*sigh* i had to do it...

there i was, my wife had gone out of town for the weekend and i was bored out of my mind. i said to myself "don't go to the LFS, you'll only end up spending money because you have nothing better to do. it is a bad idea." so i'm at the LFS looking around and i stumble across the find of the century (reletive to the store i was in). the healthiest looking mandarin i've ever seen. i know everyone says not to do it, but i've got zero impulse control. the mandarins they always get are thin and weak and looking like death, THIS guy was extremely fat and happy. he had a terrific head:body ratio, he was active and his eyes were bright and full of laughter. i had to do it. he's been in the tank for a few days and i need to show. in spite of the slow/methodic movement of this fish, he is impossible to get a decent picture of! here's the best i could do

 

Good find. How's the pod population in your tank?

 

Looking good.. i found one like this as well.. been in my tank for about a month now or so.

BTW what is that? a favia in the top right picture? nice looking coral

 

he is beautiful. I want one...... but I don't think my sandsifting goby would like it much.

 

i've just been glued to my tank since i got him. without a doubt, the most beautiful fish on the planet. i know they are common and only like 20 bucks, but it is easily my favorite fish. i've was genuinely worred about putting him in with my sixline. i know they compete for pods and i've even heard of wrasses beating up mandarin. while i was floating the bag, the clowns scoped him out a bit but lost interest fast. once i plopped him in, the coral beauty seemed to love him. Disco (the mandarin) was just cruising around the rocks and Raj (the beauty) followed him everywhere he went for about 2 minutes. no hassling, no nipping from anyone and Disco felt right at home, no hiding or freaking out at all.

 

Nice vids... very neat fish for sure.

 

My mandarin is completely un-bothered by my 2 sleeper gobies.

btw nice mandarin one of my favorites! My current guy was about an inch and a half when i got him now hes about 2.5" and shes getting pretty chubby.

 

i think inwall decided that it is a favite. when i got it, it was kind of a boring green/brown but it was only like 10 bucks. since i got it under my new lights it has really colored up, not just the light color, but i think it has changed color itself. after two months in my tank, it has finally started to spread

 

pods were definitely a concern. i've been buy those $20 bottles of tigger pods and seeding my tank gradually at night for a while. i've got a ton of rubble piles, very porous rock and chaeto as well. but heres the BIG news.

the first few days, i would turn the pumps off and sprinkle a little frozen cyclops in the tank. everyone perks up and starts swimming around, even the mandarin. i drop in a little mysis shrimp for broad feeding and let the fish do their thing but then i suck up a few pods and a little cyclops into my target feeding syringe and put a little in front of the mandarin. i took about ten minutes to feed him and did this twice a day. today, i did the same thing but only put a mix of cyclops, garlic juice and mysis in the pipe. i pushed the shrimp out so it was just barely hanging from the pipe and the mandarin came up and snagged it! freaking right! he did this to two more pieces of shrimp and then swam off. he still sucks rock all day and i figure that buy a bottle of pods once a month just to ensure a breeding population is a tolerable hit. i know that he seems to like cyclops and i think i'm going to try some roe later this week. wish me luck!

thanks for checking out my fish!

 

That's awesome!!! Oh man you got your work cut out for you!!

Good luck with the mandarin!!