Mandrin Dragonetts

[ChilisREasy]

is it possible to keep these fish for a few years ? ive tried about 4 but none ever lived more than 1 month. i have alot of little buggy thingys running around & i feed daily, Brine Shrimp Cyclop-eeze-,mysis shrimp..but they dont eat.

[Jflip2002]

Theyre difficult to keep. All they do is eat pods all day long. Im not positive, but Im pretty sure you need a fuge of some sort to keep them successfully. People put bunches of rocks together, and some sorts of plants in the sump/fuge, and I believe thats how you get your pod population up.

Ive never had one because I dont want to kill the thing. But Im sure someone who has will chime in in a second...

[Geoff]

it is very difficult to get enough pods in a tank to sustain them for long. if you are running a DSB tank, than you might be able to have one in a 75g. if a BB or shallow sand bed you would need to triple or more the volume of the tank in order to get enough LR for pods.

the best way to keep a mandarine long term is to set up 2 pod farms. these are just 10g tanks with a HOB filter. slap some LR in there. feed the daylights out of it. there will be plenty of pods. fish them out and feed them to the mandarin. the reason you need 2 is that these tanks will crash in pretty short order. having two insures you will have at least one producing pods if one crashes on you.

G~

[kyrie_eleison]

Mandarins are beautiful but like everyone says, they're too hard to keep. I've had a few in my time and not one of my mandarins has ever taken to frozen food and in the time that the mandarins have lived in my tanks, they have decimated the pod population down to virtually nil in less than 3 months. Refugium or not, their metabolism and pickiness in appetite is uncanny.

Go with a refugium with a good source of live rock (w/ decent pod culture).

[weepingtuna]

I have had a Mandrin for over a year now. Recently it wa transferred from a 55 gallon to a 125 gallon that has only been for about 8 months. My mandrin loves blood worms and brine shrimp. I have not seen any pods in my tank. Just my experience.

[wud up]

i have a mandarin too, and i was wondering if a twin spotted goby that i were to get would compete too much with the pod population. i have 90 gallon tank with 120 pounds of live rock and 5 inches of sand

[zoa_princess]

I have had my mandarin for 3 years and it will only eat pods. I have a large refugium and 100+pds of live rock in the tank. Never had a problem with the pod ratio and the mandarin has grown huge.

[kyrie_eleison]

Originally Posted by wud up

i have a mandarin too, and i was wondering if a twin spotted goby that i were to get would compete too much with the pod population. i have 90 gallon tank with 120 pounds of live rock and 5 inches of sand

That will be tough but not impossible; get a refugium if you don't already have one and you should be fine. Mandarins do sleep at times but even in the darkness I have seen some constant predation (w/ a flashlight of course).

[wud up]

oh ok thanks, ya i have a refugium

[wud up]

oh and why would a refugium help?

[JustDavidP]

Refugium = refuge for copepods, isopods, amphipods & mysid....
copepods, isopods, amphipods & mysid = mandarin food
mandarin + food = fat, happy dragonette

Dave

[JustDavidP]

ChilisREasy... another issue with these fish is that they get to the "point of no return". Basically, though there are pods and such in your system, they've been starved (during collection, transport, acclimation at LFS etc.) to the point where they will not make it back.

All..keep your eye out at the LFS. When you see a mandarin that looks to be somewhat healthy, ask that they feed it. SOME, (more today than ever) eat frozen. If it doesn't eat, but looks good, ask if you can put it on "hold". If you have a half decent LFS, they will do this. Visit often, try to feed again. You may be happily surprised to find one that eats frozen.

I've got my mandarin (not suggesting that other follow my lead) in a 26 bowfront with seahorses and NO refugium. He eats frozen mysid, frozen cyclopeeze, and frozen brine. All of which are enriched with Selcon. I've had him for more than 4 years now. He's my bud...

Dave

[fish.freak]

Ive had mine for 4-5 months in a 37 gal. Not to say I reconmend getting one in such a small tank, he was a rescue from a 10 gal before it got to the store.
It ate in the store when i fed it w/ cycolpes mixed with garlic, but I have never seen it eat offered foods in my tank.
He's too shy to be target fed, but he is allwas huntin, and has a pot belly.

[pledosophy]

Have kept them for years. Tanks ranging from 18g to 70g.

I use lots of liverock, and refugiums. Refugiums are cool.

Have kept manderins with twinspots as well as seahorses. No worries.

IME many manderins will eat Artic Pods from Reedmariculture as well.

HTH.

[ChilisREasy]

Thanks for all the reply's ! it seems that seeing them eat BEFORE you buy them is the key.but 1 more question, would it be better to put them with seahorses & other dragons only..or other fish.