I have heard several reports on just how hard marine tanks can be to keep properly. If you think that they are a hassle to own or are really hard, Why do you feel this is so? I don't want to become discouraged to quickly--thats why I'm trying to research a little. I would just like it if you would tell me what you think.

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I have fallen in love with the mandarin fish. A couple of place said that they are easy to care for and other places said that they are extremely difficult. I guess they eat little crustaceans and other things from the live rock and from the live sand. this is where people say the problem comes in--once they eat it all they end up starving to death...

Or would the live rock/sand keep replenishing itself?


It also says that the tank has to be at least 30 gallons for this fish. Do you agree? and that it SHOULD NOT be placed with another of its own kind because they will fight.

I have read elsewhere that the mandarin should be placed in a well established marine tank so that there is enough "itty bitty's for it to eat."

well, how long does it take for a marine tank to be established, and how do I go about getting it established? Is there any whay to fishless cycle with a marine tank like I can with my goldfish tanks? I don't just want to throw in expensive precious fish and have ammonia kill them.

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Thank you for your time and answers. This is very important to me. I'm not just going to go out and buy everything I need and then kill of everything I get.

OH! I forgot to ask a question....

I was also thinking about getting some of those turbo snails if I ever do set up one of these tanks.

But I guess I could say that I am "snail shy." I had 3 small apple snails and one large apple snail alone in their own ten gallon tank before. I swear those things pooped more than goldfish and just polluted the ten gallon aquarium quicky (no goldfish were with them).

Are marine snails as messy as apple snails?

I also saw some pretty pictures of electric blue hermit crabs in a Dr. Fosters and Smith catalog.... does anyone know of their compatability with the mandarin fish and also just how messy they are?

okay I just read that the water changes are the hardest... measuring the salt... testing the water's salinity... and getting the temperature to be the same.

But as a general rule, how much water needs to be changed per week? And do they have to be weekly changes?

well goldfishes should be about 10%-20% every week...so marine fishs should be dunno more than 20% ?? a week
i think

Ahhhh, the mandarins, a subject near and dear to my heart!! I absolutely adore them and this year my project has been to set up a mandarin tank, only for them and tailored to their needs. If you search back throught he marine forum you will find my post about it.

I have had a 30 gallon saltwater tank running since February of this year, and I cycled it instantly with live rock. I adore all things invertebrate and added some shrimp, hermit crabs and a chocolate chip starfish. All would be compatible with mandarins.

From there I set out to create my mandarin environment and culture the copepods and amphipods that they feed on (we call them "pods" for short and it refers to both kinds).

The sad truth is that Ive found, even a 30 gallon stocked full of live rock and complete with "pod piles" (small areas for them to congregate and reproduce away from fish) is insufficient to support a healthy pod population. I had pods all over and added a tiny yellow (one inch) clown goby and he wiped out my pod population within a day or two. Can you imagine how much more a mandarin would do?

I am very frustrated and upset because I have been planning to do this for a long time and it is proving very difficult. A friend and I are keeping our eyes open at work for the rare, occasional mandarin that feeds on frozen food, as well. At least that way he wouldnt put so much pressure on the pod population in the tank.

If you want to read a really good article on mandarins, check out the August issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. It is excellent and I highly recommend it.

I am one who doesnt always go with the rules, or rather, I learn tthem so I can break them! LOL I am still determined to keep a mandarin in my tank, i t will just take time, patience and more creativity. I am working on a way I can keep a large refugium, where the pods could populate and be introduced into my tank constantly. That will probably be the only way to keep one in such a small tank.

As for your question of upkeep of a marine tank, I have found it no different than freshwater, with the addition of salt. Also you want to keep it constantly topped off with freshwater as it evaporates, but that isnt hard. I do about a 30% water change every two weeks on mine. I vacuum the sand and clean the filters. Not much different from freshwater.

Anyway I wish you luck if you decide to set up a marine tank. There are lots of fun and interesting fish and creatures besides mandarins that, like me, you will start to love and want. Have fun and post back anytime if you need more help.

I'm glad you wrote!eeek! but now I'm thinking that I might need to buy a new car come this fall..... but maybe. just maybe this spring when even more moeny start rolling into my house! muuuuhahahahaha.

so how on earth do you get "pods" to grow? do they just come in with the live rock and the live sand? or do you buy them seperatly?

That's what I was thinking about setting up--a thirty gallon.

I'll definatly have to back order that magazine sometime. Even if I never have a marine tank, I bet the pictures in that magazine was really cool!

What size of a protein skimmer do you reccomed for a 30 gallon?

The pods come in naturally on the live rock, and you want to give them plenty of food and hiding places so they can grow and reproduce. A "pod pile" is a pile of live rock rubble where they can do that without being eaten by fish. I have a large pod pile in my tank and I place sinking pellets and other food around it every few days. I still dont seem to have too many pods, and the ones I have seen are adult and too large for mandarins to eat.

The other day at work I was trying to coax two mandarins to eat frozen mysis shrimp. I put it in the current so it would look like it was alive but they just werent interested. I tried for a long time but they just ignored it. It was really sad because I know they probably havent had anything to eat since they were caught, and who knows how long that has been. There are no pods in our sales tanks for them to eat. Thats why so many end up dying.

I think the smallest size of protein skimmer is for up to a 100 gallon tank, so you could get that size and have more than enough.

If you want to see some really great pics of mandarins, also check out this year's Marine Fish USA annual. On the cover are two gorgeous red variants of the blue mandarins (Synchiropus splendidus). Great pics in there too!