Too soon to add mandarin?

[esmithiii]

I am considering adding a mandarin to my 180G w/ 50G sump/refugium. I have 270lbs of liverock and close to 200lbs of SD sand; the tank has been running for only 3 months. 90 lbs of the live rock and some of the sand came from a 2yr+ tank amd last night after the lights went out I used a flashlight and saw what seemed to be an infestation of copepods and amphipods. They were everywhere and it seemed like there were close to 30 per square inch on my sand bed! I can even see some every now and then with the lights on.

Questions:

Will the mandarin kill the whole pod population in my 180? Will having a mandarin reduce the effectiveness of my sand bed?

Is it too soon to add it if I do decide on one?

 

[Carpentersreef]

I think adding one now will be fine. It will not kill the whole population, but it will reach a sustainable level for the mandarin to survive. I've never seen my mandarin digging in my sandbed, only picking at the rocks' surface. He's always picking at stuff that I CAN'T see. I've also got a 6 line wrasse that would compete for the same food. I've had both for over a year with no signs of ill health or hunger.

Mitch

 

[esmithiii]

Anyone else??

E

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I think a Mandarin will do well in your tank. Mandarin is really a very easy, and very hardy fish if there is enough food for them to eat. They hardly ever get sick and long as they get adequate food to eat they will be fine. They are such beautiful creatures. Good luck with yours.

 

[smokinreefer]

No, No, and No.

just be sure you pick a healthy one. of course my answers are based on YOUR observations of your pod populations, so as long as you arent exaggerating about your specs then you should have no problems IMO and IME.

hth

 

[EmilyB]

Make sure you have no night predator crabs, and do not buy any skinny mandarins, they are usually past help. If they start to take brine, move them to marine cuisine.

This is purely personal experience. My pair is probably too fat. Also, they are the psycho variety...

 

[hectina]

EmilyB,

What are your tank specs, I have considered adding a pair of Mandarins.

Esmithiii,
Judging from your specs, you should be able to support a pair of them, but make sure that you do not have any anemones, nor any fish that might compete with them.

 

[esmithiii]

I checked again and 30/sq. in is probably high- there is probably half that many, but they are everywhere. I am not exagerating the size of the tank nor the liverock/sand.

E

 

[EmilyB]

Actually I never added the pair at once. The female has been here about 15 months. The male was added to a refugium on that tank, and I swore she could smell him, as she hung out by the outflow a lot !!

When the male was introduced, they were exhibiting spawning behavior within a week. BTW, the male was eating aquarium fare before I introduced him.

Anyhow, this is some info on the 155g:

www.members.home.net/d.hadford/155gInfoPg

 

[Anonymous]

Take a while and study the results of the reefs.org mandarine survey--there's a lot of valuable info there on how you can better your chances of being successful (especially stuff you maybe haven't thought of yet).

Ty

 

[Amy]

Hectina... why not add mandarin w/anemone?

 

[Amy]

Hectina... why not add mandarin w/anemone?

 

[danmhippo]

Depending on how aggressive the anemone is, but a sleeping mandarin could accidentally wonder in the reach of anemone and next morning, you will see a skinned mandarin. Mandarin is especially prone to predation when they are weak or first introduced.

 

[Hammer]

I would say that your tank is more then adequate to properly feed a mandarin. I would still create a small pod pile hidden somewhere in the back of your tank. The mandarins learn that food hides out there, and sit around the pile at first, but then they move around the tank. The pile will always insure that you have plenty of pods.
The tank is still kind of young for mandarins, but the piles would make sure that the mandarins don't hurt your new pod population.

And because of that size of tank, and amount of rock, you might go for periods without seeing the mandarin. I would take pictures and always make sure the health is maintained.

Oh, and don't forget to feed the growing pods DT's or phytoplanktons.

 

[esmithiii]

Thanks for the info.

Ernie

 

[esmithiii]

update:

I purchased a mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) from Flying Fish Express. He has been aclimated and added to the 180 on Saturday and I have seen him several times since.

Thanks for the input.

Ernie