Mandarin in a 10 gallon? Read on for my reasoning

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by duoc9119, May 11, 2011.

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  1. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    My LFS has a great supply of Green Mandarins that are trained on pellets and frozen foods. I've spent a great deal of time at the place watching these little guys scurry around as well as feeding time. I've watched them for possibly 3 months and they have no problems eating frozen and pellets. So will one of these be fine in a 10 gallon tank?

    I know many will go bonkers on why I need at least a 75 gallon tank and what not, but mainly because of the massive amount of pods it needs to eat. But if it already eats pellets and such I don't see a problem why it wouldn't work in a 10 gallon. Possibly a 20 depending on how much room I have in my dorm next year.

    Thoughts and opinions? Advice?
     
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  3. kss2801

    kss2801 Montipora Capricornis

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    I think these will be better off than a mandarin that doesn't eat prepared foods, but don't think it will be ok. My mandarin is constantly hunting and eating. They have a high metabolism and so need to eat constantly. So a good pod supply is still necessary.
     
  4. saltyfresh

    saltyfresh Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    a 10 is small not for pods but swiming room. i would say. a 20 min and offer frozen mysis with vitamins and i all goes bad (he gets skenny) have a back up plan for a large tank with pods but i see no prob. ;D
     
  5. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    agrred on the swiming room more than teh food isue a 20 long might suit you better than a 10 IMO and I had one In my 20 tall with lots of rock work and pods but he chocked on a pice of sand :( so there alot more issues than food IMO
     
  6. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Hm a 20 is really tempting. lol But I'm currently juggling a 10 gallon tank with a purple dottyback and blood red hawkfish that I had to completely redo because of the unexpected hawk (literally unexpected, I brought the tank home for spring break because there was a month before I moved out for summer, gave my parents instructions for feeding and water changes, and when I finally moved out and got home there was the hawkfish :confused: my parents said having just the one purple dottyback was kind of lonely so they got the hawkfish :eek:. Should have added NO BUY FISH to the list of to-dos.)

    And I am working on my Nano cube 28. Going to gut the hood and install rapid leds. Just need the cash for it first, which leads me to my finding a job problem. No one wants to hire someone for 3 months.
     
  7. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Sand?! I haven't heard of that before! :confused: Its usually the big fish that were fed feeders and then choked on the feeder, but a mandarin and sand??
     
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  9. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    it was a puice of sand i swear it got stuck in its throat and it suficated/starved :( I was really mad because I didnt think that could happen. but I wont get another untile I get my 75 up and running
     
  10. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    So I should go with fine sand from Marco Rocks to avoid choking? I think I will look into a 20 gallon long. Maybe I will have enough room on my desk for it when I move in for next year.
     
  11. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    it was a small manderin and it ya read my avatar I think that might help explain but I had medium grain sant and she found a small pice so I would try the finer grain if it was me. and where do ya live I have a 30 thats tha same deminsions as a 20 long I might be able to sell to ya
     
  12. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Thanks for the offer but I'm in the lone star state. I will see if I can find any cheap set ups around here. The most expensive part of this will be the lights, as usual, maybe I will do a 20 gallon long frag tank or something. I've got some ideas for one that I tried implementing (got the idea from a fellow 3reefer I can't remember his name but his thread was 120 gallons of love) but that went downhill when I came home to a new fish.