The new guy

[iechy]

Here's a pic of my newest inhabitant. He was introduced today into the reef and seems to be doing well. I have been waiting for my pod ppulation to build up enough to support one so hopefully he'll stay fat and happy.

 

[krishj39]

congrats on your new fish. im thinking about getting one of them too. how long did you let your tank mature? how much LR do you have?I hope he will do well in your tank (hope you have enough pods to support him). best of luck!

 

[jillian ayers]

That's a gorgeaous fish! If you ever want to mate him, I'll take the babies.

 

[danrw84]

i 2nd thats a cool fish man
check out that fin!
one of the coolest ive seen. lucky you!

 

[lordofthereef]

good luck with your new dragonette. i've had one in a 29 gallon for about 3 years now. he's big. he's fat. and there's only about 35-40 pounds of live rock in that particular tank. so to everybody who says it can't be done................................................

 

[lordofthereef]

BTW, he went in the tank about 2 months after it cycled. so.................................................

 

[nm reef]

Iechy...that is definitely a healthy looking manderian dragonette. I hope he lives a long and healthy life. They are one of my favorite fish...but contrary to statements above they can be extremely difficult to keep long term. They are for the most part diet specific(seldom adapting to anything but pods)...plus they tend to be fairly weak swimmers(mine was sucked to the intake of a powerhead). To futher contradict above statements extreme care should be taken to provide ideal conditions prior to attempting a manderian.....for every success there are numerous failures and a manderian should never be added before extensive research on needs and conditions is done.
Here is a pic of my old friend Jimi the Dragonette...

 

[kpogue]

I would also add to make sure the specimen you purchase looks well fed. Often times you'll find these guys in stores that are thin and are already well on their way to starvation.

 

[iechy]

Thanks I know all about the difficulties of keeping mandarins. Unfortunately I learned it the hard way in my old tanks before the reef. When I was in college I had a FO and had no clue what I was doing and naturally the LFS guys never helped so I tried unsuccessfully a few times to keep them. Now that I'm older and wiser(and have access to all you guys) I know what it takes to keep a mandarin. They are my favorite fish and have been waiting the last 8 months and seeding my tank with pods from other tanks and growing a hopefully sufficient pod population.
Sammy I'll get some more pics tonight when I get home. I watched him eat live brine at the LFS and he appeared to be pretty peppy when I turned the lights on in the tank he started swimming around not afraid of anyone and pecking here and there presumably at pods.

 

[broncofish]

Hey does anyone know of a place to buy pods to pump your population up. I have seen for sale on ---- once, and that was like a year ago.