Would I be overstocked

[the_fish_man]

Well I have a 30 gallon tank and have a pair of clowns a hawkfish and a jawfish. I really want a mandarine but think I mitt be overtocked. Do you think I will have space? Oh and I have a fire shrimp and cleaner shrimp.

 

[katyttt]

I would not recommend a Mandarin for anything under 55 gallons of an extremely established tank, most will slowly starve to death.
It is a beautiful fish but a great excuse for a larger tank.

 

[bsharpe]

I heard that some captive bred Mandarins are out there, maybe if they are willing to eat "store" food, it could work.

 

[Cherub]

My roomies mandarin eats frozen blood worms

 

[the_fish_man]

Ya I was thinking of buying a oRA mandarine but maybe it still wouldn't work

 

[Zooid]

I'm of the opinion that you could add the mandarin, if it's captive bred and eating frozen food and/or pellet.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Won't the mandarin get into it with the jawfish?

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[ShelbyJK500]

I did some (not extensive) research and found reports that many spotted mandarin's will eat frozen foods...but most if not all (unless captive bred) green/blue/red mandarins will not. This was NOT someone or an LFS trying to sell me a spotted. After doing some homework I found a spotted at Key's Island...where they told me this particular one does eat frozen food, especially small mysis. Anyhow, I got him for my 29g Nano...if it doesn't work out, pod dosing will be in my future until the big tank is established!

 

[Wicked Color]

Both of the common dragonettes have been known to eat frozen foods on a case by case basis, just ask to see the fish eating frozen prior to purchase and you will be fine.
You are not over stocked yet.

 

[djkms]

My mandarin was sold to me as eating frozen/prepared foods. I have never seen it touch any prepared foods I add to the tank, even target feeding doesn't work. My mandarin is fatter than any mandy I have seen even eating frozen/prepared food. I however feed my tank plankton all the time so there is plenty of bugs for her to eat. Keep in mind just because it may be eating frozen in the pet store or you are told it is does not mean that it will eat frozen when you get it home. Chances are good but not 100%. Be prepared that you might have to supplement your tank with copepods and smaller systems (less than 100 gallons IMO) will need continuous additions of copepods if the fish is already in your system, they will wipe out a pod population like no ones business in small tanks.

Also, from my observations mandarins have a really low metabolism. It can take months to starve out a mandarin I think. I would consider a mandarin a "expert only" fish more so than a lot of other fish sold as expert in the hobby. They have really tiny mouths, are very slow to grab food and most require a continuous supply of live food to survive long term. Their survival rate is abysmal in home aquariums and should not be purchased unless you are willing to supplement their diet or provide a big enough system for copepods to multiply without preditation. I would consider my mandarin the most difficult fish in my system to keep (above the Moorish Idol) and she is one of the main reasons I started to culture live foods.

 

[hurrafreak]

I think that you also have to take into account the types of filtration you have? You may be able to squeeze in more fish if the filtration is awesome, but less if the filtration isn't the best?

 

[Tripple T]

My bluespot jawfish and mandarin are fine together in my 28 gal. I've got alot of live rock and my mandarin does fine. He dosent eat prepared food either.