thinking of going fishless

i do have a bonded pair of false percula clowns and a pajama cardinal i could put in. probably my best option for non jumpers that i already have. thanks for all the input. i would have to find a home for my moorish idol, harlequin tusk and a blue throat trigger.

 

Kept a mandarin for over a year (traded it because I got pipefish) that never once ate anything I put in the tank, and he was a fatty.

 

Every fish is different but I don't think that's the norm for a mandarin. I don't agree that a mandarin is an easy fish and definitely should not be chosen due to "not needing to feed". I'm sorry but a year is nothing to determine if a fish like a mandarin is thriving while not feeding it. Too many starve because of people being told how easy they are when it can take a long time for them to starve.

 

^+1. I agree with DSC. I did leave out that I have an extremely healthy population of pods in my fuge which feeds my DT all the time with the little buggers.

 

Metabolism on mandarins is VERY fast, given their hunting nature. A long time to starve isn't necessarily the case, and how long exactly is a long time? Considering he went from a sunken stomach to actually plump, over the course of a year, I consider that success. The state mine arrived in, would not have "starved" for long if it wasn't in my tank.

The tank is not new and the OP is not new to the hobby. The tank is also pretty large, I think a mandarin would be fine, their is plenty to hunt and from my experience this is actually the norm for wild caught mandarins. Most never take to prepared/frozen.

Given the correct environment and a healthy specimen, mandarins are about as easy as a clownfish if not easier due to their impressive resistance (slime coat) to diseases.

 

Cmon VA, I don't need a write up from live aquaria. I'm not new to the hobby myself. The op has stated that his tanks have been alot to deal with lately and telling someone to throw a mandarin in the tank and leave it is not good info man. They need to be fed! Disagree and argue all you want, I'm standing by opinion firmly. Do you know the op personally or seen the tank up close? I don't think it's right to suggest a mandarin in the manner you did, sorry. Clownfish, really?

 

I'm just speaking from my experience. I don't think my mandarin was any different from other wild caught ones. I assumed the op meant to keep the 125g tank, surely you think this is large enough for a mandarin, regardless of if it takes frozen/prepared or not?

The two biggest reasons mandarins are considered hard is because the wild caught specimens can spend up to 3 weeks without eating and thus arrive emaciated, and people way too often put them in smaller new tanks that can't sustain one should it not take to frozen prepared foods. If both of these are avoided, I really do believe them to be an easy fish.

I wish not to argue but rather debate. Not that either of us have gotten out of hand.

 

Debates are healthy buddy. No offense taken my friend

 

It is normally necessary to add phytoplanton and fish food to have a truly healthy population of pods.Counterproductive imo for the type of system the OP is shooting for.I never recommend Mandarins.Best left alone ime. I don't see any problems keeping a system with no fish.It is actually quite easy.I have done it many times for a hands off system.Don't forget fish are only part of the equation when considering bioload.Anything that eats and poops contribute.Worms,anthripods,copepods and other inverts are already present if LR(or corals on lr) has ever been added to the system. Feeding the corals once a week would also help.