Who Gives A Fish Forums

frizbit wrote: ↑Mon Jun 30, 2025 6:15 pm I've recently become fascinated with green mandarins, and I'm seriously considering bringing one home. To ensure I'm prepared, I'd love to hear from experienced owners - any advice or guidance you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I'm eager to learn and do what's best for my future pet, so thanks in advance for your input.

I was thinking along the same lines, adding a small piece of live rock to the refugium for the copepods to inhabit and multiply. However, my main concern is the strong flow from the return pump, which might suck the copepods into the pump and ultimately into the display tank, where they'd be eaten by the fish. I'd rather not have to constantly purchase new pods every week.

finleyz wrote: ↑Tue Jul 01, 2025 12:03 am I've been eyeing those green mandarins for a while now, and from what I've found, they seem to require a pretty substantial setup - at least a 100-gallon established reef tank. Unfortunately, that's a bit out of my reach at the moment. Has anyone had success keeping them in a 55-gallon tank for an extended period, like a year or more? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

I'm not sure buying from DeepB23.com is a viable option for me, shipping from the US to the UK would be quite pricey, and let's be honest, we all know how expensive things are over here in the UK, it's not exactly the cheapest place to live.

My fish supplier recently shared some insight on keeping green mandarins. He agrees that live pods are essential, but also mentioned that all the mandarins he sells take frozen food as well. The key, he said, is to avoid housing them with aggressive feeders that'll outcompete them for food. A well-designed rock pile or refugium is crucial for the pods to thrive. In my nano, I've allocated a quarter of the space for the filter system, complete with 1kg of live rock and a light for algae growth. I'm planning to introduce a mandarin in a few months, once the pods have multiplied. For now, I'll stick to a couple of clownfish or perhaps a clownfish and a blenny – still researching the latter. The takeaway is to choose a mandarin that's been observed eating frozen food and be mindful of tankmates. With careful planning, these stunning fish can thrive in smaller tanks, as some members have successfully demonstrated.

Some useful advice on mandarins there. My own top tip: invest in a turkey baster - it's a game-changer for targeting frozen food right in front of your mandarin. Given their slow eating pace, be patient and give them time between mouthfuls.

I've just taken the plunge and I'm getting a Mandarin next week. The guy I'm buying from says it's eating a variety of frozen foods and looks really healthy. I've ordered some frozen lobster eggs and mysis shrimp to go with the bloodworm I already have, so I should have a decent selection for it to eat.

I've just turned the light on in the tank and I can see loads of copepods crawling over the front glass - must be about 30 or so. I've got a load of chaetomorpha in the tank and some more in the sump refugium, which should help keep the copepods going. I'm planning on rotating the chaeto weekly, which should give the fish a steady supply of food and help keep the copepods breeding.

My clownfish is currently nipping the pods off the glass - naughty fish. Not for you, mate.

Although my tank's only been running for a couple of months, it was established for a few years before I got it, so the pods should be well established by now. Still, providing more homes for them can't hurt. I've set up the tank to give the fluxeonet plenty of hiding places and I'm planning on getting some more rock soon, which should take me to about 33kg for my 180L tank. I'll post some pictures when the Mandarin arrives next week.