Tank size for Mandarin fish

[mnace91]

Hello,

I am planning on upgrading to a bigger tank (the 12gal. nano quickly became to small over the last year and a half). I'm thinking of taking my old 40 breeder back out or maybe go and buy a 55. The one fish I always wanted in my tank is the mandarin fish. my only concern is that if I go with my old 40 or get a 55, it will be too small for one. will either of these sizes be enough room? or should I think about going a little bigger?

 

[Ryan2428]

I have done some research on this 30 is the lowest you could go according too a couple sites that sell them . So with that being said I would go with the 40 seems to have more bottom space then most 55 that I have seen hope this helps

 

[Ryan2428]

Ps lol most be a well established tank live rock and sand

 

[Pete polyp]

Unless you intend to cultivate pods to feed then a 40 and 55 will not be big enough. The old rule of thumb was 100lbs of live rock in a mature tank to grow enough pods to sustain a Mandarins diet.

 

[steventaylor702]

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/nano-mandarin-full-article.htm here is some good info on have a mandarin in a nano system it might help you.

 

[Tahoe61]

Nano Mandarin (Full Article) | Details | Articles | TFH Magazine® here is some good info on have a mandarin in a nano system it might help you.

^ Interesting article, informative and some good pointers.

 

[fishroomlady]

that is a seriously interesting article!

 

[NanaReefer]

7yr old article. Obviously the writer had no other fish in his tank, or else the Mandarin wouldn't have stood a chance at the roe. IMO-not a good article but 1 mans experience versus the majority.

 

[steventaylor702]

I have had an manderin in a Nuvo 16 for a year before I broke it down and got rid of it he was nice and happy in the he ate a mix of roe and pe mysis the trick is getting them to eat it took me a month of constant daily feeding to get mine to eat.

 

[Coraloliseffect]

Wrasses and other such pod hunters will compete for the mandarins food

 

[steventaylor702]

I will put it like this if you delicate your time and put forth the effort it takes to have one then yes, but if you want an easy to keep tank without having to check it and do stuff to it everyday then I would say no.

 

[mfief]

A friend of mine bought one that allegedly ate frozen brine for his nano. He quickly learned that he was fed a line of crap so we put him in my 55 while he was deployed. The mandarin wiped out my pod population so I bought more and he cleaned house again and ended up starving himself. At the time I didn't have a sumo or fuge to have a safe haven to keep a more consistent population. I would say a fuge or sump with some live rock is a must for a 40 or 55 gallon tank.

 

[mnace91]

I have had an manderin in a Nuvo 16 for a year before I broke it down and got rid of it he was nice and happy in the he ate a mix of roe and pe mysis the trick is getting them to eat it took me a month of constant daily feeding to get mine to eat.

What was your method to finally get him to eat it?

 

[steventaylor702]

I turned off the pumps and any circulation in the tank and let things settle at the bottom I noticed the he didn't not like the food baster that I was using shoved at his face so I would instead let things settle and he would pick at it at first then spit it out. Then I tried some garlic extract mixed with the food and he would eat it. At the end before I got rid of the tank he would go right up to the turkey baster and eat it right out of it before any of my other fish could even get to it. if they tried to fight him for it he would extend his fins and chase them away

 

[mnace91]

What if I started a refugium? It might give the pods a little more of a fighting chance to populate.

 

[akitareefer]

Refugium would help but you would have to set it up and monitor pod populations. Might honestly be easier to get a tank bred Mandy who's eating pellets or mysis.

 

[steventaylor702]

Refugium would have to be fairly big at least half the tank size for there to be enough pod production an also if you fuge is below your tank a lot of the pods that have to get suckd through the pump will die before they react the tank. Making it hard for them to repopulate that tank before they are eaten the best way would be to get the manderin to eat frozen or pellet for the majority of is nutrition and allow him to hunt for pods for the rest I fed mine twice a day once in the morning and once at night. Also if you do a hang on the back fuge it would help with the pods becuase most hob fuges don't use a pump to put the water back in you tank they have a pump pulling water out of your tank and a waterfall putting it back in to your tank