I'm thinking about getting some Mandarin and just want some more info about them i know they are VERY expensive and i don't work (not that i'm to lazy) so can anyone tell me anything about them?

Personally I would not add a Mandarin to a new tank - i.e. one that was less than 6 months but I would actually suggest not less than 1 year though to be honest. This gives the tank time to mature and breed the micro food that they like to graze on.

I did a fair bit of research on these when I fell in love with one at my local Marine specialist - although I must say I've never kept them myself. Certainly one for my tank once I've moved house though

They are very hard to keep healthy - From what I've read, you would need a large refugium with plenty of live rock to help keep their food supply up. In home aquariums they have a tendency to starve as they don't compete for food well. With the sump and extra live rock, the extra micro organisms that over flow in to the main tank will really be appreciated. I believe that you can also get (from some LFS) specialist Mandarin foods (frozen mysis) and it has been known to wean them on to this and other Marine foods.

I can see why you'd want one - they are fantastic to watch. But to be honest unless you are really sure you can cater for them, I would leave them for now. (but that's just my opinion )

Just a quick question - do you have a 2nd tank other than the tropical one mentioned on your profile? The Mandarin are a Marine reef fish.

Have a read of Wiki

Hi Ukoria

Updating your profile would be helpful. Presently, we are only aware of your 45 litre freshwater tropical tank. Are you thinking of going salty then as well ?

More info on them here:

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3138

You need to be 200% dedicated to keeping these

Yeah I only have my tropical fish, but I guess getting Mandarins isn't a good idea thanks for the info though

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Fact: They can be kept and have even been bred by aquarists. Their care has been made simpler in recent times by the availability of live food supplies that can be added as and when. There was some cracking info on the MOFIB web site about breeding these fish a couple of years ago. And that forum has an unparalleled concentration of expert marine fish keepers. So the info is as good as it gets.

Opinion: They are best avoided by beginners as they are not an easy species. I really hate discussing costs, but the price of regular supplemental life food for these fish is high. And many aquarists would be put off by this. Why not wait until you have an established reef (12 months +) and then take a look again.

Indeed, not impossible but not one to be undertaken lightly More info here on culturing food for them. Howard has had one for a while but he cultures extra food for it and really knows what he's doing. I've met Howard's, it's very pretty and I can see the appeal.

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ ... id=240690#forumpost240690

We don't seem to have a caresheet on them so I had a look round some other sites but it's tricky to know which are credible so I've resorted to a French one as Phisan (who sometimes posts here) is also a member of that site and has always given very good advice when he posts on FK so I have hope for their caresheet. I'm sure google translate will oblige.

click here

No google translate didn't work but thanks anyway and I think I might try some other fish first and if I still want to I will get some (but with a LOT more research)

Unless you have upgraded to a bigger freshwater tropical tank, please don't add any more fish for now You are already massively overstocked with fish who need quite different water conditions as well. Tank is 45 litres, yes?

The mandarins are marine fish of course, so can't be kept in a freshwater set up.

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The neon, rummy nose and glowlights are all shoaling fish, so 6 min of each kind and they need soft, acidic water - a 120 litre tank min for these, bigger is better though. Guppies need hard more alkaline water to thrive (not suited with the others), to house 6 alone you are looking at 60 litres.

Do you know tap water pH and GH? This will help FK to confirm which of the fish are suited long term to your local water.

Keeping fish outside of there usual pH range often leads to illness and an early demise, so good to know.