New to the site, pretty new to saltwater

I really dont want to be a downer, but i really think you should not get the mandarine. Even if they are eating frozen, they are still going to eating stuff in your tank. You are going to have some real trouble keeping him fat in there.

There is one member on here to who has one who eats frozen and is in a 29 and he would not do it again, he just cant get him as fat as he would like.

If you have your heart set on a mandarine, here is what i would do though. I would turn the back compartment into a mini fuge, stock it with pods and give them 6 months to get really establish. That way your mandarine has two food sources. You are going to have to dose pods every few months because the mandarine is going to burn through them. But i think that is how you would have your best chance to success.
 
I really dont want to be a downer, but i really think you should not get the mandarine. Even if they are eating frozen, they are still going to eating stuff in your tank. You are going to have some real trouble keeping him fat in there.

There is one member on here to who has one who eats frozen and is in a 29 and he would not do it again, he just cant get him as fat as he would like.

If you have your heart set on a mandarine, here is what i would do though. I would turn the back compartment into a mini fuge, stock it with pods and give them 6 months to get really establish. That way your mandarine has two food sources. You are going to have to dose pods every few months because the mandarine is going to burn through them. But i think that is how you would have your best chance to success.
No worries, I have a thick skin and am wanting to learn more about everything. My inTank media baskets (including fuge) are coming in today, chaeto will be ordered today (hopefully). I want to discuss with the guy at the fish store more to see prices and everything. Apparently, the tank I pulled my live rock from had *tons* of copepods on it, and he said it was highly likely my tank already had a decent amount going (not enough for a mandarin, but more than enough to seed it).
 
Definitely good enough to sees it, but they eat an amazing amount in a day. I would bet they could clean your tank out in a day or two.

But remember your lfs exists to sell you stuff. Always take their advice with a grain of salt. If your fish dies, they make more money by selling you another one.
 
Definitely good enough to sees it, but they eat an amazing amount in a day. I would bet they could clean your tank out in a day or two.

But remember your lfs exists to sell you stuff. Always take their advice with a grain of salt. If your fish dies, they make more money by selling you another one.
If I got a mandarin (IF), and it ate frozen food... and I still couldn't keep it alive, I wouldn't buy another one for the same tank because I would know it was my fault and just not a good idea to keep repeating the mistake.

So... about these leather corals... they seem to get silly big and would likely take up a lot more room than I want. How do you prune them or keep them small enough to not block out the entire tank?
 
That is good to hear! But it would astound you how many people do just that :(

I would just trade the larger leather in and get a smaller one and let the whole process happen again. Or i think you can off pieces and sell them as frags. Wohoo!
 
I've never actually done this but if I was to I guess I would just YouTube it. They have all sorts of videos on fragging corals. I would find a video for you but I'm using my iPod and the connection is less than great. Plus I am rather slow with working it.

But you might find you like the large leather. I have huge bright green one that I really love. It's little tentacles wave in the current and it's very pleasant to watch. If you check out my build thread there are a few pics of it.
 
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