2 Mandarins in 125 gallon?

[harrylikesfish]

So I want to keep a pair of mandarins in my planned 125 gallon w/ 55 gallon sump, but I’m afraid that they would devastate the pod populations. Could a tank this size support 2 mandarins? 5 inch sand bed, 180 pounds of live rock, and ~30 gallon refugium.

 

[92Miata]

Spend some extra cash and buy some captive bred ones from Biota - they'll take prepared food - and then you don't have to worry too much.

 

[LesPoissons]

How long has the tank been running or is this a future tank? Is there a refugium? I would say the ideal way to do it would be to have it running a year with a fuge, dump in a big bottle of pods, and add 1 mandarin at a time. You can always supplement pods or culture your own. Id say the tank should be able to support 2 though.

 

[LesPoissons]

Spend some extra cash and buy some captive bred ones from Biota - they'll take prepared food - and then you don't have to worry too much.

+1 This is a great idea

 

[jeffrey750750]

Has anyone ordered the biota mandarins, what other food will they accept?

 

[andrewkw]

A pair might be fine but there is a good chance they will fight especially if you get 2 males.

 

[harrylikesfish]

How long has the tank been running or is this a future tank? Is there a refugium? I would say the ideal way to do it would be to have it running a year with a fuge, dump in a big bottle of pods, and add 1 mandarin at a time. You can always supplement pods or culture your own. Id say the tank should be able to support 2 though.

It’s still in the planning stage. Of course I’ll wait a year or so for the pods to develop.

A pair might be fine but there is a good chance they will fight especially if you get 2 males.

Should I get 2 females or a male and female?

 

[Crustaceon]

#1 You’d have to get a male & female. Mandarins are murderously aggressive towards conspecific species.

#2 You’ll have to continuously restock pods (probably every two weeks). It doesn’t matter how many pods your system has when you first plop a mandarin in. I’ve had tanks with panels absolutely covered in pods and a few weeks later, they were all gone. I highly recommend looking into either getting a mated pair that already eats frozen brine/mysis or considering training them yourself, which takes a little diligence and patience, but makes your mandarins FAR less dependent on pods.

 

[NashobaTek]

I have 3 in mine. 2 females and a male. They don't fight at all. They travel together and cover the whole tank. I feed brine shrimp hatch and pods. All 3 are fat and growing fast. I bought them from saltwater fish.

I did this intentionally to have a breeding population. In the wild 1 male breeds with every female in his territory

 

[najer]

Seed the tank now, feed live phyto and give it a year, lots of fish, creatures and corals eat pods also imo.

 

[harrylikesfish]

#1 You’d have to get a male & female. Mandarins are murderously aggressive towards conspecific species.

#2 You’ll have to continuously restock pods (probably every two weeks). It doesn’t matter how many pods your system has when you first plop a mandarin in. I’ve had tanks with panels absolutely covered in pods and a few weeks later, they were all gone. I highly recommend looking into either getting a mated pair that already eats frozen brine/mysis or considering training them yourself, which takes a little diligence and patience, but makes your mandarins FAR less dependent on pods.

I’ll transition them to frozen as soon as I can.

 

[nereefpat]

A male and female will be fine in a 125 with that much rock and a fuge, providing you wait until the tank is ready.

 

[harrylikesfish]

A male and female will be fine in a 125 with that much rock and a fuge, providing you wait until the tank is ready.

Cool thanks.