It’s not ideal, but as long as he can keep it fed. I would not personally keep one in a 10 gallon, ideal being much much larger. What if that’s all this reefer can afford? He should be encouraged but the animal should be with an owner that can provide. Other than that, don’t you think Mandrins are good for Nano tanks ? I have kept many Mandrin pairs over the years and presently. The main thing is to learn how to train them to eat alternate foods. I have have tremendous luck with BABY brine shrimp. This is my biggest one. He’s about 5inches tip to tip. He’s in a one gallon Tupperware container in the pic for size reference.
And that's great that you got it to work, but as mentioned by another poster just because you really want a given fish doesn't mean you should put one in an environment that isn't best suited to it's needs. I have a 90 gallon tank and think a blue hippo tang, powder blue and atlantic blue are beautiful fish that I would love to own, but I am also realistic to understand that the 90 gallon tank simply isn't capable of supporting their needs. The Mandarin is listed as "Difficult" for care level on any site for a reason. And no, from my own experience I don't think that Mandarins are good for nano tanks for the reasons I listed. It's not a question of space, it's a question of what the mandy requires to survive (frequent feedings of a food source) and most simply don't have the kind of time and patience required to devote to one. Mine died even though I spent nearly $300 in pods and was target feeding it with mysis and reef frenzy a couple of times a day (the other fish would simply beat the Mandarin to food that was just a couple of inches from it's face). Even my cleaner shrimp would beat the mandarin to food. They are very slow and methodical eaters. Also how often are you feeding the mandarin?
