Has anyone ever had a mandarin fish?

http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/RCM/RCM/Aquarium/~Mandarin.jpg

If so what have your experiences been with this fish? Are they as difficult to keep as the numerous websites say? I think they are so beautiful but know so little about salt water aquariums.

I believe there is a saltwater section of the site you could use next time. This one is for freshwater tropicals.

Mandarin fish are supposed to be pretty difficult to care for mostly because they are sensitive to water quality and are picky eaters. They are bottom feeders and with their tiny mouths it is difficult to feed them. A lot of live rock should help with this because of all the little organisms that live in there for the fish to pick at.

I'll move this to the SW section and in there you can search for my threads on my mandarinfish. I explain all about how I've set up my tank as just a mandarin-specific environment. I have had mine almost a year and she is doing very well.

Mandarinfish can be very difficult to keep alive if you don't have the right environment for them...You need a bunch of live rock full of pods to keep them healthy and happy!!! Some will even learn to like frozen mysis or brine shrimp.... but that is not the norm...most will starve to death if the tank set up hasn't been set up long....I would recommend that your system be set up with no less than 40 lbs of Live Rock and stable for 10 months to a year before adding a Mandarin...if you don't have that much live rock you will probably run out of critters for your little fellow...They eat non-stop and can take a lot of pods everyday...you need some rubble in the tank to give the pods an area to multiply safely or a refugium to protect them as they multiply....

Great fish to keep...one of my all time favorites!!!