Mandarin Dragonet in new tank…

[jgalina]

Hello my fellow reefers; due to a possible bad assessment combined with an impulse purchase, I added a mandarin dragonet to my 3 month old tank… I have seeded the tank heavily with copepods, he also eats frozen mysis shrimp, however it has come to my attention that no matter how much copepods I add, the mandarin will hurt the much necessary microfauna needed in my young 13.5 gal. Fluval EVO, microfauna needed to avert cyano, dynos, etc…
Wanted to learn about your experiences and if you do suggest I return or trade the fish.
Thank you as always!

 

[Cheese Griller]

I would say return. an established 13.5 would be pushing it, let alone new. I once tried a captive-bred mandarin in a fairly established 29, and despite feeding on frozen foods, it still wasted away unfortunately.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I don't know... if its eating frozen then I'd say you're fine...

How often can you feed him?

 

[Pseudoskill]

I think it really boils down to the effort you put in,mixed with a bit of luck. I'm not expert by any means but I did a substantial amount of research on mandarins with my old tank.

There is tons of anecdotal evidence out there. I have a friend who had a newer 200 gallon system that couldn't feed one and it died, but yet my local reef FB club has a guy who has two mandarins in a 29g than he's had for years.

Obviously established pods will help. It eating frozen will help. I'd say it just matters that it's eating as much and as often as it needs to. I'd feed it multiple times a day and make sure it's actually eating.

All that being said, I would also consider returning it if you aren't ready for the commitment. A more established tank would definitely be preferred.

 

[jgalina]

I would say return. an established 13.5 would be pushing it, let alone new. I once tried a captive-bred mandarin in a fairly established 29, and despite feeding on frozen foods, it still wasted away unfortunately.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[jgalina]

I don't know... if its eating frozen then I'd say you're fine...

How often can you feed him?

I feed mysis every other day alternating with flakes. But add 3 bags of copepods per week. Thank you!

 

[Hemmdog]

I think it really boils down to the effort you put in,mixed with a bit of luck. I'm not expert by any means but I did a substantial amount of research on mandarins with my old tank.

There is tons of anecdotal evidence out there. I have a friend who had a newer 200 gallon system that couldn't feed one and it died, but yet my local reef FB club has a guy who has two mandarins in a 29g than he's had for years.

Obviously established pods will help. It eating frozen will help. I'd say it just matters that it's eating as much and as often as it needs to. I'd feed it multiple times a day and make sure it's actually eating.

All that being said, I would also consider returning it if you aren't ready for the commitment. A more established tank would definitely be preferred.

Well said

 

[jgalina]

I think it really boils down to the effort you put in,mixed with a bit of luck. I'm not expert by any means but I did a substantial amount of research on mandarins with my old tank.

There is tons of anecdotal evidence out there. I have a friend who had a newer 200 gallon system that couldn't feed one and it died, but yet my local reef FB club has a guy who has two mandarins in a 29g than he's had for years.

Obviously established pods will help. It eating frozen will help. I'd say it just matters that it's eating as much and as often as it needs to. I'd feed it multiple times a day and make sure it's actually eating.

All that being said, I would also consider returning it if you aren't ready for the commitment. A more established tank would definitely be preferred.

Thank you, a friend of mine is offering me to trade it for a torch, he has 2, very large mature systems, I guess I’ll take it. I rather play it safe for the sake of the fish.

 

[Tamberav]

I would not keep one in a 12g.. not even talking about pods... it is a small space and they do get to a decent size.. keeping up with feeding it will also be annoying on water quality in such a tiny space.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Hello my fellow reefers; due to a possible bad assessment combined with an impulse purchase, I added a mandarin dragonet to my 3 month old tank… I have seeded the tank heavily with copepods, he also eats frozen mysis shrimp, however it has come to my attention that no matter how much copepods I add, the mandarin will hurt the much necessary microfauna needed in my young 13.5 gal. Fluval EVO, microfauna needed to avert cyano, dynos, etc…
Wanted to learn about your experiences and if you do suggest I return or trade the fish.
Thank you as always!

I keep our mandarin fish alive with little effort. I feed tank Reef Nutrition SD Aquatics every few days to my clams. Now how this fits in, is I was feeding the tank brine shrimp. At night when I put a light into the tank, you could see a population of growing thriving brine shrimp. I only have five fish in this tank. I also have lots of hiding places among macro algae. These brine shrimp are living, growing, and breeding in the tank all on their own. They are doing it at a rate that feeds our mandarin fish automatically. We got lucky. I never need to buy pods again. Our tank is 55 gallons.

 

[jgalina]

I keep our mandarin fish alive with little effort. I feed tank Reef Nutrition SD Aquatics every few days to my clams. Now how this fits in, is I was feeding the tank brine shrimp. At night when I put a light into the tank, you could see a population of growing thriving brine shrimp. I only have five fish in this tank. I also have lots of hiding places among macro algae. These brine shrimp are living, growing, and breeding in the tank all on their own. They are doing it at a rate that feeds our mandarin fish automatically. We got lucky. I never need to buy pods again. Our tank is 55 gallons.

Thank you! I'm curious on how you got an active thriving brine shrimp population, can you share how you started this?

 

[jgalina]

I would not keep one in a 12g.. not even talking about pods... it is a small space and they do get to a decent size.. keeping up with feeding it will also be annoying on water quality in such a tiny space.

Thank you, I'll be trading the fish. In the future I will start a larger build where I will once again consider this beautiful fish.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I feed mysis every other day alternating with flakes. But add 3 bags of copepods per week. Thank you!

Geez are you going to go broke? Just trying to feed that one little fish I’d say return it to the store.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Thank you, a friend of mine is offering me to trade it for a torch, he has 2, very large mature systems, I guess I’ll take it. I rather play it safe for the sake of the fish.

You are going to trade it for the torch and you’re just gonna kill the torch. Either way you’re gonna lose money, unfortunately

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Thank you! I'm curious on how you got an active thriving brine shrimp population, can you share how you started this?

I hatched the brine using a hatchery sold on Amazon, I choose the tube kind. Then I turned off the filters and feed the tank. I kept feeding the tank every other day. I just started to notice late at night brine swimming among my macro algae. They have bright little eyes that glow when the lights shine on them. My tank has lots of hiding places. We have a very fat mandarin that takes little work. They used to sell these brine shrimp as gimmick pets. They were called Sea Monkeys. I think anyone can do this. You need hiding places (no other fish that would eat them up too fast like a wrasse), feed Reef Nutrition SD Aquarist clam feed, and have macro algae which I think they breed in. I also feed the tank with a little dry green Spirulina for brine raising, which I mix it with the Reef N SD feed. You do not need much. Any aquarium store can order the Reed Nutrition feed. I have clams, so I feed every other day for them, the reef feed. My brine shrimp are raising young and living. Macro algae they seem to prefer is feather Caulerpa which you can see gets very dense. You need a bigger tank. I would think a breeder 40 gallon would be prefect. I also have no sump. I work an aquaclear filter on one end and Seachem Tidal hangs on the other side. Two power heads inside the tank. Viperaspectra (sold on Amazon) Reef lights, two above. The tank contains four clams, one Green Spotted Puffer (marine acclimated) 10 years old (has never touched my clams), two clown fish and a Chromis fish. Last, tank also has a well-fed Mandarin fish.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Thank you! I'm curious on how you got an active thriving brine shrimp population, can you share how you started this?

My tank ... is 55 gallons. I keep the back full of macro algae and that front right corner too. I trim the macro every once in a while. This is after a trim. Note my rocks are tight, it is not the new open look. Lots of hiding places for the brine shrimp. Note in the back you will see salt water mollies, no longer with me. They do not do well. For me, have never lasted long. Will never do mollies in salt again.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

The clam feed. I buy the large bottle and it lasts for months.

https://reefnutrition.com/products/sdaquarist?variant=31632198402129

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Thank you, I'll be trading the fish. In the future I will start a larger build where I will once again consider this beautiful fish.

Do not put a mandarin or clams in a tank till you have that tank matured. My best clam buys have been from Biota or Ora. Algae Barn sells clams from both groups shipped from the facilities. Note you will see your mandarin fish here and there. Mine often stays in the back hunting. We see him in the morning and at night. Most of the day he is not visible too busy in the back hunting.

 

[Tired]

I don't know... if its eating frozen then I'd say you're fine...

How often can you feed him?

They need multiple feedings a day of frozen to have anything like a chance.

I feed mysis every other day alternating with flakes. But add 3 bags of copepods per week. Thank you!

Not enough at all. Pretty much any given reef fish needs to eat at least daily, and mandarins eating frozen need something like 3-5 feedings per day to have anything of a shot. Their systems are made for loads of tiny meals of highly nutritious foods, so they can't retain food in their gut to get nutrients out of it the way we can.

Giving it away is a good idea. Try again later with a larger, well-established tank. Preferably start with at least a bit of ocean live rock to help get the biodiversity going.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

I just hatch bbs daily or every two days if I gut load with phytoplankton post 24hrs. I usually add 3 grams of bbs to my cultures to get the best amount hatched if I am using slightly older brine eggs. I also keep the brine eggs in the bottom drawer in the fridge to extend out the eggs as much as possible. Plus culturing copepods in a 5g has helped a lot. My mandarin is doing very well on this feeding and I feed him 2-3x a day using the tiny sieve that came with the hatchery kit I bought. I will have to get a picture to give you an idea on how much I feed per time. If there is any bbs left over then I drop it down a feeding so I don't overload my tank. When I do add them, I do dose Prime and Stability to make it easier on the tank and fish. This is just what has worked for me and it's been a bumpy road but a good learning curve. I've had mine exactly 5 months today and he's right at the stage of turning into a fat sausage.