Do you think Im ready for a Mandarin?
 

Hey guys,

so my tank has been running just over 5 months now. It is a 165G 6 foot tank and has I would say about 120 lbs of live rock in it.

The live rock is for the most part all mature stuff from other systems.

I also have a refugium that "was" three months old, but because I got a new sump I had to wash all the sand in it to start a new one that is probably about a month old now. The live rock form the original refugium was maintained.

Do you think I should get a mandarin? I dont think any of my other fish eat the pods but I cant really say for sure.

I have the following fish:

Regal Tang
Tomini Tang
Yellow Tang
Two Oscellaris Clowns
Two Blue/Green Chromis
Diamond Goby
Lawnmower Blenny
Green Clown Goby
Yellow Clown Goby
Foxface

None of my fish are bigger than 3 inches yet, if that matters.

What do you guys think?

Yeah you should be fine

My personal opinion is that even if you have a huge "supply" of pods the mandarin may deplete the pods supply in time if that is ALL he/she is eating. Your chances are significantly higher if you find a Mandarin already eating frozen. I have kept a Mandarin for nearly 2 years now and he is HUGE but he eats mysis really well. AND I OVERFEED to be sure he gets some. They are a slow eater and the mysis needs to float right down infront of them.

I would say no. with out more questions.

Do you see all kinds of bugs and pods running around? do you have breading grounds for pods set up that the fish can't get into?

with out seeing the tank I don't think anyone would say yes with the info provided. Mandrins that eat dead/prepared food are a rarity not the norm.

Steve

I'd say you're ok. I have two in my 77 and they're both doing fine. One has been in there since 6 months after I started up the tank. I wouldn't recommend what I did necessarily but this guy is now a good size and bulked up nicely. My set up was previously owned and the LR, although initially not as much as I have now, was established. I have observed this guy taking granules of CycloPeeze from the sand, so he is supplementing live with dried food. The second I added in hopes of having a pair, but made an error and ended up with another small male. After discovering my mistake I went back to LFS and asked if I could trade him in. LFS was ok with that, but I'm unable to catch the guy. So far the two are not getting into any major confrontations. Newb gets out of Dodge pretty quick when big boy gets close. The big guy doesn't go out of his way to hunt down the newb. Anyhow, getting a little off topic with my story here, but just wanted to relate my experience with two in a 77 and both finding sufficient nourishment. With a 165 like yours I'd venture to say it's almost a no brainer. If one can't survive in there, there's something amiss.

I agree with Steve.

When the lights are out if there are tons of pods kicking around it is ok.
If there are not it is not OK: Than wait a while longer.

You can not buy a mandarin that is eating mysis. After you place a mandarin in your tank it is a matter of luck. A small percentage do. By far the majority don't and need the live food your sand and rock provide.

You can speed up the development of pods in your refugium by putting macro algae in and adding live pytoplankton with a slow flow.

Thanks for asking.

I have to mostly agree. However you can buy mandarin's that the LFS has trianed to eat mysis. This is not the norm and it is really rare but I have seen mandarins for sale in LFS that have been trained to eat mysis, just make sure you see the mandarin eat mysis at the store before you buy it or make sure you have a lot of pods available and a breeding ground for them to multiply in.

yeah I'm going to go with Laurie, steve and naesco on this one. make sure you see your mandarin eat prepared foods at the store; the chance that you will wean it on to prepared feed in your tank is low low low. You should also note that it will be competing with 3 gobies and a blenny for a relatively young pod population. I also suggest setting up a few pod condos (or whatever they're called)... they're basically just piles of LR rubble that provide in-tank refugia for pods.

Yeah there are lots of pods. I dunno what "lots" is compared to other tanks, but I see them all the time and I see clouds of the larvae swimming in my fuge.

The rock I just bought was 2 years established in another reefers tank and that was 50 lbs worth. The other 70 was from golds/pisces a 10 lb piece and then the rest from another reefer but I think it was average at best.

Pods can grow in my fuge, but it doesnt fall back into the DT with gravity. They would have to go through the pump. Would this kill them? Maybe not the small larvae, but the older ones, probably?

I'm not sure I see much point in staying up all night counting bugs on the glass but that's just me. I've always found mandarins very easy to care for and provided you've got enough established rock you should be fine, the problem is there survival rate isn't that good but it's related to reasons other than starvation. If you really want to look into it then you can check out this thread on another site:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1492650