Oddball fish for 6 gallon fluvel edge

JTreef

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Mandarins do get large! I’ve seen the small captive raised babies at 3/4” for sale. I’ve seen adults at 4.5”.
If willing to put extra time into a small tank and raise brine shrimp, dwarf seahorses are cool. Lots of personality in 1/2”-3/4” size. You could get several in a tank that size
 

Jesterrace

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Crazy idea for down the road, if I plumed the 6 gallon to a 20 gallon long refugium sump could I keep a mandarin dragonet?

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! What people fail to understand is that dragonets require massive amounts of established rockwork (ie 75lbs or more and have been stocking with copepods for over a year) in order to support a very large and self sustaining copepod population (it's natural food source). You can't fit 75lbs or more of rockwork in that config and that is what you are going to need to establish it's food source. The only way I could see it working in the config you mentioned is if you had a fat mandy that readily accepted frozen food from the fish store before you bought it and even then you would need to turn off the powerhead and target feed with something like a turkey baster since they are very slow and methodical eaters. The Mandarin actually shares a number of similarities with a hummingbird in slow motion. It cocks it's head to the size and flutters it's fins like a hummingbird flaps it's wings. It also takes about 3-4 steps to eat food that is right in front of it's face. I had a Green Mandarin that lived about 3 months in my 36 gallon and I spent nearly $300 in copepods in that time trying to keep it fed. It learned to eat Frozen Mysis and Reef Frenzy but was too slow to get to the food compared to the other fish. It actually had to fight my cleaner shrimp for food. Cool looking fish with interesting characteristics but any love I had for the fish died with it. Way too much hassle for my tastes.
 

Jesterrace

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Mandarins do get large! I’ve seen the small captive raised babies at 3/4” for sale. I’ve seen adults at 4.5”.
If willing to put extra time into a small tank and raise brine shrimp, dwarf seahorses are cool. Lots of personality in 1/2”-3/4” size. You could get several in a tank that size

No kidding. I have an LFS that had an adult Spotted Mandarin in their 150 display and I couldn't believe how big and fat that fish was. Certainly a far cry from the skinny little 2 inch Green Mandy that I had.
 

Garbonzo

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Green spotted puffers or Figure 8 puffers are cool. Kept them with a grouper for years as they were the only thing he wouldn't eat. Lol
 

RobertN

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Green spotted puffers or Figure 8 puffers are cool. Kept them with a grouper for years as they were the only thing he wouldn't eat. Lol
Are these supposed to be kept in full saltwater tank salinity? I read where people were saying they are supposed to be in brackish conditions or their lifespan is greatly reduced. I saw some in a local LFS and was tempted, but didn't buy because of that information I had read.
 

Jesterrace

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Figure 8's are brackish and as such not suited for a reef tank long term.
 
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Southpawzzz

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NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! What people fail to understand is that dragonets require massive amounts of established rockwork (ie 75lbs or more and have been stocking with copepods for over a year) in order to support a very large and self sustaining copepod population (it's natural food source). You can't fit 75lbs or more of rockwork in that config and that is what you are going to need to establish it's food source. The only way I could see it working in the config you mentioned is if you had a fat mandy that readily accepted frozen food from the fish store before you bought it and even then you would need to turn off the powerhead and target feed with something like a turkey baster since they are very slow and methodical eaters. The Mandarin actually shares a number of similarities with a hummingbird in slow motion. It cocks it's head to the size and flutters it's fins like a hummingbird flaps it's wings. It also takes about 3-4 steps to eat food that is right in front of it's face. I had a Green Mandarin that lived about 3 months in my 36 gallon and I spent nearly $300 in copepods in that time trying to keep it fed. It learned to eat Frozen Mysis and Reef Frenzy but was too slow to get to the food compared to the other fish. It actually had to fight my cleaner shrimp for food. Cool looking fish with interesting characteristics but any love I had for the fish died with it. Way too much hassle for my tastes.

Okay, completely scrapped that idea people were quick to shut that down so it’s gone. Can’t decide what to put in the tank![emoji23][emoji849]
 

Garbonzo

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I had 4 of them in full salt for 5 years till a crash. I've heard both scenarios, but I'll tell you that the puffs were fatter and more active in full salt than the ones I kept in brackish.
 

Jesterrace

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Okay, completely scrapped that idea people were quick to shut that down so it’s gone. Can’t decide what to put in the tank![emoji23][emoji849]

A small Goby or Blenny could work. A lot of it depends on what you want to do and how much money you are willing to spend.
 

GnarleyMarley

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I kept a purple spot mantis (gonodactylus smithii) in a 6g edge for a few yrs. Awesome animal & they max out at 4" lots of personality, and definitley unique. Just make sure you get the correct type as some require much more than a 6g can accomidate.a

I also ran a 5g cylinder with about 20 dwarf seahorses. They are awesome but only eat live food, which means you will need to hatch baby brine for them to eat. They reproduce like crazy and in that tank you could have tons of them, very cool creatures just do some homework before you dive in :)

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