Mandrins

[Drumachine09]

When i went to an aquarium in Jenks OK, my mom saw a fish that she fell in love with, the green spotted mandrin. I have a Damsel in my 10g nano, and i am going to get a camel shrimp. i have seen mandrins in tanks as small as 3.5 gallons happily. Would it be possible to keep one in my nano? I know they are agressive towards other mandrins, but what about other fish? Are they easy to take care of?

[Chrona]

When i went to an aquarium in Jenks OK, my mom saw a fish that she fell in love with, the green spotted mandrin. I have a Damsel in my 10g nano, and i am going to get a camel shrimp. i have seen mandrins in tanks as small as 3.5 gallons happily. Would it be possible to keep one in my nano? I know they are agressive towards other mandrins, but what about other fish? Are they easy to take care of?

Madarins are very tough to keep because they often feed solely on the colepthapods (sp?) on live rock and are usually reserved for the large tanks (55++ gallons)

[Drumachine09]

Ok scratch that then. Any other small tankmates that would go with an agressive damsel, besides a shrimp?

[Chrona]

I remember either fish_whisper or reptileguy saying that a damsel in a 10g will have to be alone because of its aggressive nature and the small tank size.

[Drumachine09]

Oh. So is that a no on the shrimp then too?

[Chrona]

Don't know about the shrimp. I think they were referring to other fish.

[Drumachine09]

Don't know about the shrimp. I think they were referring to other fish.


They keep the yellow tails and the camel shrimp in the same tank, and ive watched them countless times, and i havens seen any problems, however, there is a bigger tank with more fish.

[Drumachine09]

Also i saw some blue legged hermit crabs for a buck fifty. They were small about 1/2 inches to 1 inch long. Do they need to breathe air? Do they over run tanks? any help is apreciated.

[Fishguy2727]

Check the info on the damsel. Most get too big for a 10 and are very aggressive. The other problem is most get ugly as they get older. Check to see how yours will end up. These are the reasons why I would not recommend them for just about any tank unles you happen to love them and will base the tank on their needs. I am not sure how it will be with a shrimp or crab. TFH has a good book called Marine Fish and it has a whole page on each species. It has basic info but includes some info on compatibility. You may want to find a good saltwater forum to post to make sure oyu get the experiences of many. Just be prepared to be torn apart about your small tank. I go to reefcentral.com. They are pretty strict but have the experience. I can almost guarantee they will hound you for being 'cruel' abd keeping it in such a small tank, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I just checked that book, it listed what looks to be that species at 2.8", will ignore inverts (so the crabs and shrimp should be fine), and is a less aggressive species. It did list minimum tank size at 20 gallons though. So I would recommend either getting a larger tank, or maybe taking that one back and going for something else. I wouldn't put a fish into too small of a tank unless the tank had over a pound of live rock per gallon.

[Fish Whisperer]

Hey-
A yellowtail would be fine. They are slow growing and maintain their color nicely compared to other damsels. It should be fine with a shrimp or hermit.

[Chrona]

Hey-
A yellowtail would be fine. They are slow growing and maintain their color nicely compared to other damsels. It should be fine with a shrimp or hermit.

That's what he ended up getting. Has yet to take any focused pictures though ;)

[Drumachine09]

Its kinda hard when you have a POS $50 Camera to work with.

[cocoa_pleco]

I was considering a damsel for my 20g salt, but its all clowns and anenomes and shrimp and crabs