Mandarin Question
 

Would I be domed to failure if I added a Mandarin to my 3 year old fish only tank? (No live rock or live sand). I have a crushed coral substrate. Don't ask how I got them, but I do have some pods in the tank. I'd love to know where they came from since this tank has NEVER had live sand or rock.
Has anyone had luck getting the Mandarins to eat frozen or flake food?

welcome- some folks have luck feeding frozen mysid/mysis etc., but i sure wouldn't risk it-

I have a Mandarin in my 30 Gallon Reef - Ever since the day I bought him, he WILL NOT touch any frozen foods that I feed to my other inhabitants. All day he pecks at the LR and glass, grazing on copepods.
You should NOT purchase a Mandarin, because of your tank conditions. You can't have only "some" pods - you need to have enough, and a lot, for a Mandarin. He will decimate the population in your tank and unless you have a never-ending supply of copepods - he will not make it.
Unless you purchase Copepods about every month or so, and add them to your tank, you should not get a Mandarin.
Please don't buy one and let it starve in your aquarium.