My new Mandarin Dragonet!!!

[ogredawg]

Reef Diver: How do you keep up on pods? Do you have a refugium?
TIA

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by Reef Diver
That was an odd angle he looks really thin there, hes about like yours, except hes a male.notice the spine.
He does look real thin! Around the shoulders they stay broad, but then the rest of their bodies taper down, yours looks really thin :notsure: Do you have a better pic?

 

[reef diver]

Srry no, but he eats mysis, and he actually was thin in that pic i learned, but since, he hasfattened up
thanks for your concern
see, i never used to make sure he ae mysis, but now i make sure he gets atleast a godd 10 pieces before i turn the current on again.,

 

[puffer32]

Ok, i will take your word for it, he is very pretty

 

[reef diver]

The mandarin in his picture looks exactly like mine, in its fullness. The way the photo(mine) was taken, the groves begind the secondary fins make the fish look really thin. In alll of my pictures from this angle he looks like that, but when seen with my evey, from every other angle, he looks conmpletely normal.

These are thae places on the body I mean

 

[fishstix4u]

defenatly female, defenatly too small of a tank, be responsable and watch him.. if he doesnt go well take him back, mine eats frozen brine like its a drug but wont touch mysiss but PODS are a must... but if you can keep the pods up i think you'll be ok.. think about a bigger tank in the futur for him... and the smoke is correct as stated just dust and sand and crap he sucks up when he is eating... perfectly normal and ok... my buddy said when he saw mine "LOOK! he has daul exhaust!" but by how slow he moves hes deffenatly no hot rod! GOOD LUCK! hope i was some form of help for you...

 

[dual45s]

Never ceases to amaze me how colorful these fish are. Can these guys handle themselves in an aggressive setup?

 

[reef diver]

NO! They are small fish, and are what we think of generally as prey

 

[ogredawg]

It's wierd how she ate frozen food in my friends store but she doesn't touch frozen in my tank. I want to try different types of prepared food to see if she's going to accept any. I was going to try frozen brine, arctic pods, live and frozen bloodworms. What else should I try?
Also when I feed the other fish, she comes out and gets excited looking like she's going to eat also, but then after she sees the food she comes back looking for pods. So I think she knows when someone is trying to feed her, but she probably don't like the food. Actually it looks like she has more interest when I feed formula one flake food. She actually stares at them and sometimes chases it (only once btw) and then swims away.

 

[reef diver]

Try mysis, and turn off all current, and let it food settle, and try to put the food near the mandarin. Thats what i do.

 

[ogredawg]

I have tried mysis and no go. That's what was so wierd about it. She was eating frozen mysis back in the store, I guess my pods taste good lol. I really don't know why, but I'm going to buy brine shrimps today to see if she eats it.
I have a question, so do they eat pods we can't see or they eat the big ones too?

 

[ogredawg]

GOOD news and BAD news. Good news is that I bought some hikari brine shrimp (http://www.hikariusa.com/brine_shrimp.htm) and my mandarin went crazy and started chasing the shrimp as soon as I put some in the tank. I bought the hikari brand because it has more nutrients and vitamins compared to the san fransisco bay brand.
Now the bad news are, first, it's very hard to feed her because I have a clown, a damsel, and two cleaner shrimps that gets to the brines before it even get to the mandarin so if you guys have any advice please let me know. Second is that I don't know if my mandarin is just full, but since she started eating the brine she stopped looking for pods and all he does now is peck on the back glass, I think she can see her reflection because I have a black back aquarium. Now do they really get full?
...ok nevermind she started pecking on the rocks again lol. Now I guess my only question is, does anyone have any suggestion on how to spot feed her?

 

[fishstix4u]

turkey baster! put some brine in water suck it up and squeeze gently! if your tank is deep put a hose on the end.. and i hate to tell ya you have pods on your glass..... we all do! and yes they get full nothing can eat 24/7 except my brother, he eats around the clock! and dont worry youll never turn a mandarin off of pods... good luck and calm down.. all seems fine... enjoy the fish!

 

[ogredawg]

Lol! Thanks fishstix. But I'm not sure about having pods on the glass because I can't see anything and she does it all the time. Unless pods are really that small.

 

[fishstix4u]

pods really are that small some times.. depending on type of pod and how mature... but grab yoru self a pair of goggles and stick your head in the tank and tell me if you can see your reflection... all it sees is black and thats assuming you have better eye sight than a fish... which i hope so... your mandarin is eating.. if it was looking at its reflection then pecking at it.. it either really really needs to be kissed badly or its time to check it in to the looney bin... your mandarin is normal. healthy and appears happy..

 

[bellanavis]

Very pretty, I love those fish. I will be putting one in the 40 gallon, when the fish room is done.

 

[ogredawg]

Swimming goggles ok? lOl I'm going to try the turkey baster tomorrow, see if it works.
What is it with brine shrimps anyway that makes everyone in the tank crazy. I think my lawnmower blenny was chasing brines too, but I dont' think it ate some though. I mean even my corals, especially my candy canes, looked very open. I've been feeding mysis for a while but haven't seen that.

 

[reef diver]

Heres something to try, i found this its really interesting. The eggs that are put on sushi, you know the really orange ones? Well its expensive but extremely nutritious, in traditional Japanese sushi, they use untreated ones. If you can find the un preserved and untreated ones somewhere online, supposedly those work real well. I read an article about it. If you can find a supplier, let me know. Oh by the way, it really helps them, if you turn off the current in your tank for a short time in order to feed them. Also, put a little extra in the water, so she has something to eat, after ther clown and others have had their fill.

 

[reef diver]

Actually the fish can see their reflection. We as humans have depth perception, and eyes on the front of our head, instead of on the side. This allows us to see strait through the glass. The fish on the otherhand, because of the way their eyes are on the side of their heads, they see a reflection, this is because the reflection angle of the glass, is extreme, in that things on the other side can only be seen if looked at from an anglke near 90 degrees. So infact the fish is seeing its reflection. This stops when the back of the glass is painted black.

 

[ogredawg]

Here's an update. I've been feeding enhanced frozen brine. I'm going to try arcti-pods as soon as the brines run out. BTW the third pic was right after feeding her.