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- Thread starter nanoangel
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mikeguerrero
Active Member
Hi Sandra,
Welcome to nanotank, and congrats on your purchase of a really nice tank. The JBJ cube is like no other tank in it's class, I'll call it the cadillace of the nanos 8) .
My little brother Dragon79 on this site, started his nano cube on thanksgiving day just like you. He has tons of info on how he started and what he's added to his tank.
Once again, welcome...
Mike
Welcome to nanotank, and congrats on your purchase of a really nice tank. The JBJ cube is like no other tank in it's class, I'll call it the cadillace of the nanos 8) .
My little brother Dragon79 on this site, started his nano cube on thanksgiving day just like you. He has tons of info on how he started and what he's added to his tank.
Once again, welcome...
Mike
Haha, you realize who you responded to is my girlfriend? She finally signed up as she was interested in learning more as I've set her free to maintain her tank and get the things she wants. With the advice of MSIG, she picked up the green spotted mandarin. The tank is infested with copepods, they grew like no other. It's like having ants all over your picnic table full of goodies. Well anyway, it should get nice and fat, I also noticed there is a colony of those little guys growing where the pump is, so I guess they can keep repopulating and be spat back through the pump for mr. spotty to keep on eating. I'm sure in time he may adapt to eating mysis or brine shrimp as has the bi-color who has taking a liking to flakes a lot and some mysis as well.mikeguerrero said:
hey mike
Hi mike, well i bought my very first fish, a green spotted mandarin today, I have noticed in my tank he is a very pretty fish,,, at the store he didn't look all that at all.
I got him for 12 bucks. well i put my new fishie in the tank a couple mins. later, my nemo started checking him out.. I hope he does well in my tank. give me luck.. :smile:
Hi mike, well i bought my very first fish, a green spotted mandarin today, I have noticed in my tank he is a very pretty fish,,, at the store he didn't look all that at all.
I got him for 12 bucks. well i put my new fishie in the tank a couple mins. later, my nemo started checking him out.. I hope he does well in my tank. give me luck.. :smile:
mikeguerrero
Active Member
Hi Nano Angel,
Your mandarin will do fine. They say they are a big no no in the small reefs because the lack of live rock which house the copepods, but I've been successful in having them adapt to brine shrimp and sometimes mysis.
Hopefully yours will first clear up the copepods explosion and then adapt. Out of the two mandarins the green spotted one is my favorite.
Keep an eye on him over the next couple days to observe his eating behavior and his sleeping behavior. You'll notice when it gets dark towards the evening he will find a place to nest and curls up like a little bird, its cool.
Mike
Your mandarin will do fine. They say they are a big no no in the small reefs because the lack of live rock which house the copepods, but I've been successful in having them adapt to brine shrimp and sometimes mysis.
Hopefully yours will first clear up the copepods explosion and then adapt. Out of the two mandarins the green spotted one is my favorite.
Keep an eye on him over the next couple days to observe his eating behavior and his sleeping behavior. You'll notice when it gets dark towards the evening he will find a place to nest and curls up like a little bird, its cool.
Mike
Sorry to disagree, but a mandarin is a really bad choice for any nano. Unless you can get him to eat brine, and then mysis it's a goner in that small of a tank. There simply isn't enough copepods/amphipods to support a mandarin in that small of a tank. It took me over a year to get my mandarins to start taking live brine, and another 6 months for the male to occasionally take frozen brine and mysis. If the fish's belly starts to look shrunken, catch it, and take it back to LFS. Maybe someone with a suitable tank will buy it before it starves to death.
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mikeguerrero
Active Member
Incysor is 100 percent right Angel, the mandarin goby may die when the explosion of copepods is gone. I took a chance with mine and he lived but I had a 20 gallon tank.
You only have a 12 gallon with not that many live rock. I know that your LFS didn't ask you how big your tank is or he wouldn't have sold you the fish. I also know that Dragon took pity on the mandarins that were suffering in the tank where you purchased it.
So you guys did take it from a tank where they were all with sunken stomachs. So I applaud you for tanking pity on the poor mandarin. But like incysor said, after it clears out the copepods, if it doesn't respond to live brine or mysis, you need to catch it and take it back to you lfs for credit.
Good luck,
I just didn't want to be the one to bust your balls, take it or leave it, Incysor had to tell you the truth....
Mike
You only have a 12 gallon with not that many live rock. I know that your LFS didn't ask you how big your tank is or he wouldn't have sold you the fish. I also know that Dragon took pity on the mandarins that were suffering in the tank where you purchased it.
So you guys did take it from a tank where they were all with sunken stomachs. So I applaud you for tanking pity on the poor mandarin. But like incysor said, after it clears out the copepods, if it doesn't respond to live brine or mysis, you need to catch it and take it back to you lfs for credit.
Good luck,
I just didn't want to be the one to bust your balls, take it or leave it, Incysor had to tell you the truth....
Mike
I don't want to bust anyones balls, and I hope I didn't come across that way. These fish are at the top of my list of favorites, and I think it's sad that so many LFS don't seem to want to educate folks that they only do well in larger established aquariums. If you do a search on RC, you'll see the same thing over and over again. Someone new found one of these spectacular fish at the LFS, bought it, and now can't seem to get it to eat, and it's in a 10g tank. The needs of these fish are well documented, but people don't seem to pay as much attention because it's a relatively inexpensive fish.mikeguerrero said:
Good luck. And if you ever do come across one at an LFS that is going after brine, scoop that sucker up. They're rare, but they do much better. Brine isn't nutritionally useful, (It's like us trying to live on popcorn.), but it's a good indicator that you can wean the fish over to frozen mysis.
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mikeguerrero
Active Member
Incysor,
I now that you didn't come across as busting anyones balls. I should have let you know that it's an inside joke with my brother Dragon79, let me explain.
When dragon79 first started on the site, he got a lot of critizism both positive and negative to better him in reefing. On one partiuclar day he got flamed by Phishcy who stated that he might be going to quickly on starting his tank, Steve had used the bio-spira.
Anyway, Phishcy said, I don't want to bust anyones balls, and then he said his piece followed by, take it or leave it someone had to say it.
So my brother and I joke around with this little saying, and since
Dragon79 girlfriend has joined the forum here with us, I thought it would be funny to say what I said about your post Incysor, :wink:
My brother and I really respect your opinions as well as we respect everyone else on this great forum, that includes our friend Phishcy, he actually allows us to engage in thought and see different perspectives on reefing.
So with that in said, Not to bust your balls, take it or leave it, Mike Guerrero had to say it.... hehehe
Mike
p.s
I haven't picked up a mandarin goby for the same reason, I don't want him to die in the long run, it's a chance you would take even though he is one of my favorite fishes.
I now that you didn't come across as busting anyones balls. I should have let you know that it's an inside joke with my brother Dragon79, let me explain.
When dragon79 first started on the site, he got a lot of critizism both positive and negative to better him in reefing. On one partiuclar day he got flamed by Phishcy who stated that he might be going to quickly on starting his tank, Steve had used the bio-spira.
Anyway, Phishcy said, I don't want to bust anyones balls, and then he said his piece followed by, take it or leave it someone had to say it.
So my brother and I joke around with this little saying, and since
Dragon79 girlfriend has joined the forum here with us, I thought it would be funny to say what I said about your post Incysor, :wink:
My brother and I really respect your opinions as well as we respect everyone else on this great forum, that includes our friend Phishcy, he actually allows us to engage in thought and see different perspectives on reefing.
So with that in said, Not to bust your balls, take it or leave it, Mike Guerrero had to say it.... hehehe
Mike
p.s
I haven't picked up a mandarin goby for the same reason, I don't want him to die in the long run, it's a chance you would take even though he is one of my favorite fishes.
you guys
lol. I come on today and read all of this, lol. Anyway regarding mr. mandarin, he's off to a good start, I'll see how I can help Sandra with getting her spotted manarin to adapt to brine or mysis. Thanks for the warnings guys, she was aware and I told her too, but she was like "there are so much in the tank now, that being he's the only guy that eats it, it wont be able to eat them all as they'll continue to populate.
I remember I personally started a post about the regular mandarin goby the dragonette. He's awesome, but was very discouraged about how the upkeep would be for the little guy. Sandra has high hopes, so I am going to let her learn her own way. As for me, I'm off to Tong's to get my Pico 1.5 RedSea Melody series.
I think a few tangs and lionfish are good starters, lol, j/p. But seriously I'm leaning towards getting the "look just right" with the sand and live rock. I am going to work with the lady from Tongs "Natalie" to get the tank pre-ready by getting already cycled rock if possible. Well I'm off in a bit. Laterz peeps.
lol. I come on today and read all of this, lol. Anyway regarding mr. mandarin, he's off to a good start, I'll see how I can help Sandra with getting her spotted manarin to adapt to brine or mysis. Thanks for the warnings guys, she was aware and I told her too, but she was like "there are so much in the tank now, that being he's the only guy that eats it, it wont be able to eat them all as they'll continue to populate.
I remember I personally started a post about the regular mandarin goby the dragonette. He's awesome, but was very discouraged about how the upkeep would be for the little guy. Sandra has high hopes, so I am going to let her learn her own way. As for me, I'm off to Tong's to get my Pico 1.5 RedSea Melody series.
I think a few tangs and lionfish are good starters, lol, j/p. But seriously I'm leaning towards getting the "look just right" with the sand and live rock. I am going to work with the lady from Tongs "Natalie" to get the tank pre-ready by getting already cycled rock if possible. Well I'm off in a bit. Laterz peeps.
we haven't heard from incysor in this post ever since though....no haha, just silence, I hope my bro didn't mess too much with that inside joke.djconn said:
Surely that's the funniest things I've had said to me by phischy when I first signed up here. I see now why, that guy has from what I've read hasn't even put in a coral in his tank for 2 months. Mr. cautious and playing it real safe and smart. Me I went the opposite, I waited no time, add the beneficial bacteria, bio-spira, put nemo in the same night, and he's still alive to this day. Some people get the luck and I guess it was me. I also put corals in as little as a week. All my corals are healthy and expanding nice and big each day. I'm very pleased as my girl is too, she's super excited. I guess that's why I'm mr. experimental, hehe. Latez.
Sugar Magnolia
New Member
Hi Dragon's GF! Glad you've joined and best of luck with the tank!
As far as star polyps go. They're supposed to be one of the easiest things around. I tried them a few times when I had the system set up with the 55g under the pc lights and never had any luck. I decided to try a couple more frags now that I've got the better lights, and so far so good.
This really shouldn't discourage you from trying them under PC lamps, I know lots of people that have them under PC's and they do great, for some reason mine just never did.
They come in lots of different varieties. I'd hit the LFS's and see if you can find some $5 or $10 frags to try. I wouldn't spend any more than that. The stuff is very common, if you can't find it at the LFS in a frag size, try a local aquarium club, or look in the buy/sell/trade forums on RC.
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This really shouldn't discourage you from trying them under PC lamps, I know lots of people that have them under PC's and they do great, for some reason mine just never did.
They come in lots of different varieties. I'd hit the LFS's and see if you can find some $5 or $10 frags to try. I wouldn't spend any more than that. The stuff is very common, if you can't find it at the LFS in a frag size, try a local aquarium club, or look in the buy/sell/trade forums on RC.
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