Poll: What is the minimum tank size for a Mandarin

[Susan Edwards]

I went bigger, just because a larger tank means more rock and sand for the pods, and usually a decent sized sump with fuge. I have one in a 66 gal AIO. I also cultivate pods and harvest and add to the rocks at night with a long oil funnel (for cars or trucks). Out of 2, 1 survived. 1 never looked good. First 2 died in QT. second 2 didn't go thru qt. He and my scooter blenny hunt pods all day. Have an order of pods coming in today or tomorrow to add more to the new tank set up--to the fuge which has rocks and some macro algae. Also have chaeto coming. I'll add some of the pods to my 2 cultures to freshen the stock, rest into the fuge.

I don't think I'll add one to the new tank. Maybe a ruby red dragonet though.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

IMO. Ime. In a smaller tank , use caution. Forget chasing your nutint numbers. Your going to have to feed it. Youre also feeding the bugs. Bugs are like cockroaches. If there is a lot of available food, you’ll have a lot of bugs.
Tank size will also depend on tank mates. A fish that competes for bugs in a tiny tank won’t work with a Mandy in ime and in observation here of others tanks.
Fish have personality. My current Mandy is all over the tank all day long.
Some mandarins have been reported to eat nothing but bugs and never seen eating prepared. Some have been seen eating LRS.

I personally would never reccomend one in a 30 unless it’s species specific as a consideration. They also get big. And defiantly not for the newb or faint of heart when it comes to nutrient testing.

Ime with biota fish, they still retain wild hunting instincts. So it’s not a guarantee of success.


Ps, it’s a Mandarin thread, where’s the pics ??!
BUBBA

 

[40B Knasty]

It is not about the tank size. It is about the math of keeping one. A 30g tank will work for the size of the fish. You can not expect the population of these pods to stay up to par(500 minimum) in a display tank under a 120g w/ 120lbs of rock work and with a 60g refugium. Also pending on the pod type you choose to have. Tigger pods will not live very well going through an impeller VS a Tisbe pod would be fine. Then you also have to factor in your fish that do eat pods that are visible like the Tigger pods vs Tisbe pods that are not very visible, because of the color and size difference. Also Tigger pods live in tide pools. Not the open ocean. So putting them in a DT which has a lot of movement might not be a very good environment for a chance of survival rate or breeding. Hence why you need a refugium to sustain a good environment for the pods to breed in.
Doing a BBS feeding station is a good idea to add to their daily feeding, but from experience with both pods and BBS. The BBS feeding station and BBS themselves are not something they can survive very well on. It is more of band-aid. Not the solution to success.
Best bet which I have done is setup 2x 5g tanks. Put a bottle of Tigger pods in each from Reef Nutrition. Let the population grow. 1 female Tigger Pod can have a clutch of eggs 10x in their life cycle. That means in 3 months if you have 2000 pods in a bottle. 1/2 of them are females. You can have up to 300,000 Tigger pods in 3 months. Then you can keep a dragonet in a 30g+, because you will have 2x 5g tank with 600,000 pods and that is without their babies having babies.
I say Reef Nutrition Tigger pods to be used, because of the place they are collected from. They can handle a lot better temperature and salinity swings making them the most optimal pod for keeping a dragonet healthy due to their nutritional value of Omega 3 which is great for a fishes slime coat helping them or any fish that eats the pods less susceptible to marine parasites like ich and velvet.

 

[LetItReef]

I know that people do this. I would like to know if anyone has kept a mandarin alive for more than 2 years by spot feeding. I just don't see how it would work unless you are spot feeding every 15 to 20 minutes through the day. I love watching my Mandarin and it is very unusual for him to go 20 seconds without eating a pod. I don't see how spot feeding can replicate that for long term results.

The purpose of the 10g is to only train to eat frozen; once trained the transfer tank should have pods/live brine available.
One of the lfs here in my area that sells Mandarin is training to eat frozen then sell it. The one that eats frozen costs a little more.

 

[40B Knasty]

The purpose of the 10g is to only train to eat frozen; once trained the transfer tank should have pods/live brine available.
One of the lfs here in my area that sells Mandarin is training to eat frozen then sell it. The one that eats frozen costs a little more.

You can not buy a mandarin even if trained to eat frozens expecting them to stay eating frozens. This is a BIG misconception of the fish that leads to a lot of their deaths. Instead of paying $30 extra for a fish thinking it will be like this forever. Spend that money on a bottle of pods, bag of raw 100% spirulina powder, a 5g air pump, and a tank to have a sure bet for success of keeping a dragonet with a population of your own pods on hand.

 

[LetItReef]

You can not buy a mandarin even if trained to eat frozens expecting them to stay eating frozens. This is a BIG misconception of the fish that leads to a lot of their deaths. Instead of paying $30 extra for a fish thinking it will be like this forever. Spend that money on a bottle of pods, bag of raw 100% spirulina powder, a 5g air pump, and a tank to have a sure bet for success of keeping a dragonet with a population of your own pods on hand.

There is no such thing a forever. It is nice to have a Mandarin that eats frozen then ofcourse pods/live brine should be available too.

 

[estebanb450]

I have one for 2.5 years nice and fat. Started in a 20 long with like 60 pound live rock now in a 50 with like 80 pounds of rock my fuge is 80% of my sump plus ests frozen and pellet food

 

[Duane Clark]

You can not buy a mandarin even if trained to eat frozens expecting them to stay eating frozens. This is a BIG misconception of the fish that leads to a lot of their deaths. Instead of paying $30 extra for a fish thinking it will be like this forever. Spend that money on a bottle of pods, bag of raw 100% spirulina powder, a 5g air pump, and a tank to have a sure bet for success of keeping a dragonet with a population of your own pods on hand.

**This!! I purchased one that was supposedly trained and she promptly went back to hunting pods. I now breed pods.

 

[40B Knasty]

I did not "trick" or "train" mine to eat frozens. I fed it BBS and my Tigger pods are fed only raw spirulina powder. So those two tastes became palatable and recognizable to him. I normally feed the Hikari frozen Brine w/ spirulina. One day he happened to get interested in them. I quickly thawed some more out. Then I had my mandarin dragonet eating frozen geek out moment and put it on my YouTube channel that shows you how to do pods, BBS hatcheries and how they do not need light and that the temperature is actually the only thing you need to have good clean hatches, success for keeping a mandarin dragonet with simple math, and a few other goodies.
After 2 weeks of eating the brine w/ spirulina. I mixed in a little bit of some mysis along with the brine to that area I feed him in. He ate the mysis. That is when I "tricked" him.

 

[themcnertney]

I voted 50+ gallons because I think Mandarin's should be kept in the ocean.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

So those two tastes became palatable and recognizable to him. I normally feed the Hikari frozen Brine w/ spirulina. One day he happened to get interested in them. I quickly thawed some more out. Then I had my mandarin dragonet eating frozen geek out moment

Over and over again, this is the common experience. Most all notable “training “ regimines follow this as a method or variation thereof. Ime
If one happens to get lucky with one. Congratulations for sure.
But generally it’s work to get them happy.



(Love those geek moments)

 

[Tedzilla]

I voted 10 gallon, but would recommend 50+ to a beginner. I kept a mandarin for years in a 10 gallon. It's still alive actually, in a 29g that I gave my sister. The only secret is providing it enough pods to eat. I'd buy a several thousand online every month and dump them in. It's not something you can skimp on, it's just something you have to do. In the 29g, I (now she) add(ed) 3000 a month at $25 a pop. It gets expensive. So yes you can have a mandarin in a 10 gallon, but for many reasons, it is better to go 50+.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I voted 50+ gallons because I think Mandarin's should be kept in the ocean.

I’m hoping for more breeding programs. They do seem more apt to survive that way. And the rest stay in the ocean.

Beautiful , nuanced and tricky fish to have.

 

[themcnertney]

I’m hoping for more breeding programs. They do seem more apt to survive that way. And the rest stay in the ocean.

Beautiful , nuanced and tricky fish to have.

I could see how breeding is the way to go. I have tried this fish three times and could not succeed. I look at the three strikes, I've failed as a "I am never trying that again" sort of method.

 

[40B Knasty]

I voted 50+ gallons because I think Mandarin's should be kept in the ocean.

You don't have to think that at all. It is not like a tang or wrasse that need a whole lot of swimming room. The owner just needs to be educated about them and they are just as simple as any other fish. You can turn a $20 bottle of Tigger pods in to a $1000 of free food in a year that you don't even have to waste gas money on to go get or buy frozens on. A dragonet can be a perfect fish for a home aquarium if you take those notes about what I mentioned on the thread already. Anyone can PM me and I will gladly help someone keep these kinds of fish. I can guarantee success, but you have to put in the work for it. That I can not do.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I'm gonna go with a 30g, if you have one that eats frozen, or are supplementing pods to keep the population high enough. Other wise, you'll need a large refugium capable of constantly producing pods to keep up with their voracious diet of microscopic crustaceans.

I'd love one of the green spotted mandarins in my 35g cube, but I don't have the pods to support it. Not yet at least. If I found one eating frozen...

 

[AdamNC]

LiveAquaria says 30+. I tried one in a 29gal but the pod population just couldn’t keep up. Even with me supplementing twice a month 1000 pods. I’m moving up to a 40gal with a 8gal sump and I still won’t get another. Personally I’d say long term 100gal+ just for the fact of the pods. Not that they would need 100gal to roam but anything smaller imho is a slow death sentence unless you supplement weekly. If I recall correctly they can easily eat 1000 pods a day.

 

[Brew12]

If I recall correctly they can easily eat 1000 pods a day.

I would guess that my Mandarin feeds for roughly 12 hours a day. At the very least, he averages 4 pods a minute.

12hrsx60minutesx4pods a minute is 2880. This would be the absolute minimum that I feel my Mandarin is eating in a day. It could very well be over 4000 pods a day.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'm gonna go with a 30g, if you have one that eats frozen, or are supplementing pods to keep the population high enough. Other wise, you'll need a large refugium capable of constantly producing pods to keep up with their voracious diet of microscopic crustaceans.

I'd love one of the green spotted mandarins in my 35g cube, but I don't have the pods to support it. Not yet at least. If I found one eating frozen...

Double check my info but, The Synchiropus picturatus has a slightly different digestive system to the Synchiropus splendidus (red dragonette) making them and several other dragonettes (Ruby’s , scooters etc) much easier to keep fish choices inthe dragonette family.

But I do really like that your looking forward at the needs of the fish you are looking at getting later on. Very wise.

I have two clowns and a spotted in my 30.

Posing here with some of my bivalves.

No fear , loves the turkey baster. Sits next to the acro crab at dinner time.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Double check my info but, The Synchiropus picturatus has a slightly different digestive system to the Synchiropus splendidus (red dragonette) making them and several other dragonettes (Ruby’s , scooters etc) much easier to keep fish choices inthe dragonette family.

But I do really like that your looking forward at the needs of the fish you are looking at getting later on. Very wise.

I have two clowns and a spotted in my 30.

Posing here with some of my bivalves.

No fear , loves the turkey baster. Sits next to the acro crab at dinner time.

I'll look into that @saltyfilmfolks... I've wanted a mandarin since I became interested in saltwater, but I also researched their needs, and that is why I still do not have one. I'll do a bit more research and keep my eyes open for a captive bred spotted that's eating frozen.