Who Gives A Fish Forums

ive had my mandarin fish for about 8 months now in a fish only tank with a decent amount of live rock - 10kg to be exact. it's been thriving on just the live rock, no frozen foods for this guy. my question is, i've read loads of forums about mandarins dying weeks after purchase, does anyone know the main reason behind this, fluxx? i'm also thinking of adding more live rock to my 20g tank, is that a good idea?

Mandarins usually arrive at the shops in pretty rough shape. They're often stuck in tanks without any live rock to forage from, so they go hungry. By the time people bring them home, they've already been through a lot - they've been moved from the ocean to various tanks, and they're pretty stressed out.

Once they settle into a new tank and get comfortable, they tend to do alright. I've seen it with my own fish, it just takes some time.

As for adding more live rock to your tank, it really depends on how it looks now. If it's looking good and there's enough for your mandarin to forage from, then I'd leave it be. But if you've got a lot of open space and you want to fill it in, then adding a bit more rock might be a good idea.

Does yours take frozen food at all? I think they're pretty straightforward to care for, as long as the environment's right - same as most fish, really. The problem is, people often get them and stick 'em in tanks with barely enough live rock for them to survive, or they won't eat frozen, so they're stuck with a fish that's not eating. It's a shame, 'cause they're gorgeous fish - people seem to buy 'em on impulse, even when they know it's a bad idea. Here's to many happy years with a healthy mandarin, fingers crossed.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. My mandarin doesn't touch frozen food, not even live brine shrimp, it's pretty fussy. I've heard that mandarins aren't supposed to do well in a 20G fish-only tank, but mine seems to be thriving. The tank's currently got about 12kg of live rock in it, I'm thinking of adding at least another 4kg, and maybe some live rock rubble as well. Do you think 16kg of live rock would be overkill, or would it just give my mandarin more to munch on?