Mandarin Dragonet

[backdoc33]

I am not sure how to feed my Mandarin Dragonet. I know on the information from SWF said that they eat live worms, live brine and microfauna. I purchased some kind of yellowish worm from the local fish shop but I don't think he eat any of them. It has been several days now and I'm afraid he will starve to death before I figure it out. HELP!!

 

[viet-tin]

Their diet consist mainly on pods that grown in your tank. If you do not have enough pods he will starve. 100lbs of lf is minimal for a mandarin. With 100lbs of lr your pods will be able to grow and should be just enough for your mandarin. A refugium is also very helpful in growing pod populations. Try feeding it vitamin enriched brine shrimp and see if itll take it. Brine isnt very nutritious but feed it so it doesnt starve. Then try and get it onto something more nutritious like mysid shrimp.

 

[beachbumtx]

Madarians are very difficult to get to accept foods we can offer. As mentioned, lots of live rock is needed. They mainly feed on pods...copepods, amphipods, isopods. Theses come in with live rock. Another key things is to not have other fish that will feed on the pods as well. Avoid small wrasses, some gobies, and some blennies. Refugium is an excellent idea to give an area free of predators so the pods can reproduce and supply the entire tank with a food source.

 

[gun freak]

:jumping: try some mysis shrimp , it's healthy !!!:yes:

 

[whatsmells]

you can go online and purchase amphipods by the thousands and then dump them into your tank, they will head for the rocks and as long as thier are not lots of predators they will breed, your mandirn can then feed on them as well.

 

[agoutihead]

you can buy pods online? how much are they? do they stay alive well in tank? so basically if i get these pods online.... i should have no problem gettnig a madarine fish then should i?

 

[bot587]

Mysid Shrimp or copepods. Do a live sand bed in a refugium for pod groth. In no time there will be pods in your tank. This will feed the dragonet for the time.

 

[smarls]

Backdoc and Agouti,
I am not a big fan of this "buying them [copepods] online and dumping them in your tank", I do not think that is good advice, unless you know one of two things for certain:
(i) that your tank will sustain a breeding population of copepods / amphipods etc. without any further assistance on its own, or
(ii) you are willing to buy these "pods" every other day.
Number (i) above is impossible to state, because if that was indeed already the case, then why would you be required to buy a ton of pods? In fact you have no idea if your tank will sustain copepods, and I think it is a huge risk to your mandarin's health to assume it will. Perhaps you can test by buying the pods, and then checking back a month or two later and making sure you can see tons of pods running around. But do not buy a mandarin based on this "dump them in and they will flourish" theory.
So, then you are faced with option number (ii)...and frankly, I doubt anyone who says they will buy expensive live copepods every other day. And yes, every other day is realistic...Mandarins eat...all day all they do is eat, and all they eat is live copepods / amphipods etc...thousands of them. I watch my mandarin eat about ten "things" a minute...ever minute of every day that the lights are on. So you will need to buy these live copepods (assuming they actually are alive) every other day.
I would suggets that you wait to buy a mandarin until your tank sustains itself on its own. Perhaps buy the pods and test the tank to see of it can and will sustain a breeding population. Check in a month or two after dark with a flashlight.
Backdoc, I would return the Mandarin to a local LFS for some cash, or give to a friend with a mature tank.
Sorry it is not more chipper advice.
Stewart

 

[agoutihead]

well my problem is i dont have enough money right now for all that live rock... ill have probably about 30 lbs right now and will hopefully be picking up about another 10 lbs in the next few weeks, i went to my LFS last night to buy some and the rock they had, there was alot of white slim all over it, my dude at the fish store said that whoever rinsed it when it came it didnt do it the right way... and ive got enough problems with my tank so i didnt want to add any uncured live rock to my tank since its already establishe. but you really have to buy thousands every other day? they really eat that many? if i buy a couple thousand and let them breed in my tank for a month or two.... would that be a suffiencient life support system for the madarine fish or will that be too many pods just floating around 40 lbs of live rock?

 

[whatsmells]

i myself have used the dump methond and then waiting approx 2 months and now have a colony of pods to support almost anything i put into my 150gal. so i speak only from sucess. it is not a very expensive trial and the worst that can happen is that your fish get a tasty nutricious treat.

 

[agoutihead]

where do you buy pods online at??? are they expensive???

 

[smarls]

What smells,
I agree with the way you did that...dump them in, check two months later, and see if there is a sustained population. IF it is sustained, and you have enough rock, then buy a mandarin...I have no issue with that.
What I was worried about was that someone would go out and buy a mandarin, then think they can sustain it by buying this food once. That will not work.
Agouti,
I do not think you have enough rock to support a mandarin in any way, and as such I think you would have to continually supliment the population by buying these live copepods. Think around 75 - 100 lbs of live rock, that is esablished, not just put int he tank.
While you can go buy the pods, and dump them in, there is just not enough space on the rock for them to breed and multiply enough to sustain a Mandarin. Odds are your mandarin will eat through the pods in no time, and will starve unless you buy the food on a regilar basis (and yes I would guess every other day / twice a week minimum).
Stewart

 

[beachbumtx]

Originally posted by agoutihead
well my problem is i dont have enough money right now for all that live rock... ill have probably about 30 lbs right now and will hopefully be picking up about another 10 lbs in the next few weeks, i went to my LFS last night to buy some and the rock they had, there was alot of white slim all over it, my dude at the fish store said that whoever rinsed it when it came it didnt do it the right way... and ive got enough problems with my tank so i didnt want to add any uncured live rock to my tank since its already establishe. but you really have to buy thousands every other day? they really eat that many? if i buy a couple thousand and let them breed in my tank for a month or two.... would that be a suffiencient life support system for the madarine fish or will that be too many pods just floating around 40 lbs of live rock?
I agree with Stewart...
If you don't have the live rock, then you will not be able to support the population of pods needed for the mandarin. Wait until you get enough rock in the tank before even thinking about a mandarin. I know how that goes, I spent a year building up my rock. I would go to my lfs and buy 4 pounds here...5 pounds there...etc... Sometimes I got more when I had the spare cash, but being a college student, money is tight.
About that live rock, even if they said it is cured, it is best to still cure it yourself. Take a garbage can and fill it with saltwater, add a powerhead for circulation, and cover the top. Make sure you set it in the garage or on the patio because it will get an intense smell after a few days. Leave it set for a few weeks. Its the best way to be sure it is cured. That white slime coat on the rocks means there is decaying materials. Perhaps its a bacteria mass feeding on the decaying materials...anyhoe, best to recure your rock when you get it.
I speak from experience as when got a new shipment of cured live rock, I placed some directly into my tank and I spent the next few weeks battling a dino out break. It killed my goregous yellow acropora be covering it with a brown stringy mass. Other than that it would just make the tank look ugly. Only thing to do then was to turn up the current to get it from attaching to any thing, delay normal water changes, and let it run its course.