Got My Dream Fish!!!

[thejoie]

You can look on Melev's site and see his Mandarin Diner. I've avoided one because it would not work in my 54 and I am afraid it would starve in my 24. However, ORA is now breeding them and they are eating prepared foods from the get go! Just as soon as my LFS gets them in vvv

I really hope I can get her to accept frozen... I have some nice varieties to try. We're going to try some Rods food tomorrow... I already ordered more pods just in case she's stubborn

 

[expressmailtome]

Congratulations! She is stunning!

Matt

 

[Renae]

Wow, beautiful!! I can see why it is your dream fish.

 

[ortegah]

Congrats, mandarins are one of my favorite!

Whatever you do, don't get any wrasses for they also eat pods. Check out melev's reef website for his video on the Mandarin Diner. http://www.melevsreef.com/video/diner4.wmv
It's very hard to keep a Mandarin in anything smaller than a 55g so keep an eye out for a sunk in belly. Do you have a refugium running? That's really the best way to keep a pod population alive because with some macroalgae and rubble piles that are separate from the main tank the pods can live and breed without getting eaten too quickly. Check out CPR for hang on back refugiums.

My mandarins have always loved PE Mysis

 

[thejoie]

I don't have a refugium, I had one on the tank at my parent's house filled with chaeto and rubble if I need one. I'm not sure if I want to go that route or to try to get a population started in a completely separate container.

Maybe I'll try to do two cultures. One of a separate container and one in a refugium? I have extra filters around here that I can modify. Maybe having a constant source to resupply the tank in the refugium would be a good idea and then I can use the separate population to dose the tank with. I know the lil suckers reproduce about every 20 days or so...

I just ordered a multi-variety pack from livecopepod.com that I plan on using as my colonies. Then I also ordered another thing of pods for feeding until that point and putting into the rubble piles inside the tank!!

I'm hoping he takes to prepared foods before I go insane, or broke....

 

[MollyMouse]

She's beautiful with those colors Congrats Joanna!!

 

[suncoast]

She's amazing and I think you should name her Zsa Zsa because she's flamboyant and it's insanely expensive to keep her in the style she's grown accustomed to.

Ginger

 

[waterfaller1]

Congrats Joanna. I have always kept one also. Mine is a female spotted. I have never had a problem getting them to eat PE mysis either. You need to make sure you get the correct copepods. Some are cannibalistic and will eat others. You do not want what they refer to as tigger pods. The larger pods will get hung up in the pump as well, and just die. The type you want{they are like thousands of kinds} are called Harpacticoida.
This is a much better site to order them from.
Sachs Systems Aquaculture Welcomes You!

Or here~ I met Dr. A. Rhodes at a reef conference. She is the one who taught me the difference between them.
Ocean Pods: FAQ

Good luck with your new fish. I wouldn't add any others, and no emerald crabs{they eat copepods too!}
A ten gallon tank with a sponge filter makes a great place to raise them.

 

[Anne & Gang]

WOWWWWWWWWW he is beautiful

 

[Kolkri]

I just LOVE those fish too. Every time I think of salt water tanks that is the fish that I see in mine. Way to expensive for me to get into though.
I wish you all the luck and hope we see lots of pictures of him in the years to come.

 

[magni]

what a beautiful fish, salt water tanks are so nice to have

 

[marian]

Wow shes absolutely beautiful......

 

[thejoie]

She's still name-less but she's doing great this morning.

I'm going to set up the refugium as soon as the copepods come this week. I want to set it up using the multi-variety ones. I'm going to attempt to feed her a bit later this afternoon- going to make a mix of some Rod's food and mysis shrimp. Hopefully she's interested!

 

[Kolkri]

I thought they lives mostly off life food that grow on the reef rocks you keep in a salt water tank? That is why the tank has to be up and well extablished like yours is before you get one.

 

[Blazeybird]

im envious Joanna congrats

 

[Compassion]

Wow she's stunning! I'm looking forward to hearing more about her and hopefully seeing more pics!

 

[waterfaller1]

I thought they lives mostly off life food that grow on the reef rocks you keep in a salt water tank? That is why the tank has to be up and well extablished like yours is before you get one.

They eat copepods, who in turn eat phytoplankton. Keeping enough copepods alive and thriving in any smallish main tank is a task, without a refugium. If you see a mandarin, you will notice they are constantly on the move, and expel a lot of energy with their "butterfly-like" fins. They need a lot of live food to sustain them. Supplementing them with Piscine mysis, and other accepted foods is very important in captivity to keep mandarins long term.

 

[Mystics Mom]

i dont know anything about fish but she is STUNNING!!!!

 

[thejoie]

She ate a little bit of Rod's food!!! I did a mix of some copepods and Rod's food and she was excited! I'm feeding her with a syringe right now. The rock in my tank has been cured for over 4 years now, so I have a ton of copepods on it. I just need to make sure to supplement until I get the refugium and separate culture going.

 

[waterfaller1]

Yay! Rod's is good stuff. My fish love it too.