Keeping the Mandarin

[Supernova26]

In a couple of month I want to add a green Mandarin to my tank. I have a 90 gallon tank with a 35 gallon sump. I have a fuge as part of the sump. I know that mandarins need TONS of pods to stay healthy. Right now in my tank I don't have any fish that consume pods for the simple reason as I want the pod population to be stable. Does anyone has any advice based on experience with the Mandarin. I am just curios to see what the success rate has been. I could get lucky and get one that takes frozen food.

[Coral Hind]

I have had really good success with them and they all would eat frozen brine after a few months. Feeding them live brine helps supplement the pods in your tank.

[BowieReefer84]

ORA now sells blue and target bred mandarins. They run about $70 each as compared to the $15-20 of a wild caught. They say they eat prepared foods.... Just a thought. You still need to feed them multiple times a day.

[Supernova26]

Wow you guys are fast. Thanks for the advice. Forgive my ingorance but is this ORA?

 

http://www.orafarm.com/

[fry_school101]

Yes, that's them.

[bcjm]

Does anyone know where to find the mandarins bred by ORA?

[quazi]

BRK - http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/40203-ora-spotted-mandarins-back-in-stock/

[BowieReefer84]

Sometimes the ORA mandarins pop up on Live Aquaria divers den... BRK is the better bet if they have them in stock.

[bcjm]

Just checked. They are not cheap!!!

[gwweber]

come on i have a psycho mand and he was picky till i fed him live brine and tricked him into eating frozen. EASY and they are cheap too

[BowieReefer84]

come on i have a psycho mand and he was picky till i fed him live brine and tricked him into eating frozen. EASY and they are cheap too

 

How long have you had him? Do you soak the brine at all? How often do you feed him? Sorry for all the questions. I really want one as well, but don't want to kill it...

 

I think these questions will benefit the OP as well.

[dbartco]

I say support captive bred if you can. If you go wild, make sure you can put the time in to get them weened

[Supernova26]

Yes please. As much info as possible would be appreciate it. You could save a mandarin's life. . One thing that I noticed in my DT is that a week after I introduced a six line wrasse in there the pod population was decimated and the six line was fat. I got rid of the six line as I don't want anything to compete with the mandarin for food. Obviosly if you have a 300 gallon reef you can pretty much keep whatever you want in there but once you get under 100gallon you might have a problem. Just my 2¢

Edited January 20, 2011 by Supernova26

[extreme_tooth_decay]

I had good success keeping one for years in a tank with very few pods due to all the cleaner and peppermint shrimp and crabs I had.

 

At first I would squirt PE mysis near him with a turkey baster.

 

After a short time, it was unnecessary, he would swim up and actively compete for PE mysis.

 

He was usually quite fat.

 

I fed the tank once per day.

 

Edited January 20, 2011 by extreme_tooth_decay

[beatle]

What a fattie! I had a mandarin in my 90 with a 30 gal sump for close to 2 years before I sold him and the tank. I think youll be fine as long as there isnt much competition for pods.

[Chad]

I also saw ORA mandarins in Marine Scene last week.

[Dtip]

If you are really concerned that your mandarin isn't getting enough in the way of pods, and isn't taking enough supplementary food (even well trained ones can get sick or picky), you could always consider setting up a dedicated pod farm tank, one not directly connected to the main system. I've known several different people that grew them with various methods (though none just to feed mandarins specifically), most of them fairly cheap and easy to set up if you have a spare 10gal, air pumps (since regular pumps can chew up the pods), etc. Worth a try in you have the space for a little low-maintenance farm.