I'm starting the research of stocking my tank and my wife and I really like the mandarin. I have started researching the fact that you need to feed them copepods. Im just starting to work out, do you keep buying copepods, have a good enough refugium that the copepods stay stable or do one of these pvc/coke bottle diy stations?
Mandarin owners
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Pods will develop naturally with live rock and time
In my experience, the copepod population is large enough to keep mandarins after about 6 months. You shouldn't have to do anything special, the pods will sustain themselves. Target mandarins will often take prepared food, unlike regular mandarins. Hope this helps
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You need an established tank, over 50 gallons (generalization), with live rock, etc...
recommend a fuge at least in the beginning
Plan on stocking once a month from a variety of places such as reef2go and many more
buy some Nutramar-ova, they love this frozen food as a supplement...and it's the best when trying to get difficult fish to eat in QT.
Have some sand & rubble rock areas and don't clean the back of the glass in your tank.
ORA also has a Mandarin or 2...
recommend a fuge at least in the beginning
Plan on stocking once a month from a variety of places such as reef2go and many more
buy some Nutramar-ova, they love this frozen food as a supplement...and it's the best when trying to get difficult fish to eat in QT.
Have some sand & rubble rock areas and don't clean the back of the glass in your tank.
ORA also has a Mandarin or 2...
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no need to buy pods they will show up with one of your purchases. but in my experience pods will thrive as long as you're feeding the tank enough food daily. i had a mandarin for 2 years and i decided to cut back on my feeding to every other day and less food per feeding to help cut down on phates and trates. and a couple months later my mandarin died. i noticed him get skinny and bought pods but by the time i did he was too far gone.
So I have a yellow watchmen goby and pistol shrimp in QT now, my tank should be up in 2 weeks and I plan on cycling that and then moving my goby. My other fish will be two firefish, a pair of clowns of unknown specifics, and flame angel. should the mandarin go in before the clowns?
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+1 on waiting for an established tank. You CAN feed them but I would wait a while before I would get one if it were me.
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^^ this!
Nothing good happens fast in this hobby!!
Nothing good happens fast in this hobby!!
I added a mandarin a few months ago to my 90 gallon reef. My tank has been running for a little over a year, is very stable and established, with a lot of live rock and a fuge. I have never added pods to the tank but I know they are in there as I see them on the glass and in the fuge. My mandarin is constantly picking at the live rock and is doing very well.
I wanted a mandarin from day one but waited a year until I knew my tank was more than ready to sustain one.
I wanted a mandarin from day one but waited a year until I knew my tank was more than ready to sustain one.
I added 4000 pods to my 45 with live rock after it was cycled and added my pretty guy 3 months later. It has been a year and he is a fat happy fish.
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I waited until I started to constantly see pods on the rocks and glass before i added mine. Within a month, i started never seeing them. After that I started to add them monthly just to be on the safe side. I've kept mine for a little over three years, and he eats frozen now.
I am looking at getting one as well. Actually just posted about it last week. Lol basically the consensus is wait. At minimum six months. My 130 gallon is established but I'm still holding off a few more months. I've got everything from ZOA's to pulsating xenia to frogspawn growing great even have a clam that popped up but I'm still waiting. The first fire fish I got didn't make it but he's been the only death so far. I cycled fishless and then still added stability before adding anything living. And so far so good. My firefish I have now swims round like he owns the place. My yellow watchman goby darts out and grabs food them swims back to his hole! He keeps his head poked out and swims up to the glass when you look at him. Lol very personable. The best thing you can do with this hobby is be patient and wait. And check the for sale section everyday. You can find great people practically giving stuff way. I got 3 175 mh ballasts plus 8 bulbs for 210 bucks. I priced everything and it was well above 1200 dollars worth of equipment. I was very pleased. People here love to help. So listen well. Do your research then come ask. Everyone has opinions and different experience so find what works for you. But most of all. Wait. Things will happen on their own 9 times out of 10. If your vigilent and patient
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^ great advice!
Copepods eat microalgae and there for do not require anything but a relatively clean take in which microalgae can flourish.
Honestly in this situation more than likely had you have bought copepods your Mandarin may have lived. Typically Mandarins perish in this manner; owner believes they have the tank requirements met. They don't and over time the Mandarin depletes the food source and eventually dies.
That's a very proactive approach and one that people fail to see.
Very simply after lights out for an hour or more in a dark room take a flashlight and scan the tank. You should literally see thousands of copepods scattering in the sudden light. Periodically, do the same after you've have the Mandarin. If at any point you see a depletion you either need to buy food or ideally rehome until you have enough to sustain.
