Keeping mandarin fish alive in a 50 gallon is not an easy task, I had a 55 gallon deep tank with lots of LR, yellow tang, 2 clown fish, a dwarf angel, and 2 yellow tail damsel fish along with my mandrain. I ran a sump with 2 coralife 65 gallon skimmer and a refugium. I managed to keep it nice and health for over 5 years. It finally passed away six month after I moved it into a 210 gallon tank. I know for a fact the refugium in the sump had a lot to do with providing sufficient food for the little guy, so if you are going to keep one make sure you have a fuge which can provide ample amount of food and lots of rock work so it can hide out during day time.
I know a lot of people will try to discourage you from getting this magnificent little fish, but if u think you can provide good source of food then i say go for it.
Btw depends on how the tang reacts to food, even if the mandarin is eating frozen food, it will never be able to out compete a hungry hippo tang.
Good luck.
|