Angelfish

[J Feez]

You're right Ed. The more questions the better really. The world's reefs are already in enough trouble, no need for the people who are trying to save a little bit of them to be part of the problem.

One last angel I thought of that I saw at Ocean's was a Velvet angel. What are those like? I haven't been able to find much on those either.

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by J Feez

Thanks for the advice Scott. I actually never new that a Mandarin had size restrictions, but it makes sense. Maybe a couple scooter benny's would be a good a alternative? What do you think about the Firefish?

It really is tough work making the right choice!

Scooter Blennies have the same requirement as Mandarins.

[OCDP]

As mentioned..... (see what the ignore feature does )

It's not so much a size restriction, it's more so a diet issue. It's because mandarins (and scooter blenny's unfortunately) feed off little creatures called copepods (sp?) they are little tiny "bugs" that live in your sand and rock. The fish grazes all day over rocks picking off these pods

[Pan]

i've read that a mandarin in the wild needs like 2 acres to roam around and feed to keep it healthy (that is without a fresh supply of copepods added to the tank, which i think might be hard to do in edmonton)
if i can find the article i will post it.

i can't find the article, but here is a neat think on mandarins....

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by OCDP

..... But a Mandarin is not a good choice for a tank that size. It need a much bigger system with a nice big fuge pumping out tons of pods. ......

If I may steer of topic for a sec, here.....I agree with the bigger sytem part, but a fuge of any size may not necessarily be required, IMO. IME....I have two Mandarins in a 180 with no fuge and they are both doing fine. The system is big enough to provide sufficient pods without a fuge.

Cheers,