Update....and more questions =)

[roo]

So while I've been too busy to post, I've been busy with the tank....

The basics - about 15 lbs of LR and 20lbs of LS

Cleanup Crew - 7 reef hermits, 3 Margarite Snails, 2 Nassirus Snails, 2 peppermint shrimp

Corals - 2 baby ricordia, 1 green frogspawn, 1 white hammer, small star polyps small pink zoo colony, small orang zoo colony, and 2 unknown...

Fish - Everyone's favorite nano dish, the mandarin. I saved him from literally being eaten alive as his bretheren were at the LFS. He is eating frozen brine/mysis as well as what his nonstop pod hunting gets him. I need to see what else I can get him to take as my pod population is obviously getting low.

questions:

1. I need help IDing 2 corals circled in the pics below...

2. Mandarins don't do well with aggressive fish.....I eventually would like to get another fish that's attractive and yet, not aggresive, any suggestions?

3. Still not satisfied with my layout in there.....has anyone ever taken a huge piece of LR and then cut it into 4 pieces....leaving each piece with 2 flat sides....one to go against the back of the tank and the other to go flat on the bottom of the tank. I'm debating on doing this, curing it, and then removing some of my existing LR towork it into my tank.

4. Clams....I'm interested in a crocea....any reason why it would be a bad idea?

 

[roo]

more pics

 

[EDGRAY]

Hi ROO your tank is looking nice even though here is what can say:

1)From the pictures they dont look clear but looks like a kind of hairy fuzzy shroom i guess if not also looks like a pest anemonea.. majano anemonea but not sure see what others say..

2)Well as you know and im pretty sure you being reading even if mandarines eat frozen food thats not enough for them cause their first food surce is pods and sonner or later will eat all your pods and well they are one of the most hard to keep fish excluding if you have a big as$ tank really mature 1 year plus and with a pods factory (Refugium)... so sorry to say but it will not last too much a give him 3-4 months tops but wish you luck cause i do love this creatures too but not for us NC owners.... sorry to sound bad about them just being realistic.. (even that i did same thing as you) P.S: you never mix peacful fish with aggressive never and even worst in such a small tank keep it simple

3)i think we all do that .... brake big rock since with smaller pieces we work better :mrgreen: and dont worry take out your LR and time for hammer and shitzel (bad spelling sorry ) you'll see smaller pieces best aquascape :razz:

4) No clams for you only if you have a better light or stronger ... like MH or having more PC power but clam will have to be really high as possible... but is up to you if you get it or no i kept one for almost 5months and well it survived cause of daily feeding of plankton and as they say small clams dont depend on light ontil they get bigger than 4" big i think not sure but better if you dont do it (if wondering mine moved to other tank :mrgreen: he still alive)

Hope i help alittle and sorry if i sounded to negative but you doing alot of things i did that i know now that i shouldnt done it, take care my friend :cool1:

EDDY

 

[roo]

Hi Ed!
Yeah, I read sooooo much about the Mandarins...wasn't planning on buying one this soon but it was a combination good deal and a rescue. There are still pods in there and I am working on a pod pile as well as ordering pods to stock the tank with. I realize all of it's needs and I'm going to give it my best to meet them. If all else fails, I might give in and get a larger tank (still less than 40 but larger than 12) and give the nano as a present to my younger brother.

For the clam, I was thinking of upgrading my lighting to the nanocustoms 96watt hood. Would that be enough? they claim you can even have SPS with that setup.....

The corals I circled are definatly not anemones. The one on the right was dying because of the power outtage but is definatly getting better day by day. I think the place I got the LR with them on it said they were button something or other...sound familiar? I'll try to get better pics up.

 

[TimSchmidt]

with a small clam you can use the 96 watts as the clams take in food from spot feeding, but of course as it gets larger the MH would be better.

 

[reefman23]

For the clam, I was thinking of upgrading my lighting to the nanocustoms 96watt hood. Would that be enough? they claim you can even have SPS with that setup.....

This depends too on placement as well as what kind of clam you are looking at. Generally, lighting isnt as important as stability in a tank this size. They will "live" under a variety of lighting conditions, but you may or may not see much growth. A lack of stabilty in the system will kill them every time. This means temp, salinity, pH, alkalinity, Ca., etc.

HTH

Jesse

 

[JeffDubya]

2)Well as you know and im pretty sure you being reading even if mandarines eat frozen food thats not enough for them cause their first food surce is pods and sonner or later will eat all your pods and well they are one of the most hard to keep fish

Hey Ed... I'm not sure I agree at all. I have kept a mandarin that ate nothing but blood worms, and had him for well over a year. I lost him when an anemone fouled the tank and I lost everything. I have also kept scooter blennys with success, both are actually dragonnets.

I do agree that this fish is high maintenance. But if you can observe it at an LFS eating fish food, it will probably be ok.

You can find a fun documenary video on mandarins at http://www.melevsreef.com/video/mandarin.mov

There's also an ingenious video on this site of a specal feeding method marc set up for his mandarin. http://www.melevsreef.com/video/diner4.wmv Pretty neat! Damn that Marc is like some kind of genius with Acrylic. I HATE HIM.

Where I will agree with Ed is that if you do not want to take the time to target feed, then a Mandarin is likely not for you. They sure are a beautiful fish, though.

 

[EDGRAY]

LOL sorry i never so your reply till today :lol: anyways really nice video clops i love them well my favorite first link and i do agree that can be kept but they are hard maintanance but a bigginer for him is not good to keep one maybe i really dedicated reefer like Marc yeah for sure .. and well i had one that ate anything but the other one nothing but never tryed the blood worms ill try that next time i try to keep one.... last 2 i got lasted 3months and also had a crash in tank and lost everything so not sure for how long i was gonna be able to keep them.... anyways thx for the links.... they are so cute

 

[JeffDubya]

The main thing is... ask the LFS to feed them. OBSERVE them eat in their holding tank. It makes all the difference in the world. Some do, some don't.

 

[reefman23]

I will just never be able to agree that keeping a mandarin in a nano is a good idea. I think that it is unnatural and just not fair. It would be like saying you could keep a tang in a cube as long as it eats seaweed and algae flakes. Just because you get it to eat doesnt mean that the fish is content. Have you observed a mandarin in a 100g+ tank? they cruise end to end and back, constantly grazing for pods. They just dont have the room necessary for them to behave naturally.

there, just my $0.02.

Jesse

ps. pods are the staple diet for them, not bloodworms and brineshrimp which are typically lacking of nutrients anyways.

 

[Jennie]

Please remember that pods are a staple in a mandarins diet. Even with pods in your tank, due to their constant grazing the supply is going to run out. Don't get me wrong, it is a good sign that they eat frozen food at a LFS, but they NEED their supply of natural foods.

 

[roo]

well, it's been a few weeks, he's plump, plenty of pods left and he seems happy. Even with pods remaining, I am working on a podpile at the moment and will be ordering some pods for stocking. While I don't plan on buying pods all the time, I will work on getting him to eat pellets. Even if pods are their natural food, he can benefit from some variety ;-)

Now the question noone has answered....a tankmate. He's super happy now and still had pods.....why? because there is no competition for pods and no aggressive tankmates. So...what is an ideal tankmate for him? I have got a few more corals and added to the hermit army but have avoided any fish because i've yet to read what is best suited for him as a tankmate. Hell, I'm actually content with just him if need be but i'd love to know my options...

 

[JeffDubya]

I think dragonnets are solitary animals. That's why you shouldn't have two in any tank - even a large one.

 

[EDGRAY]

Since you insist on keeping one with a partner well there are some available... there is the goby family you know the small ones ... redhead goby, yellow or blue neongoby, greenbanded, trimma goby and so on the small ones so they dont get territorial with your mandi.. and well firefish are nice tankmates ... a clown doubt full but will be ok but not for long so i guess your best bet is any kind of small gobies or firefish... but see what others say!!!!

EDDY :cool1:

 

[TimSchmidt]

I second the firefish as it tends to swim near the top and all the mandarins I've seen seem to prefer the bottom (never had one, so this is just observational).