Mandarin Fish Care

This is the care and requirements of the Mandarin Fish. Of all the species that come into the marine aquarium hobby, few can hold a candle to the beauty of the Mandarin Fish. You have to see it to believe it. Its entire body is an intricate meld of blues, oranges, reds and greens. It is truly a breathtaking species.

Unfortunately, they don't do very well in our marine aquariums. This is mainly because of the food items necessary for their long term survival. In the wild, they actively hunt for small crustaceans such as amphipods, copepods as well as some types of worms. In captivity, this may be hard to offer.

 

The most we can give is prepared fish foods such as common marine flake food, pellets and frozen varieties. To cultivate enough of its natural foods for its survival, we need larger tanks that have an abundance of live rock. The kinds of organisms such live rock will harbor are copepods, amphipods and munnid isopods. If there is a sand bad that has been seeded, perhaps worms may also count itself on the menu.

The minimum sized aquarium required for a mandarin fish is seventy five gallons per specimen. Even then, it needs to be an aquarium that has been set up for at least six to twelve months at least. This allows the population of its food items to reach a sustainable number. Keeping this species in a small aquarium is sure to result in death unless it is feeding on prepared foods.