For those who have/have had a Mandarin Dragonet (any type is oK)

[mark_d]

For those of you who have or have had a mandarin dragonet, whether successful or unsuccessful with it, would anyone care to share their experiences?
Im thinking of getting one myself, and an old friend of mine is making it sound WAAAy to easy (unfortunately, we live in different cities now, and i have no way of confirming what he says . . .). He insists that his (a psychadelic mandarin) eats frozen mysis shrimp as well as bloodworms (live). He also says he buys pods and adds them to his tank. He also said that shortly after his tank was cycled he bought some liverock(not sure how much, but did made it sound like it was less than the usual requirement) and added lots of pods on his own weeks before adding his mandarin. Supposedly, he's had the fish for 6 months now and its healthy.
Anyway, any opinions on his story/ anyone feels like sharing your experience? ^_^ thanks in advance

 

[nereef]

i guess my questions would be about you system,
how long has it been running, tank size, how much rock, fuge?

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by NEreef
i guess my questions would be about you system,
how long has it been running, tank size, how much rock, fuge?

All i know is that he has a 30 gal (or close) and its some kind of an aquarium kit, so its not something he put together. I HIGHLY doubt he has a fuge/sump/ or any of that.
If I can confirm anythin else Ill post it later, but I wouldnt count on it. We dont live in the same country anymore ^__^ . . . so that sorta complicates things (also, never reallygood friends with him heh)

 

[nereef]

sorry, i meant your system

 

[mark_d]

OH lol . . . sorry!!
I got a 24 gal aquapod . . . cycling hahaha. Yes I know, Im just starting out. I have absolutely no intention of getting a mandarin any time soon, probably wont till I get a bigger tank.
The point of this post is more than anything, to confirm if what my friend told me is even remotely true, more for curiosity, since I dont intend to follow in his footsteps. I mean, it might be true... he is lucky like that.. he always was anywho.. But then I wouldnt put it past him to just try to impress me . . . . ^__^
But yah, my setup is sorta . . . out of the question ATM. I still need to wait a while to start gettin begginer fish but it seems like a good time to start researching fish Im interested in adding later on.
But if you really want to know, (im buying stuff slowly, but anyway) so far Ive got the aquapod cycling with er...lets see. . .
20lb live sand
1/2 bag (i think thats 10 lb) crushed coral substrate
10LB liverock
and im doing the coctail shrimp thing . . . (which I hope i understood correctly)
I intend to double the liverock in there, and Im tempted to buy copepods . . . only to have a bigger population and try and keep one for a year or so before addin the draggonet (if i ever buy one).

 

[misfit]

Originally Posted by mark_D
For those of you who have or have had a mandarin dragonet, whether successful or unsuccessful with it, would anyone care to share their experiences?
Im thinking of getting one myself, and an old friend of mine is making it sound WAAAy to easy (unfortunately, we live in different cities now, and i have no way of confirming what he says . . .). He insists that his (a psychadelic mandarin) eats frozen mysis shrimp as well as bloodworms (live). He also says he buys pods and adds them to his tank. He also said that shortly after his tank was cycled he bought some liverock(not sure how much, but did made it sound like it was less than the usual requirement) and added lots of pods on his own weeks before adding his mandarin. Supposedly, he's had the fish for 6 months now and its healthy.
Anyway, any opinions on his story/ anyone feels like sharing your experience? ^_^ thanks in advance
I tcould be done ,with luck but highly unusual.We had ours a long time but have avery large established tank with 250 lbs of Lr,never saw him eat anything other than pods.

 

[nereef]

most won't eat anything but pods. your friend, if he is telling the truth, got lucky to get one that ate any other food. you did mention that he buys pods commercially. i guess if you constantly spend money on restocking pods than you could keep one no matter how small of a tank.

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by NEreef
most won't eat anything but pods. your friend, if he is telling the truth, got lucky to get one that ate any other food. you did mention that he buys pods commercially. i guess if you constantly spend money on restocking pods than you could keep one no matter how small of a tank.
Well yah, but still, how many pods is the fish goin to want to eat every day? Probably a lot, and these things arent exactly cheap either (the pods), so unless these guys dont eat a lot (and ive read that they do), i mean... youd probably have to be ordering pods every other week or so . .. crazy IMO

 

[nereef]

i totally agree. i was just saying that hypothetically you could keep one if you kept restocking his food source. this, of course, would be insane since each 4 oz bottle of pods 24.99 costs more than the fish itself 19.99 lol.

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by NEreef
i totally agree. i was just saying that hypothetically you could keep one if you kept restocking his food source. this, of course, would be insane since each 4 oz bottle of pods 24.99 costs more than the fish itself 19.99 lol.
Yup ^__^ if it were something like a bottle a month.. maybe even two . . . i MIIIIIGHT be able to afford it (still wouldnt buy it from the start). but then it would eat way more than 1-2 bottles per month even if it ate other foods right?
(cmon! someone who had one of these mandarins post yer story! Id like to hear more than just my friend's >__>)

 

[cindylowho]

I've had a little female for about 2 years. They need lots of live rock with critters to eat. They are not good frozen food eaters and they wont compete with other tank mates for live food, like brine shrimp, if the tank mates are aggressive eaters.

 

[murph]

I have had a spotted mandarin in my 75 for several months now. Tiny when I bought him. Right now he is one of the faster growing worry free fish I have. Eats live brine and picks at the rock in my 75 gal. The tank has a substantial amount of rock but probably no where near the 100 pounds you hear people suggesting is needed.
The place where I buy my corals also has a spotted in a well established 30 gal reef that eats frozen brine.
Simply put I don't believe the fish is as difficult as people would lead you to believe. I keep balls of cheato right in my DTs with the mandarin and seems to be a factor in maintaining enough pods for the mandarin to eat. The cheato seems to provide a place for adult pods to avoid predation and continually breed.
I also believe that part of the problems with mandarins is people buy under nourished specimens to begin with. IMO once mandarins are past a certain point that don't come back and at least half the specimens I have seen for sale in assorted LFS are most definitely past that point.
If you have a noticeable micro fauna population in your tank and think it can be maintained by various methods I would not discourage people from buying these fish. It stands a far better chance in the hands of a private keeper than it does in a holding tank at an LFS where given enough time it will most definitely starve and be written off on the next quarters profit/loss statement.

 

[saltn00b]

these fish arent hard at all. all you need is an established tank - about 6 months is the usual time frame, and enough nooks and crannies for a sizable pod population. the bigger the tank, the more likely it will not starve because the pods will reproduce like wild fire anyways.
i would remove your crushed coral substrate, it can caude nitrate build ups, just stick with the LS.

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by Murph
Simply put I don't believe the fish is as difficult as people would lead you to believe. I keep balls of cheato right in my DTs with the mandarin and seems to be a factor in maintaining enough pods for the mandarin to eat. The cheato seems to provide a place for adult pods to avoid predation and continually breed.
Ok, first off cheato? DT? what are you talking about?
Also, what is this point of no return for the fish? Is it very obvious when they are undernourished? (this site sells em, Im assuming theyre good to order from here . . .)
Originally Posted by saltn00b
i would remove your crushed coral substrate, it can caude nitrate build ups, just stick with the LS.
done! >___< gyaah that explains a lot... stupid LFS people sellin me stuff I dont need . . .

 

[puffer32]

Chaeto is macro algae you put some in your DT (display tank) and pods will most likely breed in it and the mandrins will eat them.
Yrs ago I bought a scooter blenny which is related to the mandrin. No one told me he might only eat pods until I noticed he was getting very thin. I had 100 lbs of LR in a 75 gal tank, and after he depleted the pod population, he literally starved to death. I didn't have a fuge to breed pods, and i didn't know to put chaeto in my DT. I had read somewhere that they will also eat algae, anyone know if thats true? I don't think he did cause he died

. I now have a 150 DT with a fuge where I see pods and also see them in my 150 lbs of LR. I now have a mandrin, which is why I upgraded, and a scooter, and I still worry the pods won't get into the DT fast enough to feed them. I am going to put a ball of chaeto in my DT like murph, and hope it does the trick

If not, I will spend the money to replenish the pods as needed

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by puffer32
Chaeto is macro algae you put some in your DT (display tank) and pods will most likely breed in it and the mandrins will eat them.
Ah . . . ok . .. sorry to hear about ur fish . . but i guess it happens...
Never heard of cheato before. I hope most LFS have it. Ill probably start adding pods on my own + cheato to keep the population as high as possible till I get a mandarin or similar fish.
I was under the impression that pods werent visible, good to know otherwise. Also, as far as you know, will they cause any damage if present in LARGE numbers?

 

[saltn00b]

most people have tons of pods and never know it. one way to tell for yourself is to try looking at your tank when the moonlights are on in the dead of night. also try a magnifying glass. someone once suggested a red lense ( or even red sandwhich / seran wrap ) over a regular flashlight if you dont have moonlights.

 

[mark_d]

mm. Ill try doing that... now to find fish that wont eat all my pods XD . . . and more waiting...

 

[puffer32]

Good news here! My scooter just ate some brine shrimp!

Hopefully he will start eating frozen foods and save the pods for my mandrin

 

[mark_d]

Originally Posted by puffer32
Good news here! My scooter just ate some brine shrimp!

Hopefully he will start eating frozen foods and save the pods for my mandrin

nice! congrats!
In other good news, I found another fish I like to keep me entertained while my tank gets enough pods ^__^. Ill be orderin a Yasha
soon ^__^