# The Splendid Mandarinfish



## FishermanCanada (Feb 12, 2007)

such rich colour, amazing!


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

It's a great fish, but it's also horrible for those who don't have 'pods coming out the wazoo with no way to stop their indiscriminate breeding...they don't adapt well to other types of food and eat 'pods voraciously...if unable to do that, they likely die of starvation over time. Many have suggested an older 180-gallon tank, seeded with 'pods and no 'pod predators as a starting point for keeping Mandarins.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

WOOOOOOOWWW!!!
Gorgeous! Is it in your tank?
More pics man!


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

that is wow one hell of a fish for sure


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

wow real nice,,, is that poisons on the thorn on its back fin..?


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## Doktordet (Sep 22, 2006)

Ive always wanted to keep these fish but i dont think i can grow 'pods at all. IDK much about growing them 'pods and all that sh*t.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Very hard fish to keep alive from what I understand...

Simply one of the most beautifully colored fish out their though-IMO


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

There was someone in my area selling one that he had successfully switched from pods to some frozen foods. But those had to be practically hand fed, so I don't know which is worse or more tedious. Regardless, he was asking SO MUCH for it. I can't remember exactly how much, but it was about 20 time what you normally see in pet stores. I think someone eventually bought it off him. I can't remember though.

This is the fish that first got me interested in saltwater. But just like chameleons got me interested in reptiles, I have never owned either... Weird, haha.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i have a friend who has one that LOVES frozen mysis, but it still scarfs pods like no tomorrow.

everytime i see one in the store i always ask if they eat mysis. sometimes they do, but 99% of them dont. i was recently reading a thread on another forum where a guy had a 25-30 gallon tank. his girlfriend/wife went and bought a mandarin, and wouldnt take no for an answer. he had to buy live pods to keep feeding the thing. after the first month he had gone through (iirc) 200-350$ worth of pods...in a month!!! for a friggin fish!!!

i was hoping to get one for my new 50 gallon, but it wont work. my dad has one in his tank in thailand that is/was doing amazingly. havent asked him how it has been lately.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

I just wanted to be a devils advocat to some of the negative owners, or potential owners of this fish.
Yes its gorgeous, no its not poisenous the long fin indicates sex. Yes they are hard to feed, if u have an immature tank, but if you have a mature tank, a nice refugium, and limit the amount of other goby like fish(blennies) you will be fine. Blennies are much faster eaters than mandarins, and they eat pods as well, they also eat other foods, but will rob ur mandarin of pods.
However that said, my neighbor has a 90g 6 month old tank witha ncie refugium, and mandarin has been in there from the begining (I warned him) but he didnt care, he got lucky with his as I dont recommend new tank owners to just jump on this fish, but a established refugium, even if HOB will do the trick. Mine has been happyliy living in my 90gallon reef with 2 cleaner shrimp a fire shrimp a tomatoe clown and flame angel

Plus stores in my area east coast are selling pods now, some in the expensive refrigerated bottles, and some in the specialty area so you might be able to substitue a mature tank by buying stuff


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## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

i have a 220 gal that will be going salt after my rbp are sold. any how i was planning to get a mandarin but for such a large tank i was wondering if i can have multiple. getting them atleast a year after addiing my first fish. also what other fish would be good tankmates. i would like a large variety of fish. i was not planning to have a reef does that mean the the mandarin is out of the question? also how do you grow pods?


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## redbellyjx © (Jan 26, 2004)

Nice fish!!

A word about copepods.

Ive always heard about them, never saw them in my tank, etc. about 6 months ago I redesigned my sump to include a refugium; also at that time i bought some live sand and a ball o' chaeto on ebay. I examined the ball of chaeto, and thought to myself, Theres no pods on this!!!

A little disapointed, I put half of the ball in the sump of my 125, and half in my 65. My 125 is an established reef. THe 65 is an empty tank with live rock. I cant really seen them in my 125, but let me tell you, the back wall of my 65 has pods crawling EVERYWHERE. I thought to myself, o cool!

Some tips to growing pods (i cant find the original link I found this info)

- Light!
- You need a prexisting colony of pods, ie from your live rock, cheato, live sand, etc.
- Allow nusance algae to grow on the glass of your tank (prefereably fuge)
- keep the front viewing plane clean so you can see in
- The pods seem to eat the algae, and multiply pretty rapidly. (this is just an observation of mine)

with in 2 months, you should have a pretty decent pod population. at this point, they are almost a nusance becasue I dont have anything in the tank to control thier population.


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## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

so i should be able to sustain having a mandarin in fowlr tank with a fuge and cheato?


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

RBP7 said:


> so i should be able to sustain having a mandarin in fowlr tank with a fuge and cheato?


its not really that straight forward. you could have a fuge with cheato and decent pod population but it doesnt mean those pods will make it t teh tank in large enough numbers o keep a mandrin well fed. but a well established 200 plus gallon tank with alot of live rock should be able to host a good population of pods, as long as th mandrin isnt in compition for thoe pods it should be fine..

the key is well established and limited compitition for pods.

if your not sure if you have pods look at your tank at night and you should see them scurrying around. more likely to see them then


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

What the heck is a pod...? i know vary little about saltwater but iam learning... is a pod plant or animal..?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Copepod...it's a small crustacean.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

"pods" is kind of broad term used to describe hundreds of species of small crustacians, like mini shrimp, some actually look like mini mantis shrimp.

just search copepods in googla nd ou should be able to find enough info to make you head hurt.


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## wally43 (Feb 23, 2007)

i've got a spotted one and i've heard its hard to get them to eat anything but pods but after 2 days mine was eating brine shrimp and i've heard mysis shrimp are better so i got some yesterday and i sat and watched him pick them right out of the water he ate a lot yeaterday and i've read that males will have a spine fin in front of the top fin so mine is a male and it looks like yours is too. hope u can get urs to eat other foods good luck
wally


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## Chapz (Jul 9, 2007)

I actually inherited a green mandarin from a friends dad and it wasnt doing well. Supposedly it was eating mysis and brine from there tank but once placed in my tank, it wouldnt eat anything. Unfortunately after a month, it was struggling to survive. I only see it late night since it hides a lot. I did add a huge 16oz bottle of pods so hope fully it gets its appetite back.


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