Do you need to quarantine mandarins

[Hud]

I want to buy a mandarin for my 15 gallon reef.Don’t worry I have loads of copepods. I was wondering if you need to quarantine mandarins. Currently I have a clownfish in my tank. I don’t want to quarantine it because I don’t want to worry about not having copepods in the quarantine tank. I have also heard that they are pretty resilient to ich and stuff like that. So do I need to quarantine it?

 

[Wallace11]

There isn't a perfect answer to this, but if the only other fish in the tank is a clownfish I personally wouldn't quarantine the mandarin. Getting a captive bred one (Biota) will give you a much better success rate as they are going to be healthier and eat prepared foods (I've had mine for 4 years now in a 30 gal and she happily eats pellets and mysis). Lots of copepods is going to make things much easier.

 

[razorskiss]

Hi! Newbie here, how do you gauge the pod population in your tanks? Visual inspection? Looking at water under a microscope?

 

[Wallace11]

Hi! Newbie here, how do you gauge the pod population in your tanks? Visual inspection? Looking at water under a microscope?

There are numerous species of copepods but the ones that mandarins will eat are usually in the ~0.5-1.5 mm range. Algae Barn has a nice description of them on their web site. Best time to look for them is at night with the lights out - shine a flash light into the crevices of rocks and you should see them scurrying around (I have to put my reading glasses on or I miss them). If you have a lot of them they will also be on the glass. You can purchase pods from a number of places to seed/supplement your population if needed.

 

[Uncle99]

I do not for this fish only.
There not the most ick prone fish so risk is low IMM.

 

[ReefEco]

+1 on what Wallace11 said - if you are going to QT them, get tank-raised fish from Biota. Trying to get wild mandarins to eat enough in what is usually a sterile QT tank (meaning that you would have to feed live pods, which would also not have anything to eat and sustain themselves) would be a challenge I would think. Biota mandarins will come in small, so QT'ing them to get some weight on them, train them on prepared foods, etc. and get them a little larger is probably a good thing. That is my plan when I get my pair from Biota.

 

[Tonycass12]

I have a biota mandarin in qt finishing up copper power rn. Things have been going great since they easily feed on pellets. I wouldn't rely on the pod population in a 15gal lasting very long. Get a captive bred mandarin so you know if they wipe out the pods you can still feed pellets thats also way less expensive then constantly replenishing your pod population.

 

[nereefpat]

If the fish is coming straight from a captive breeder, then I wouldn't. If the fish makes any stops at a wholesaler or retailor, then I would.

 

[Hud]

If the fish is coming straight from a captive breeder, then I wouldn't. If the fish makes any stops at a wholesaler or retailor, then I would.

Ok thank you I’ll get it from biota or somewhere like that

 

[Hud]

I have a biota mandarin in qt finishing up copper power rn. Things have been going great since they easily feed on pellets. I wouldn't rely on the pod population in a 15gal lasting very long. Get a captive bred mandarin so you know if they wipe out the pods you can still feed pellets thats also way less expensive then constantly replenishing your pod population.

I will do that then thanks

 

[Hud]

+1 on what Wallace11 said - if you are going to QT them, get tank-raised fish from Biota. Trying to get wild mandarins to eat enough in what is usually a sterile QT tank (meaning that you would have to feed live pods, which would also not have anything to eat and sustain themselves) would be a challenge I would think. Biota mandarins will come in small, so QT'ing them to get some weight on them, train them on prepared foods, etc. and get them a little larger is probably a good thing. That is my plan when I get my pair from Biota.

That’s what I’ll do then thank you

 

[Hud]

I do not for this fish only.
There not the most ick prone fish so risk is low IMM.

I think I’ll get a captive bred one and not quarantine thank you

 

[Hud]

Hi! Newbie here, how do you gauge the pod population in your tanks? Visual inspection? Looking at water under a microscope?

Once you see them on the glass of your tank