Mandarin, Should I or Should I Not

[Darwin stinton]

I want to get a Biota Mandarin, BUT i have an aggressive Flame Angle and Blue Damsel. I'm very reluctant to get a little Mandarin, Opinions Please.

Thanks

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Your gut already told you I think.

 

[OrionN]

Flame angel really compete with Mandarin for food. This is more of a problem. You need to find a way to feed the Mandarin in peace. The angel will not attack the Mandarin. In tanks up to 100 gals, it either or, not both unless you take time to feed Mandarin with a Mandarin feeder, similar or the same as Paul B devised for his Mandarin.
Regarding damsels really depends on the species. My Azure damsel (C. hemicyanea), and Yellowtail Blue damsel (C. parasema) did not bother my Mandarin. I have never keep any other damsels other than the two docile brilliantly colored damsels above

 

[S.O.MLemos]

Mandarins are the main reason I got into this hobby but that being said I lost my first one(green mandarin) because I didn’t realize how many pods they need to survive. Whatever you decide to do I hope you have a refugium or are willing to buy copepods very often. My spotted mandarin is doing great now but his only competition is a rainford goby so they both get fed plenty. As for the damsels I think we all get them as starters because they are so bright blue, cheap and small but in reality they are the spawn of Satan. Save yourself so much trouble and remove him now. Flame angels are gorgeous but I’d never have one in my current tank due to aggression and I like my LPS(although I have a coral beauty which is getting better at leaving my corals alone) that’s just my thoughts.

 

[Darwin stinton]

Thank you all, I really appreciate your input. The Damsel is the hemicyanea and the goby I'm not sure about, all I know is its a sand sifter. My tank is a 120 gallon with lots of rock and under the rock spaces that the goby makes that maybe the Mandarin could use. I have a large 30 gallon sump with Mangrove and also pump overflow water from this sump to a 20 gallon breeder that is full of cheato, red gracilaria and caulerpa. I also have filled it with Algae Barn Pods which I can see but I can not see them in the main display. I could put the Mandarin in the refuguim but then I wouldn't enjoy him as much and the light is bright red. I also have been making my own phytoplankton to feed my pods/tank as well. Again thank you.

 

[OrionN]

What other fish do you have? Sound like your tank will be just fine for a Mandarin, especially if he is a tank raised Mandarin that eat prepared food. Look up Paul B mandarin feeder. He use it to feed his very fat Mandarin.

Here is the link to this thread here on Reef2reef
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thanks-paulb-mandarin-feeder.263752/

 

[S.O.MLemos]

120 gallon with sump??? Yeah I definitely think you’ll be ok to add him, I only have a 55&20 and my mandarin stays nice and plump with 10 other fish in the tank but watch that damsel. (Sorry I’m very biased against damsels and coral banded shrimp lol)

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree, that barring any major pod eaters, this setup sounds great for a mandarin.

 

[Wiz]

I have flame angel and a velvet damsel. I find that most fish completly ignore dragonets. Not sure why but never had any issue. I think because they occupy different niches. I would worry more about food. My flame does not pick rocks. Nor the damsel. I would think wrasses and other pickers would be more of a food source worry. Either way a very thriving pod populstion in a remote fuge is almost nesasary. Unless you find the illusive frozen eating specimen.

 

[OrionN]

I have a 65 gal system thriving and very fat Mandarin for over 1 year until I added a Flame Angel. Over the next 6 months the Mandarin got thinner and thinner. I have to relocate him to my other system then he get fat again. I love Mandarin but absolutely cannot keep them in my 320 DT because I have a numbers of Carpet anemones in them. Food is not a problem, other than the Mandarin becomes anemone's food.
I keep Mandarin in a 28 gal cube healthy for long duration. He was the only fish other than a pair of clown. I used very course shell over fine sand as the sand bed. In that tank, with no sump, the fauna live and breed in the cracks and crevices provided by the coarse shell substrate.

 

[MaiReef]

I have Flame and Coral Beauty with 2 Damsels and a Chromis. With the feeder from Paul B and feeding baby brine my Spotted Mandarin does fine. He sits near the feeder. If I were to do it again, I would not have the angels with a Mandarin as the pod population does get taken down even with a good sized refugium.

No one touches the Mandarin though, just a competition for broadcast food and pods.

 

[OrionN]

I only have one case of Mandarin attacked by another fish.
Years ago, I keep a 420 gal DT with Mandarin pair and Sixline Wrasse pair. They were together for over a year. All 4 fish were fat and the Mandarin spawned at least 3 times a week.
One day out of the blue, the Sixline pair coordinated an attack on my female Mandarin right as I was watching. With in 15 seconds they dived at her. One peck out one eye and the other pecked out the other eye. After they accomplished their mission, they completely ignored her. Needless to say, I trapped and got the Sixline pair and take them to the LFS (for free) and euthanized the female Mandarin when she was skin and bone.
I have not keep lined wrasse species since this event.

 

[jx fang]

Also if you are using maxspect gyre or any other pumps that has a big gap between the rotors, becarefull keeping a mandarin fish.
Mandarin fish sometimes likes to floats at night, a kind like sleep walking.
Mine get caught in a gyre, her mouth got damaged, still not healed after several months.
I'm afraid it will never heal completely.
Luckily she didn't died from infection.
This mandarin eat pellets, only green color pellets, don't know why.
I want to keep her alive as long as I can.
One of my favorite fish.

 

[NS Mike D]

I have Flame and Coral Beauty with 2 Damsels and a Chromis. With the feeder from Paul B and feeding baby brine my Spotted Mandarin does fine. He sits near the feeder. If I were to do it again, I would not have the angels with a Mandarin as the pod population does get taken down even with a good sized refugium.

No one touches the Mandarin though, just a competition for broadcast food and pods.

my yellow watchman goby will attack the mandarin when it wanders over to its territory although my mandarin ignores the pecks.

chromis are aggressive feeders (as are clowns) and will out-compete for the mandarin for small food like shrimp eggs, baby brine etc. paul b's feeder helps. Thus be prepared for higher nutrients in case you DT cannot naturally replenish the pod population faster than the mandarin can pick it off .

#40B Knasty has a good thread raising pods for his mandarin worth looking into

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tigger-tisbe-pods.339906/