Mandarin and BB

[pfy333]

I was wondering if anyone has kept a mandarin in a bare bottom tank?

[Aquarist007]

You should not keep a mandarine unless you have a dedicated refugium that is supplying live copopods to the Display tank.

IMO a barebottom is not a criteria to that----but I am not sure if mandarines prefer substrates over glass as a habitat

[Capt_Cully]

A friend of mine has a mandarin in a BB, but as hylinur said, he has a HUGE refugium specifically for pod production to feed the mandarin and other pod eating inhabitants.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12344224#post12344224 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Capt_Cully
A friend of mine has a mandarin in a BB, but as hylinur said, he has a HUGE refugium specifically for pod production to feed the mandarin and other pod eating inhabitants.

so i guess they don't need the substrate like some of the other gobi family do.

[pfy333]

Thanks for the suggestions. This is my first sw tank, my tank is filled and I have about 1 1/2 sand bed. I just prefer the look of sand and was planning to siphon my sand bi-weekly but read that eventually poo will just get built up and its a lose lose battle. Since my tank is unstock (no fish or rocks yet) this would be the best time to change.
I understand that my tank needs to run minimum of 6 months of pod growing before a mandarin is introduce. I have a 10 gal refugium that I plan to grow chaeto, but not too sure if 10 gal is enough.

Capn, I have seen your setup that you've posted and know for sure you won't have problems supplying pods.;)

So maybe I have a chance then, anyone else want to chime in I'm listening:).

[pfy333]

Capt-how long has your friend kept his mandarin in bb tank?