Do people have success with mandarin fish?

[epstein]

I have a spotted mandarin in my 92 as well as a red spotted blenny and they simply ignore each other.....I have a refuge with tons of pods and quite frankly every 2 months I turn off all the pumps......when the fish have been sleeping .....I the go to the bottom of the tank and release a full bottle of live copods......Overkill maybe ...but ya gotta see how fat they get.......

[Rae C.]

I just got one on Sunday, I'm so excited! The tank is 5+ years old, I don't see pods in the DT, but they are in the fuge, big ones too. It pecks at the rocks and looks lively, doesn't mind being in the open. I watched the LFS feed blood worms to his DT before I bought it. It snatched up several worms while I watched.

How do they sleep? This morning I came downstairs to prepare breakfast and it was very still in the front bottom corner of the tank, with sand on it's back and lower fins. There were no worms or snails or hermits close to it, so I'm hoping it's not diseased or dying.

When I came back after waking the kids, it had disappeared. Whataya think? Is it okay? I'm at work and dying to get home to check on it.

[Paul B]

I have a spotted mandarin in my 92 as well as a red spotted blenny and they simply ignore each other

I also have a mandarin and red scooter bleeny that ignore each other.
I would not get a mandarin if I had to feed it but thats just me.
I think they should have enough pods to fend for themselves.
They are a long lived no maintenance beautiful fish.

[cjilge]

out-

no worries, they often look dead when they sleep. Mine has a particular spot she likes to sleep in, and turns sort of whitish grey in color. Scared me the first time I saw her, but it seems to be normal. I've only had mine for three months but she came from a fellow reefer locally that is millitary and having to move. She was ridiculasly fat when I got her and still is. The pods in my tank were easily in the millions @ the time I put her in. You would have to wipe the glass off to see past them. It was crazy. I still have tons and she is fat and happy.
Good luck!

[Rae C.]

cjilge, thanx so muchfor the reassurance. I'm home now, and "Citrus," as the kids call her, is busy pecking away at the rocks. Phew!

[lastduke]

It is my problem now, but not the clowns, but snails......
I feed the clown by the pellet first on the surface, then turn off the circulation pump to feed the mysis for the madarin. problem is madarin is toooo slow, it watches the mysis at least 10 sec before peck it. My nass snails are crazy to the mysis on the sandbed, they eat much faster than madarin. so I have to overfeed my tank, then skim the extra food out.

Originally posted by 1DeR9_3Hy
Random question:

How do Mandarins do with a pair of clowns and a damsel as tank mates? I am mostly concerned with competition for food, but i feed the damsel/clowns daily at the surface....would this be a possible problem?

[Rae C.]

I started feeding the tank with a cube of blood worms, my clowns really have no interest in it, so they aren't competing with my mandarin. The clowns love their pellets and flakes!

I doubt the clowns or the damsel will compete for the pods. However, if there aren't enough hidey holes, they may bully the mandarin...