Patnala's Mandrin
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firsttime
Well-Known Member
Do you add pods externally? or just whatever grows in the tank/fuge
I love mandrins! I have heard they are starting to breed them and the babies are eating pellets but they do not breed very fast and of course they will be more expensive then wild caught.
How large is your tank? When was it set-up? How much live rock do you have? Refugium?
firsttime
Well-Known Member
50Breeder - Its an old setup 2+ yrs setup. I have about 70 lbs inlcuding refugium.
The refugium is sand based with a bottom bed of refugium mud and it also has grape calupra
The tank is a little small for a mandarin, but I have seen smaller tanks successfully house them, but it will take some work. I would seed your refugium every month or so, at least for a few months to make sure there is PLENTY of pods. Doing a quick search I came up with this...
http://www.livecopepods.com
Never ordered from them but it looks decent.
http://www.livecopepods.com
Never ordered from them but it looks decent.
firsttime
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this information, I will definitely take a look at it.
Cuda
Hunter
Nice Male! I have had a pair in my tank for quite a while. They hunt pods all day long. The female sometimes follows the male like a train. Neat stuff.
I never added a pod ever and they got fat. It is key to have a big enough established tank with lots of live rock.They are know to starve to death.
I never added a pod ever and they got fat. It is key to have a big enough established tank with lots of live rock.They are know to starve to death.
Jason edwards
Active Member
Very cute male. I like the yellows in his face. I have 3 Mandarins in my 28gal nano cube. A breeding pair of Green Mandarins and a Spotted Mandarin (still looking for a female smaller than him) IMO training them onto frozen foods will be your best method for sucess. I seen you said that it eats mysis. I am going to go out on a limb and assume you mean frozen correct? I try and feed my Mandarins a litlte variety. Everything I feed gets soaked in Selcon or brightwells aminoOmega for about 15 mins prior to feeding. I turn the pumps and powerheads off (on a light switch) to feed. I use a Sea shell as a feeding dish to minimize waste. If there is anything left after about 20mins I feed it to my acan or sun coral. Its cute how they know when its feeding time when the water gets calm and they start circling the shell. They seem to be one of the smartest fish that I have dealt with and have not been difficult for me to train at all unlike I seem to hear preached. Breeding has slowed a bit with the introduction of the spotted male. He spends half the day chasing my female green and shes alitlte stressed. Im working on setting up a 75gal with a divider strictly for Mandarin breeding. oops sorry seems this turned into a hijack. OT I think the best thing you could possibly do is get this guy on a frozen diet (pods as snacks) I feed Frozen Mysis, Bloodworms, Rods (not a big hit) and I keep trying a few pellets but no one cares for them. I will go into more detail when I get home from work. Its hard to concentrate while typing/driving. I will subscribe to your thread if you have any questions please feel free to ask (im no expert). Ps this is my first post on this forum. I will start a intro thread when I get home.
ONe of my favs are the mandarins. My fourth fish (13 years ago) was a mandarin. They'd go on about how it wouldn't live more then 6 months in captivity (had it for four years, got it through near starvation from a six line, then a rock crab ate a whole in it...). It's home was a 40H that was initially only set up for about 4 months before I got him. Every one I've had has eaten frozen food within a few months, but be sure to keep plenty of pods around, too. Algae in the sump or in the tank (chaeto hidden behind rocks, rotated from the sump to the display, for example) can give them a place it hide in plain sight of the fishes. I sweated over it, but did an Interceptor treatment a few years back and the mandarin I had didn't skip a beat. Still had five fat rolls every time it "C'd" its' body. If you start with a healthy one, they are a lot hardier than many give them credit for.
firsttime
Well-Known Member
I am glad that I am getting a ton of information, please keep it coming. He eats frozen mysis so thats a savior for me. I mean there are pods but its not possible for me to tell if its depleting.
Jason edwards
Active Member
Mine have certain spots they sleep in. One sleeps up against the side of a powerhead in a verticle position. The other sleeps on a mushroom. The spotted I have no Idea but im assuming where ever it is hes dreaming about world domination.
I have never seen mine sleep.(215 with 300lbs LR) When the lights go out he still hunts pods for hours in the dark. You can buy live pods at Saltwater Aquarium Feeder Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Nutrimar Tigrio Bottled Copepods
they are expensive but on a smaller tanks with mandarins it necessary. One mandarin can wipe out pod population very quickly. I don't think the little guys can survive on just mysis.
they are expensive but on a smaller tanks with mandarins it necessary. One mandarin can wipe out pod population very quickly. I don't think the little guys can survive on just mysis.
I was under the impression that the tigerpods were a coldwater species that didn't do well in captivity. Anyone have knowledge about the differences?
