Mandarin question

[OrlandoReef]

So I started my tank about two months ago. Refugium set up right after cycle, about two months. I’ve since then put in three different pod poplulations and have an insane amount on my glass in dt and in refugium. Should I wait the recommended 6 months before a pair of mandarin gobies or seeing so much it’s safe to say they have a good source. I already feed live bbs to the fish I have every so often so they will have that options as well. Thoughts??
Tank is a 130 display with 30 gallon sump

 

[mrpontiac80]

So I started my tank about two months ago. Refugium set up right after cycle, about two months. I’ve since then put in three different pod poplulations and have an insane amount on my glass in dt and in refugium. Should I wait the recommended 6 months before a pair of mandarin gobies or seeing so much it’s safe to say they have a good source. I already feed live bbs to the fish I have every so often so they will have that options as well. Thoughts??
Tank is a 130 display with 30 gallon sump

I waited 3 yrs before finally getting one myself because I was worried about its food source. I finally ordered one through my lfs direct from ORA. He is little like .5-3/4” but ora says they raise them on other foods. I’d probably go that route hoping it wouldn’t rely on pods alone. I’m just throwing out my thoughts… good luck they are awesome fish!

 

[stevolough]

If you have a good lfs to get one from they can tell you if they’re taking other foods. I recently watched one eat pellets at one of mine

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally I would suggest to wait a year, let the pods establish a reproducing population in your system. People underestimate how much these fish eat, until they've had the sad experience of watching them starve to death, I been there already, not again.

 

[DrkNMighty]

Do you have plans for any other fish that will consume pods? Are you planning for captive bred mandarins? Captive bred should take live, frozen, and pellets. At least mine does. I feel they can decimate a pod population pretty quickly. It might seem like a lot of pods but these fish will hunt all day until lights out. I have one in a 40g display with about 20g sump and I still will sometimes top off with additional pods because I feel like I’m not seeing enough.

 

[OrlandoReef]

I live next to top shelf and world wide corals I’m sure they can send me on the right path. If not I will be patient. Just got excited when I seen all the pods

 

[OrlandoReef]

Do you have plans for any other fish that will consume pods? Are you planning for captive bred mandarins? Captive bred should take live, frozen, and pellets. At least mine does. I feel they can decimate a pod population pretty quickly. It might seem like a lot of pods but these fish will hunt all day until lights out. I have one in a 40g display with about 20g sump and I still will sometimes top off with additional pods because I feel like I’m not seeing enough.

No I am avoiding having any other fish that are known to eat pods for this reason

 

[twentyleagues]

I had mandarins before they were getting them to breed. Both of mine eventually took to frozen foods and one would even eat the occasional pellet. The problem is their slow feed response. With other more aggressive feeders in the tank not much is left for these guys by the time they decide to eat. They also really need to eat more often they are pretty active and have pretty short digestive tracts. So a good population or continual adds of copepods is needed. Id say even with a large population youll need to add more on a regular basis, I'd have to harvest my refugium once a week to keep a noticeable pod population in the DT. I also was able to feed rotifers and bbs regularly as I bred clown fish and always had these on hand.

 

[Tired]

That tank's definitely big enough to support a mandarin, assuming your rockscape isn't absurdly minimalist, but it wouldn't hurt to wait a bit longer.

Also, go for a Biota or ORA one. Captive-bred mandarins do much better in aquaria, plus I personally don't like to put any money towards wild-caught mandarins, since IMO this is a species that shouldn't be wild-caught. Just bred. Plus, the captive-bred ones arrive at an absolutely adorable size.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I got my mandarin, a big male, at 11 weeks into my tank being up.

I added tisbe pods into my fuge while it was still cycling, about a week after my chaeto went in, both of those came early, I was planning on waiting for diatoms to show up before adding them, or at least wanted to wait for fish to be present.

The pods survived, not a huge population on the glass, but there were some. I saw the mandarin at an LFS and I debated getting it, decided not to without pods on hand to add, but was told by another customer coral shop near by sold pods, I got the mandarin. I then went to the coral place to find out they do not sell pods anymore.

I ordered a jar of eco pods, didn't come for about 2 weeks due to temps. The mandarin was pecking some so I guess it was getting food, and by 13 weeks into the 75g display/20g sump with 6 gallon total volume fuge being up, the day before my eco pods went in, the mandarin was noticeably fatter than the day I got it. It to this day, 13 months later, it still has not eaten anything that wasn't alive, and I never added pods again until this last 2 month when I started culturing them.

If I was you, after my experience, I would be nurvous about a pair, would def dose foods for the pods and start a culture, but odds are as long as your pods have a food source, you should be golden, and as long as the pods have had 30 days for a life cycle to complete and you still see adults, I would def get the pair.

If your fugs has chaeto, I would give ut a good shake every couple days to send pods to the display, even if it has good flow or is tumbling. I would also make sure to run an opposite day night cycle with your fuge so when the DT is on, the pods wake up and slowly get sent into the DT while lights are on there. They are nocturnal crustaceans and I think it helps keep a steady supply making their way up through your return.

Id make sure if you have mechanical filtration between your fuge and return, that it will let pods through.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Another thing, I've had issues with no nutrients available, and I think it was due to fuge with chaeto starting so early. If you are running chaeto already, I would keep an eye on nutrie ts and make sure you have some phosphates and nitrates measurable. I've gotten dinos every time I let them bottom out, and both the dino outbreaks I have had, i see less pods. Also I think algae/diatom growth is hugely important for the pods, so you need something to have a little bit of growth for them to eat on. I would also dose a little bit of silica after your diatom phase is over for a month or two, I don't think this is highly recomended, but I do know pod cultures do way better if you feed them diatoms every couple generations. I know of several pod vendors who mention they have far fewer crashes if they give their pods diatoms at least every 7 generations or they do crash. I dose sponge excel from brightwell every so often to make sure there is a food source for diatoms. You don't need to match the directions dosage and can go as low as a couple drops every couple weeks, unless you want/have sponges.

 

[Tired]

I ordered a jar of eco pods, didn't come for about 2 weeks due to temps. The mandarin was pecking some so I guess it was getting food,

Quick note: mandarins will peck whether or not there's actual food to peck. They'll peck bare rock.