[daniella3d]

Tiger pods don't settle in our aquariums and quickly die or are eaten. It is not the same type of pods that colonize our tanks.

If you want a mandarin, it is best to buy some cheato as usualy it is full of the right kind of pods and add live phyto on regular basis as pods eat phyto and without it, they won't thrive. Sometime just adding life phyto is enough to bring them back even if you think they are not there any more.

I treated my tank with Interceptor for black bugs and I could swear all the pods were dead. I have 2 mandarins in my tank so I was a bit worried but by adding live phyto the pod recovered in a few weeks.

Also it is a good think to get yourself a live white worm culture before you get your mandarin, as it is an excellent base food for them so even if the pod population would be low, they would be fat and healthy with these. I feed my mandarins live white worms each day and they love it. I have my female for 2 1/2 years and the male for 2 years. They spawn regulary.

My female love those worms so much that she swim after then in the water column and eat them while they are floating in the water. Of course I turn the pumps off so that they have time to catch the worms.