Mandarin Article

[flamingonhot]

I remember coming across an article on some site where they did a study with mandarins. They tried it time after time, they would last about a year, but didn't do the greatest in the long run. On the ten gallons they had refugiums and everything also.

A lot are starting to eat frozen, but you should never expect it to. Get what you need first, and if it eats frozen, then cool, don't be another " Help me, my mandarin won't eat frozen! I think I may have to take it back!" incidents.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

sorry to ask the obvious, but just what would you say the minimum tank size should be if one wanted to keep a mandarin? oh, and about how many pounds (kilos) of liverock?

--EDIT--
this is presuming that the only fish in the tank is one (1) mandarin

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Such a "crapper" that these fish are so very difficult to care for. They are certainly very beautiful.

SLC

 

[SkiFletch]

sorry to ask the obvious, but just what would you say the minimum tank size should be if one wanted to keep a mandarin? oh, and about how many pounds (kilos) of liverock?

--EDIT--
this is presuming that the only fish in the tank is one (1) mandarin

IF you can find one that eats frozen foods and you can verify that multiple times at the store, you could concievably fit one in say a 20 long. Be that as it may, I still would never reccomend anyone do this because they can decide they dont want frozen anymore and wither away and die. Mandarin's natural food is copepods, amphipods, isopods, flatworms, and other small acquatic invertebrates. Usually a tank of at least 75g or more is required to house a mandarin for it to eat naturally. Because in a smaller tank, it WILL over-predate on its primary food source.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

sorry, i should have made clear that i meant the safe minimum for live-feeding.

75+g? mighty big tank for a little fish. what are some ways to stimulate the growth of its natural foods? and what sorts of other livestock would directly compete with a mandarin for food?

 

[SkiFletch]

A large overhead refugium and in-tank macroalgae is by far the best measure to create a home for copepods. With an over-tank refugium the pods can fall down to the display without being chopped up in the impeller of a sump pump . Competitors for food are other dragonets obviously, psuedochromis, fairy wrasses, scooter blennies, and smaller ocellaris/percula clownfish. Other gobies may also predate on pods but I'm not sure which varieties really do.

 

[steelhealr]

Final thoughts:

-mandarins are beautiful fish; Lamborghini's, Bugatti's and Ferrari's are beautiful cars
-mandarins look good at the lfs because they just arrived; longstem roses look good when they just arrive
-mandarins have a high mortality rate in captivity; Saddam Hussein had a high mortality rate in captivity
-to offer a mandarin a shot at survival, you need at LEAST a 100 gallon tank with a continually renewable source of copepods; your wallet and time schedule will need a shot at survival to maintain the setup to keep a mandarin alive in anything under the 100 gallon volume (translated, 100G's 1.5lbs/G of LR = 150lbs LR. Do the math)
-I have a bridge I want to sell you.

SH

 

[demonmagus]

lol nice comparisons sh

 

[Mr Miagi]

I am not aware of any breeding. The fry need food smaller than rotifers to survive. Bob Fenner notes that while spawning is not too difficult to establish "Unfortunately no young have been raised to date."

Based on that I would say your lfs is either ill informed or telling porkies.

I am aware of a breeder, but they havnt bred them to a sucessful adult stage, as suggested by Fenner. mwp, on RC has many Breeding logs, and has copius knowledge on breeding marine fish. Here is his breeding log for his Mandarin Fish

Green Mandarin Log Part #1
Green Mandarin Breeding Log Part #2