Angelfish

OCDP · #1 03-18-2006, 04:15 PM

Not to rain on your parade even more...

But a Mandarin is not a good choice for a tank that size. It need a much bigger system with a nice big fuge pumping out tons of pods.

Bottom line is , your system will not be able to produce enough pods to keep the mandarin alive. Take it from me... I was an ass and tried. However, when I bought mine it was eating prepared foods.. dont' let this excite you and think "oh its eating prepared foods, lets take it home" Because as soon as you do that... and the fish is swimming about your live rock, it notices it's natural food source (pods) swimming around and then takes to those. That's what happened with mine.. it just flat out stopped eating mysis .

I know how annoying it is to want a certain fish and not be able to keep it, or have people tell you what you can and cannot keep. Just keep in mind.. we're trying to save you hassels and problems that will come later. It's all for the best, trust us

Cheers

J Feez · #2 03-18-2006, 04:21 PM

Thanks for the advice Scott. I actually never new that a Mandarin had size restrictions, but it makes sense. Maybe a couple scooter benny's would be a good a alternative? What do you think about the Firefish?

It really is tough work making the right choice!

OCDP · #3 03-18-2006, 04:50 PM

Hey,

It's not so much a size restriction, it's more so a diet issue. It's because mandarins (and scooter blenny's unfortunately) feed off little creatures called copepods (sp?) they are little tiny "bugs" that live in your sand and rock. The fish grazes all day over rocks picking off these pods.

These fish are not well known to eat frozen foods or any other prepared foods, although there are people that are having success. IMO though.. I think they need the pods regardless to keep healthy and thriving, because after all this is their natural diet.

The firefish would be a good choice though.. great fish. Very colorful, and always out in the open. IMO, in small tanks.. these are the kind of fish you want to have (active, colorful) Be warned though as firefish are very skittish and jumpy fish, and if spooked they will jump tank. So I would suggest using a cover over your tank if your keeping firefish.

HTH, and I'll try my best to answer any other questions you have

mr_alberta · #4 03-18-2006, 06:22 PM

If you are into the more rare dwarf angels, you could try a Multicolor angel. JL seems to have one at the moment.

Willow · #5 03-18-2006, 04:51 PM

i havent had personal experance with other angels but i had an ebili do about 500 dollars worth of damage in my reef inside 3 days a few years ago.

J Feez · #6 03-18-2006, 04:57 PM

Holy crap that's a lot of damage!! I hope you were able to recover from that!

Thanks for the help Scott. I think I'm going to go back up to the LFS and make a decision from there. Hopefully it's the right one, but you live and you learn right. Koran is out because that would just be cruel. I believe ocean's is getting some Flames in today so maybe I'll go that route. I know you had some trouble with yours Scott, so I'll be sure to check for any type of spots or anything that looks out of the ordinary.

BMW Rider · #7 03-18-2006, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J Feez

Thanks for the advice Scott. I actually never new that a Mandarin had size restrictions, but it makes sense. Maybe a couple scooter benny's would be a good a alternative? What do you think about the Firefish?

It really is tough work making the right choice!

It is hard deciding on the right fish in a smaller tank. The good thing is you're asking questions before you're buying.

Bicolours are less hardy than some, but if healthy when bought and handled well and provided ecellent tank conditions, should thrive. If you are planning this tank to be a reef, then any angel is a gamble. The Coral beauty is considered among one of the least likely angels to nip at corals and is a hardy spieces. Of course there is never any gaurantee with any of them with corals.

Your other fish choices should be fine for a reef. The firefish can be very shy and will not like any aggressive tankmates. Your listed choices are all generally peacful. A small goby like the yellow clown goby would be a good alternative to the mandarin.

J Feez · #8 03-18-2006, 05:00 PM

You're right Ed. The more questions the better really. The world's reefs are already in enough trouble, no need for the people who are trying to save a little bit of them to be part of the problem.

One last angel I thought of that I saw at Ocean's was a Velvet angel. What are those like? I haven't been able to find much on those either.

Bob I · #9 03-18-2006, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J Feez

Thanks for the advice Scott. I actually never new that a Mandarin had size restrictions, but it makes sense. Maybe a couple scooter benny's would be a good a alternative? What do you think about the Firefish?

It really is tough work making the right choice!

Scooter Blennies have the same requirement as Mandarins.

OCDP · #10 03-18-2006, 05:28 PM

As mentioned..... (see what the ignore feature does

)

Quote:

It's not so much a size restriction, it's more so a diet issue. It's because mandarins (and scooter blenny's unfortunately) feed off little creatures called copepods (sp?) they are little tiny "bugs" that live in your sand and rock. The fish grazes all day over rocks picking off these pods