talkalot82 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Picking up my spotted mandrin today from eric at liquid. Eric has had him for a long time. Travis says he's been eating frozen food, and he has a big full tummy. Im totally going for it. On the possitive note I have a butt load of copepods. my tank is infested with them. cause my clown fishes don't eat them, nor my red scarlet crab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Get a 6-line wrasse. He'll go hog crazy on them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 You won't have many of them for long. By some accounts mandarins can go through 200+ pods a day, if not more. And many say that the spotted, or target mandarin, is harder to get to eat frozen. And even if he is eating frozen, that doesn't mean you'll be able to keep up with his nutritional needs. You are talking about a fish that eats pretty much 24/7. Be prepared to start buying bottles of pods on roughly a weekly basis. And if he ever starts looking like his stomach has shrunk in, he's done for pretty much. In other words, I personally subscribe to the policy that they only belong in large, 100+g tanks with lots of live rock and a fairly large refugium. It is my personal belief that if you don't meet those criteria then you do not need to attempt a mandarin. They're population is declining rapidly in the wild and the majority of them do not live past 6-8 months in captivity. It is something you should think long and hard about before attempting to keep this fish. They also need calm tankmates, if you have any fish that are aggressive in anyway, it could easily kill the mandarin, simply by making its constant foraging a difficult and stressful task. Just my .02 worth, take it or leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talkalot82 Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 I have a mandrin already before this spotted. I also have a scooter blenny.I have way too many tanks. I seem to be great on growing copepods. Not as great at rotifers, getting a bit better at brine shrimp Oh and i found the perfect name for the fish "spot." my niece named it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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