liveaquaria.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...93&pcatid=2593

[90GalFOWLR]

yeah but that will get very expensive very quick.

[rayn]

So if the 30 is to small, then what is needed? 40, 50, 120? I am running a 120 with a 55 sump that has a fuge with a dsb and I was still waiting to get one of these. What are the requirements?

[PerezAF01]

My mandarin started off as a strict pod eater but started tasting everything i threw in there. Now it eats pods, frozen mysis and frozen and live brine shrimp. Dont ask how I did it cause I dont know. I am very lucky to have one that eats all that. Its all up to chance. For a 30 gal, I wouldnt risk it unless you can find someone that is selling one that eats frozen food.

[scubasteve06]

The pod population in a 30g tank without a sump/fuge will run out quickly and he/she will starve. ORA mandarin's are a neat thing, but as some have said its not guaranteed they will eat mysis or nls. I have a red scooter dragonet which I know are a little easier to get feeding prepared foods but before I bought him I had asked the lady at one of my lfs to see if he would eat mysis. They used a turkey baster that they started with live baby brine in that he would eat. Then they started mixing in pe mysis enriched with garlic and he ate that. Finally he was totally weaned off of brine after almost 2 weeks she said. I feed him kent zooplex and pe mysis with a little ocean nutrition prime reef thrown in there and kent extreme garlic added to it through a turkey baster with a piece of air line tubing attached to it and get it close to his mouth and slowly squirt the food to him. It takes preparation, time, and diligence which is why I haven't got a mandarin yet. And that no one can tell me if a red dragonet male and a mandarin male will get along.

[Mavrk]

Originally Posted by scubasteve06

And that no one can tell me if a red dragonet male and a mandarin male will get along.

More than one male in the Callionymidae family requires a very large tank or there will be fighting.

You can have as many females as your tank can handle

[Jstdv8]

need a sump to grow pods in where they can't be eaten.

[veocool]

Back in 01 I had a green mandarin in a 40 gal breeder that lived for years until I got out of the hobby in 04. ORA mandarins didn't even exist at that time I sold him back to the LFS I bought him from for 1/2 of what I paid. He was fat mandarin when I picked him up already and greedily ate frozen brine shrimp even at the store which is why I bought him. They are out there and are rare.

[Acefspds]

Not all Mandarins will starve in a 30g. True in most cases they will starve. I am not telling you to go out and get one. These fish are finicky eaters like people have said above but I do not want you to think it is not possiable.

This is Mandy. She has been living in a NC28 for right around a year now. She eats just about anything I put in the tank. She loves H20 Life Spirulina Brine Shrimp/Mysis.



I also have a pair in a 60g that eat from a baister. It took me about 2-4 months to get them to accept frozen foods. It takes them forever to try something. Now everytime the pumps go off both Mandarins are looking for the baister. During those 2-4 months they did stay rather skinny. Never getting smaller but they never seamed to get bigger.

[MMA]

I don't think the poster is serious. Probably a joke.

[reefer4ever]

I think hes for real. Just another stupid newby thinking he can get any fish just because it looks cool not knowing he WILL kill it.

[Gfsrepairs]

I got 3 different dragonnets to eat frozen food, 3 different types, 3 different tanks, 3 different suppliers. it's not hard if you have a steady supply of live brine shrimp. I got two different LFS that always have it. Once they eat the live brine, add 3/4 live 1/4 frozen, a week or so later 1/2 and 1/2, by this time i've had all three eating frozen brine. Then started mixing in mysis, blood worms. now they eat any frozen food I put in.

[aggie112]

another stupid newby? seriously? come on man, i just started and i post stuff to ask questions SO THAT I DON'T KILL ANYTHING...my bubble tip anemone and maroon clowns are doing great. If i can't find a mandarin that won't eat frozen stuff then i'll just wait. no big deal.

thanks everyone for all of the input!

[dots]

Originally Posted by reefer4ever

I think hes for real. Just another stupid newby thinking he can get any fish just because it looks cool not knowing he WILL kill it.

The "New to the Hobby Forum" is exactly the place to ask these questions. I would like to explain that the "New to the Hobby Forum" is the "shallow side" of the pool here, where we try to hold a higher degree of patience and understanding while helping our new friends get the information they need to be successful in the hobby......without fear of ridicule.

If one asks a question, they are usually halfway there already....which is why I there are no "stupid questions".

With that said, I see the majority of the posters haven't been on RC very long, so....when I say "Welcome to RC!!"....it goes out to the OP and those we may have missed along the way. Glad to have you here.

(And yes, the tank is on average found to be too small for this species to thrive. Even then, a larger tank should be set up for at least a year to make sure the population is well established as they hunt ALL day for pods)