calling anyone with green mandarin expirience!

beeguiles

beeguiles

they call me fish geek ;p
I'm still trying to think of a good fish for my 10g. Now this may be a long shot but I'd figure id ask anyways. If I were to find a green mandarin that ate frozen food, would it be possible to keep him in a 10g nano? I know that they will eat all the pods in like one day in a ten gallon that's why if I got one I would make sure it eats frozen. Also are the spotted one more likley to eat frozen? I've always wanted one but can't add another fish in the 29g with my killer lobster. Also would it be good to maybe buy pods once a month and put them in the tank along with him eating frozen food?
 
I've bred the spotted, and regular mandarins (I call them regular because they usually differ slightly if at all in color variations.) Both have the same likelyhood of taking frozen which isn't good unless they are aquacultured. It's possible to teach your mandarin to take frozen yourself if it's young enough; however sometimes you will get a fish which simply will refuse and would rather perish vs changing his diet. It's possible to keep one in a 10 gallon, and as far as supplementing pods, if he is already eating frozen I would be leary of supplementing any live foods. You take the risk of the fish weaning off the frozen foods and back onto live. Mandarins would most definitely rather have pods vs any other type of food and i've had them regress before and had to restart the weaning process all over again. If the fish is eating frozen then stick with it, otherwise get it to eat frozen. Its absolutely amazing how many pods they can go through. They will literally eat you out of house and home if you try to provide for them this way. I know some sites offer aquacultured mandarins, as do I, but the batch I have atm is still a week or two away from being ready for new homes.
 
Im on phone and don't have any pictures available on this device; however ORA put a video on youtube I took a couple of years ago. They used to purchase my mandarins from me when they first started as I use their same methods of breeding and they were selling out almost overnight. Matt Wittenrich perfected the process so I can't claim credit for that or for anything really. It was actually fairly easy and really only requires the daily time input. I'll post the link to the video here at the bottom. It's pretty old now and I have upgraded breeding methods since. Im not tech savy enough so they did the video editing. I just took the video. Not here to promote any company or anything. I still breed them, not for monetary gain, but for the satisfaction of knowing they're chances of survival are greatly increased in an aquarium setting. In all honesty I probably just about break even. Breeding yellow watchmans is/was far more difficult then the mandarins but that's a different rant.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZEGItO4zZU]ORA Spotted Mandarins eating Nutramar Ova - YouTube[/ame]
 
That is so cool! Most of my fish are captive breed, I love supporting the people who breed and raise these fish.

Do you have any of the regular mandarines?
 
Yea I primarily breed the regulars. Mostly blues as people seem to prefer them over the reds or greens. The sharp color contrast makes them stand out more. They are ugly little things for the first few weeks though. The old saying "only a face a mother could love" definitely applies to them.No color at all. I liken them to a caterpillar because it truly is amazing how beautiful they become.
 
Chain, if my husband gets transferred to OK, I am totally crashing your party and studying your setup!
 
Haha I'll be here. Just me, the wind and a lot of cows. Anything east of
OKC is hilly and looks a lot like Arkansas. Anything west of OKC is why people Coming from California turn around and go back.
 
Yes every single one that I will ship will definitely eat frozen along with a handful of other foods including small pellets and flake. When shipping to individuals I include a typed list of the specific brands and types of foods the mandarins are weaned onto so you can get an idea of what you may need to purchase or what you may already have available. Most of them will actually take whatever you have, but I send the papers out anyway just as a precaution in case they won't and you need to find something quick or as a precaution to have something handy. I also usually send a small supply of food with each unless im sending to a wholesaler to provide enough food in case you don't have anything available when the fish arrives. I package with heat/cold packs depending on the time of year and weather in each specific region. Oxygen requirements are taken into consideration prior to packaging due to heating packs using O2. I have some spotted's which will be ready in around 2 weeks and some blue regulars which should be ready in 3. I hand feed them so you when you get them they will eat out of your hand. Alot of people like the interaction with their fish. They will accept food irregardless of feeding methods so it's not mandatory. I will also pair them up, but that takes a while longer as its difficult to distinguish sex until they are older. I select pairs from what I have left out of different populations. I save at least 2 pairs of each for further breeding. The rest go out.
 
Well let me talk with my husband some more and ill send you a pm regarding pricing and what not. He can't decide if he wants a spotted mandarin or a panda goby. I'd rather have a mandarin so ill prlly win lol. Wife gets what she wants usually. Have you kept in touch with anyone who has bought any of your mandarins? If so, have they had an issue with them refusing frozen food after they arrive? My tank is still new. Only two weeks old so waiting another couple weeks is no big deal. I'm in the research stage right now while the tank is nearing the end of its cycle. I already have pods in my tank! But I know I do get a mandarin they will be gone Haha
 
+1 Hannah. I had a pair in my pico tank. They are just so small that no matter how small of a tank you have, they will disappear and you will never see them. They are expensive -- I paid a lot for them, and they are rare to find in stores, so I was so bummed! I really thought they'd be the perfect fish for my 3 gallon. Fully mature, mine were about as long as my pinkie nail. In my research, I also found that they require a stylophora (SPS coral) to live in to survive. I had a really nice one in my pico, so I thought I was giving them what they need, but they didn't seem to care -- they were never in the stylophora. It's also somewhat of a mystery what they eat. It is believed that many of them just starve to death. After I added them, I saw them maybe once or twice, then never again.
 
Oh wow I'm picking out some tough fish! Lol okay so no panda. So I'm down to a royal gramma and a spotted mandarin possibly. Does that combo sound good? Great colors, stays small, not too aggressive.
 
Really? I thought I'd be able to keep at most two fish. I wanted one who sits around...perches on rock. And one swimmer.
 
RGs need a bit bigger tank to be really happy too. Mine had his territory, but he swam all over my 50 gallon.
 

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