pistorta

I recently added a Racoon Butterfly, Mandarin, Pseudo chromis and Coral Beauty to a tank containing a Coral Banded Shrimp. The Butterfly went straight to the shrimp which had no problem defending itself. After this, and what surprised me the most, the shrimp started chasing the additions. It grabbed the pectoral fin of the mandarin and refused to let go, tried grabbing the Coral Beauty when it swam by...

Has anyone ever heard of a CBS this aggressive?

Wolfgang8810

yup, CBS can be quite mean. How big is your tank? Guessing from your stock its over 40 gallons. I would sugguest taking him back and getting some other more peaceful shrimp. I know they look cool and im debating wether i want one im my tank but im not willing to take the chance with any other expensive fish being harassed

pistorta

They are in a 90 gallon tank. The shrimp only has to share the bottom with some hermit crabs and the mandarin.

Wolfgang8810

i think youll be ok once the CBS gets settled in his area. What kind of mandarin is it?

pistorta

The CBS is already starting to settle down. He has shared the tank with 2 Ocellaris Clowns and a Yellow and blue tang for sometime and never showed aggression (he was the last addition at this time). The timing of what and when with regard to stocking Marine aquariums makes such a difference.

It is a green mandarin. I was thinking about getting another one to keep him company, if possible (I will need to do my research on this). This is the first mandarin I've ever owned, and do not know a whole lot about them.

Wolfgang8810

mandarins eat pods and can quickly deplete the numbers of them in your tank. if your running a fuge tehn i wouldnt be as concerned but for people who dont run either a sump of fuge the pods numberes will drop to 0 and the mandarins will slowly starve to death. You can try other prepared foods but i havent heard of any particular great success with that. With your 90 gallon tank i think you will be good with 1 mandarin but im not so sure about 2. Just what i think but 2 COULD do fine. Im jsut wary when it comes to potential loss of that much money. Mandarins here are over 50 bucks.

pistorta

What are pods?

I think the prices of marine fish are getting out of hand (unless it varies greatly by region). I paid over $30 for a small yellow tang ~ 2" and nearly $5 for hermit crabs ~ .5" long. The ~ 2.5" coral beauty was over $40. I have been thinking about trying online purchases (liveaquaria.com). Their prices on comparably sized fish are sometimes close to half of what I've paid. Do you have any experience with online purchases?

Wolfgang8810

i sure do lol the shipping is usually more than the fish so i would wait untill you plan on buying a few things before diving into live aquaria. pods are coppods amphipods isopods basicly all the little bugs running around

pistorta

I fed the mandarin brine shrimp last night but from what I read, this will not be nutritionally adequate (as there is a good chance he is not eating flake food). Can you direct me to a resource regarding pods (ie how do I obtain it, etc.)?

Wolfgang8810

well if you are running a refugium then you can put a couple PVC pipes in there about 1.5 inches in diameter. put them in a darker place and teh pods will go there and multiply. you can put them in your tank aswell behind your liverock. there are also some people that sell them. I think they will eat and be ok with mysis shrimp to.

Mike

Amphipods and Copepods are tiny crustaceans. If you have live rock, you probably have pods and don't see them. They come out at night. Shine a light on your live rock at night and try to find them. They are very tiny so it can be difficult. I have a hang on the back aquaclear converted fuge with chaeto and there are always pods hanging out in the chaeto. When I'm cropping the chaeto I gently move the chaeto around to let some of the pods enter the tank.