Cycled!
 

Well... the tank is cycled. I am sure it has been for some time now and my tests have confirmed this.


Ph - 8.3

NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0
NH4 - 0


Sooo..... It looks like I am going to add my Mandarin.

If they have one in the store tomorrow, it's coming home with me!

I have also decided that breeding is not in the cards right now. I am not going to set up another system to house fry anytime soon, so figured might as well get a nice one going in there.


I may also add a pipe fish. Not sure, but I may have too much flow for one... but we shall see.

Very exciting ! Hope you get one tomorow they are such awsome fish . If you can get them to try and feed it , see if they can feed it blood worms , mine has loved them frome day 1.

Today. Yes I bought one. I will have him and the pics tonight. He is paid for at Aquarium Illusions and ready for pick up.

Stay tuned.

Ahem. I bought a pair.

Did you buy that nice big male in the top left tank?

No. Too big.

There was a male female pair in one of the tanks so took both.

After a long... Long acclimation, mandarins are in the tank. The make is exploring and already hunting.

Pics once they come more into view.

Both mandarins are good. They are still hanging out and following each other so hopefully they stay " friendly ".

in the long run you will not be able to produce the pods required in this size of tank for one mandrin little lone 2. but they are eating blood worms so you need to train them to eat a more ballanced food for them as blood worms are good for a suplament but not a staple. a high quality small pellet or something like that would be an ideal food to get them eating, but don't buy a bunch see if you can borrow a few table spoons from some one till you know you are sucessfull in getting them to eat it.

If I saw this sooner I would have urged you to go with a min of a 90 gal for a pair of mandrins but to late now. one way to help with the production of pods is to fill your refuge about 1/2 to 3/4 full of rubble rock. I did this in my 94 gal but hid the piles of rubble under the rock work and in the sump. with over 240 lbs of Live rock and rubble I went from tones of pods to seeing them once and a while with in a month of adding the mandrins so they are a large consumer and mine did mate several times as the tank was 24" tall. in hind site a 30" tall tank would be better but 24" works for the most part.

Steve