Dragonet/mandarin lovers thread!

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The Red and Blue Mandarin do pair up and spawn regularly. There are clearly Blue Mandarin and clearly Red Mandarin but there are Mandarins that have colors in the between of the two end of the spectrum so I am not certain that they can or should be separate species.

I want a purple mandarin!

 

[Narideth]

I want a mandarin so much, but my attempts to culture now two different types of pods outside of my tanks have failed. I'm not sure why I can grow phyto with hardly an issue but pods just die off.

I definitely can't even attempt a mandarin until I can figure out how to keep additional pods, but a girl can dream. They're all so lovely. I'll look and sigh wistfully at the healthy, plump pictures of well-fed mandarins.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

I want a mandarin so much, but my attempts to culture now two different types of pods outside of my tanks have failed. I'm not sure why I can grow phyto with hardly an issue but pods just die off.

I definitely can't even attempt a mandarin until I can figure out how to keep additional pods, but a girl can dream. They're all so lovely. I'll look and sigh wistfully at the healthy, plump pictures of well-fed mandarins.

I also attempted to culture pods with no success. And even if you get pods going, mandarins will wipe out your pods really quickly, and they’re so expensive to replenish. Pods seem to only be a good option for mandarins if you have an extremely established tank. I would recommend checking out Paul B’s mandarin feeder. You hatch baby brine shrimp daily, and they’re a very nutritious food for mandarins since the freshly hatched baby brine shrimp still have their egg sac, which is very high in protein unlike adult brine. I’ve been able to keep multiple mandarins with this method without pods. I also trained my mandarins to eat frozen. This does take more time and effort and potentially a little bit of luck getting the right fish. My male green Mandy was much easier to train than my female green Mandy. I use both the baby brine shrimp feeder and frozen to keep them well fed. I also fed live adult brine during the training process as a transition food. It’s not very nutritious, though, so the baby brine shrimp feeder is important to have.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Seconding @i cant think, I bought a wild target mandarin from my LFS. Took him about a week to start eating frozen food. If I turn down the flow and let the food settle down, he has a much better chance of eating. I feed variety of foods mysis, rods, LRS, etc. He is so chubby now

Omg he’s so fat!!! Love it!

 

[MarsReefer]

How do you get tiny pellets past all your guys other fish? I feed 3 times a day but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pellet get past my other fish. I also feed frozen once a day which does make it to the bottom, no idea if they eat any of it.

I have 140 gallon tank with two mandarins. They mostly hide in the rocks sucking up pods.

 

[OrionN]

How do you get tiny pellets past all your guys other fish? I feed 3 times a day but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pellet get past my other fish. I also feed frozen once a day which does make it to the bottom, no idea if they eat any of it.

I have 140 gallon tank with two mandarins. They mostly hide in the rocks sucking up pods.

You can try feed through a straw that deposit the pellets directly to the Mandarin or at least to the sand, while at the same time, feeding to the surface for the other fishes.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

How do you get tiny pellets past all your guys other fish? I feed 3 times a day but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pellet get past my other fish. I also feed frozen once a day which does make it to the bottom, no idea if they eat any of it.

I have 140 gallon tank with two mandarins. They mostly hide in the rocks sucking up pods.

I’ve seen people create mandarin feeders that have a small enough opening the mandarin fits in but not other larger fish. I believe Melevs Reef has some older videos on it on his YouTube channel.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Is there any way to visually judge whether a tank is dragonet - ready? I cannot find any copepods in my tank no matter how hard I try, but if I soak a rock or something in a bucket of water they come off into the bucket. I kinda want a mandarin at some point so I definitely want to figure this out.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Is there any way to visually judge whether a tank is dragonet - ready? I cannot find any copepods in my tank no matter how hard I try, but if I soak a rock or something in a bucket of water they come off into the bucket. I kinda want a mandarin at some point so I definitely want to figure this out.

Nevermind... just did a flashlight examination under pure darkness, they're all over the walls. Guess I'm ready.

 

[Jchockey12]

Can I keep 2 dragonets (mandarin and scooter) in a 70 gallon tank?
I'm potentially getting a trigger systems platinum 39 sump (40 gal with fleece)
The fuge will be a pretty big but not sure how big I'll need to keep a big enough population of pods for 2 dagonets.
(Would having 2 make keeping a hawkfish pretty much impossible?)

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Can I keep 2 dragonets (mandarin and scooter) in a 70 gallon tank?
I'm potentially getting a trigger systems platinum 39 sump (40 gal with fleece)
The fuge will be a pretty big but not sure how big I'll need to keep a big enough population of pods for 2 dagonets.
(Would having 2 make keeping a hawkfish pretty much impossible?)

I have not tried keeping a mandarin with a scooter, but I’ve read some people have done it.

Check out Paul B’s method for feeding dragonets freshly hatched baby brine shrimp with his designed feeder. It keeps them fed even if you don’t have pods.

I’ve kept a hawkfish with a mandarin with zero issues. Not sure what your concerns are, but they ignored each other, and hawks don’t primarily eat pods like dragonets do. They eat frozen, so there’s no food competition.

 

[feelingfishy]

Just watched my biota mandarin eat as many formula 2 pellets as my Foxface… I just hope he does not get constipated….

 

[Chris Spaulding]

I have 2 green target mandarins. The first one went into a 65 gallon tank that I had a red flatworm problem. She took care of them. So yes targets will eat them! It did take here some time but get them all 6 months or so.She is still fat and happy but also she eats Frozen Mysis ,Brine, and Clanaras.
Because of the success with her on the red flatworms I added one to my 150 gallon as I was seeing them there. A little male about 3 months ago and he is constantly on the prowl for pods and the red flatworms. I have watched him Eat them so I felt great about that. I have not seen him eat any frozen but he has stayed fat and happy.

 

[MarcosTacos]

I just ordered a green mandarin for my 50g system. I have some planaria, pods and amphipods for it to feed on. I also want to add some frozen or pellets to the diet, what do you guys recommend?