Mandarine Dragonet, enough pods?

wen tom

wen tom

Member
Hi guys, here I am again. Recently purchased a large mandarine. Tank (75 gal. 30 gal ref. full of pods!) Anyway, within 5 days pods so diminished I have to go up to the tank to find them. They are still there but obviously nowhere near as prolific. Did I goof again? The fish seems to stay to the back of the tank. Pretty clean of pods but still see them in the front. Lots of tiny ones, but not so many big ones. What to do? Are you as tired of my asking as I am? Thank you (slumped head and shoulders)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by wen tom http:///t/396667/mandarine-dragonet-enough-pods#post_3534320
Hi guys, here I am again. Recently purchased a large mandarine. Tank (75 gal. 30 gal ref. full of pods!) Anyway, within 5 days pods so diminished I have to go up to the tank to find them. They are still there but obviously nowhere near as prolific. Did I goof again? The fish seems to stay to the back of the tank. Pretty clean of pods but still see them in the front. Lots of tiny ones, but not so many big ones. What to do? Are you as tired of my asking as I am? Thank you (slumped head and shoulders)

You can buy pods...sigh, you really need a refugium up and running for about a year to keep a mandarin well fed...and you have a big one at that. It was just too soon, there wasn't enough established yet is my guess...you will need to buy more to seed and try and stay ahead of the mandarins appetite..
 
wen tom

wen tom

Member
Wow, hoping you would reply. It is very big. So the tiny ones (pods) it passes by are just not big enough? What do you think about putting in the phytoplankton with them so they have something to eat and grow? Read that too. Conflicting information on the size of tank and maturity, thats why I went ahead and did it. thanks Flower. (sigh more)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by wen tom http:///t/396667/mandarine-dragonet-enough-pods#post_3534328
Wow, hoping you would reply. It is very big. So the tiny ones (pods) it passes by are just not big enough? What do you think about putting in the phytoplankton with them so they have something to eat and grow? Read that too. Conflicting information on the size of tank and maturity, thats why I went ahead and did it. thanks Flower. (sigh more)

Hi,

Your tank looks so nice...


Just because you can't see the pods doesn't mean they are not there. Also the larger pods should be in the refugium breeding, and only the little ones get washed into the display to be food. I only commented on the larger size of the dragonet because they are hungrier and eat more. If you are looking in the display I wouldn't really worry too much, as long as you see a good crop of them in the refuguim, size of the pods really doesn't matter, as long as you have lots of them.
 
wen tom

wen tom

Member
Thank you! Do you have any current pic's of your tank?
The bigger ones are in the display tank, my refugium has small ones as does the display but they are hard and stuck. Are these dead ones? (I read of people fishing them out to put elsewhere. Couldn't do that with these)
 
zoidberg01

zoidberg01

Member
Remember dragpnets are pretty slow so I don't think he ate most of them because they will only scan the whole tank for food when they are hungry
 
wen tom

wen tom

Member
As I think about it, at the same time as the mandarine came, so did a large lemon peel angel and small picaso trigger. Seem to graze ALL the time. So, seeing how fast they (the pods) went I wonder if it didn't have help. Thanks for the input.
Can use all the help I can get!
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Pods are easy to cultivate. You can even do it in a 2 liter soda bottle. Google how, and you will have a continuous supply of pods regardless of how many fish are browsing on them.
 
wen tom

wen tom

Member
Great, will do, thank you. Are they hard and stuck to surface or is that old dead dried ones, or like barnacles?
 
wen tom

wen tom

Member
OK. Got a good idea, never saw mine move, (don't know that I watched them either) just millions of little while dots at night. NOW I'm noticing a lot are stuck and dried, perhaps old dead ones? Thanks, by the way.
 
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