QT for red dragonet

[david p.]

Hi,

i finally decided to get a red mandarin (dragonet). while i wait for a pair of chalk bass.
Here'S my QT plan:

- Acclimate de fish 2-3 days, make sure he eats. will take some cheato from sump to get pods and discard it after.
- Treat with Prazipro
- Day 7, 25% water cahnge
- Treat with Prazipro
- Day 14, 25% water change + carbone
- 2-3 weeks observation

if i see ich, i have ICH-X that contains formaldehyde, methanol and malachite green chloride.

i know that from that post: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/
Copper or chlorochine phosphate is recommended, but i don't have access to these.

what would you do in addition to that ?
i would follow the same protocol for my chalk bass couple if adequate.

 

[Humblefish]

I recommend TTM for a dragonet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

You can use just a 5 gal bucket for such a small fish, and dose Prazipro during transfers 2 & 4 in order to deworm.

 

[david p.]

I recommend TTM for a dragonet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

You can use just a 5 gal bucket for such a small fish, and dose Prazipro during transfers 2 & 4 in order to deworm.

i though about it. but never did it.
i have a hydor 425 and a HOB filter, could that be sufficient for flow ? HOB on my 10Gal tank and hydor on 5 gal bucket ?

 

[david p.]

• Day 1 - Fish is placed in initial QT.
• Day 4 - Roughly 72 hours later transfer the fish to new tank. The time of day you do the transfer is unimportant, but never exceed 72 hours from the last transfer. The temperature and SG of the new tank should match the old one perfectly, so you can just catch & release (no acclimation). Transfer as little water as possible with the fish.
• Day 7 - Repeat.
• Day 10 - Repeat.
• Day 13 - Repeat and done (fish should now be ich free).

meaning, Day 15-16 it'S ready for DT ?
Prazipro on Day 7 and 13 ?

 

[david p.]

think i will go with TTM.

best way i found to get pod was to take a big rock from my DT, put it in a bucket then rince with tank water, was able to get a lot of pods. the cheato had to much crap on it, was making water fuzzy with particulate matter. i use cheato as mecanical filter in my sump, so it get dirty... but its good for pods
i'll repeat same process tomorrow, hoppefully i can re-use the same rock, all the others have coral on them

the red mandarin, i skinnier than i though when i wtach it at LFS. he has some interest in pods .. so i guess it's good. will follow closely.

 

[bknapp]

The one advantage to a longer QT stay for dragonettes is that you can work on training them to take prepared foods.

 

[Humblefish]

Day 15-16 it'S ready for DT ?

I would observe for at least 2 weeks, post TTM, for symptoms of brook, velvet, etc. It's rare for a mandy to get those diseases, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Dashiki]

Afaik mandarins do not carry ich because of their slime coat. Tank transfer would be stressful and unnecessary.

 

[cmcoker]

Afaik mandarins do not carry ich because of their slime coat. Tank transfer would be stressful and unnecessary.

They can still have it in their gills. Some species of fish are more resistant... But that doesn't mean they can't carry it and transfer it to other fiah

 

[DLHDesign]

I've got a green mandarin in QT right now. Can't say everything is going perfect, but I think it's doing okay. Eating, clearly, has been a challenge. It's been 10 days and it's only sometimes eating (have not started TTM yet as a result - none of my QT fish are showing any sign of ich problems).

Thinks I've tried that had any marked success:
- Baby Brine Shrimp (fresh hatched). Tried both Paul B's feeder and direct into the tank. No sign of interest, but perhaps some feeding going on?
- Tigger Pods. No real luck here - perhaps one or two eaten. I think these may be too large for it at this point?
- Cyclopod+ This has been the best of all the options I've tried. The mandarin eats a few while I'm watching and the tank gets pretty saturated with just a single cube (into a 10gal tank).

Other things I've tried:
- All sorts of other frozen foods. Mysis, Baby Brine, blends, mini blood worms, and others. The other fish in the QT (a cardinal and hawkfish) love the variety, but they eat anything I throw in, so I'm not worried about them...
- Pellets. Marine-S, a blend the supplier sent me, and seaweed extreme. Again; other fish are ecstatic; mandarin nada.
- Fish eggs. Candy for everyone else; mandarin ignored them.
- Target feeding the above. This just seemed to spook him out more than entice him.
- Tank is running between 76-77F, no filtration to speak of (some saturated sponges from the DT), one small powerhead to move water, plenty of hiding spaces, running standard "day/night" cycle (tank is near a window, so hard to prevent this). Not sure how much of that is having any specific impact; just throwing it out there.

Anywho; that's where I'm at. I've not tried either chaeto into the QT nor rinsing DT rock. Both are an option for me, so I'll try 'em soon. Thanks for the tips and good luck!

 

[Oldsofty]

Nutramar ova? They are lobster eggs, mandy's love them. One trick is to feed them amphapods(u can shake them out of rock or chaeto or algae scrubber into a bucket then use a 40 micron strainer and strain them out) then get him feeding on those by target feeding with a turkey baster. After that, continue with feeding him those plus mix in some fine frozen brine or finely chopped mysis mixed in...then slowly switch it over to all frozen. If he will eat the ova then u can supplement his hunting with those 3 or 4 times a week. Takes patience though. Good luck.

 

[david p.]

Where do you get lobser eggs?

 

[Oldsofty]

Nutramar ova from marine depot i believe. Never used them myself but they come highly recommended. I always suggest a separate culture of amphapods and copepods to help supplement your fuge. I would start one asap...YouTube will give u plenty of good ideas. Marine depot will have your eggs. Good luck!

 

[DLHDesign]

Nutramar ova from marine depot i believe.

Unfortunately; out of stock: http://www.marinedepot.com/Nutramar..._Flat_Pack-Nutramar-NM3151-FIFDFZFSFP-vi.html :-(

 

[Oldsofty]

Ok. There is some sort of world shortage for this product but u can try bloodworms or reef nutrition's roe. I read that bloodworms are like crack to mandy's but they are not very nutritious so feed sparingly. The roe product also has a con, they can get picky and only eat eggs so be cautious. In the end, i stick by using copepods(live) and using a separate culture to supplement your tank as its easy. You can continue to research on the web to see if anyone has some other insights. Mandys are a challenge if u don't have lots of live rock for hunting or your fish just stops eating. I think they are worth the hassle though.

 

[Humblefish]

They can still have it in their gills. Some species of fish are more resistant... But that doesn't mean they can't carry it and transfer it to other fiah

^^ This. Any fish can carry ich, some are just more resistant than others.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup Nutrimar WAS the best. Trained 3 mandys on it. Its Prawn roe.
FIll the QT w bugs. All mandys are different. Slowly introduce other small foods. Ive had some success w oyster eggs, and fish eggs. Baby brine and mysis as well are good to try.
Recently got a sample of Rods fish eggs, they are a bit big for a smaller fish, by my baby liked it. Hes not a good example though, he eats EVERYTHING. like really. Stuff they say a mandy doesnt eat. They eat a lot more than just pods in the wild. Just saying.
And def look at Melev's site for feeding tips, they work. And Of course PaulB is the master. look him up here on R2R Mandarin feeder.

 

[Humblefish]

Also suggest reading thru this thread for tips: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mandarin-help.262166/

 

[david p.]

Also suggest reading thru this thread for tips: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mandarin-help.262166/

already done, couple of days ago
thx

 

[david p.]

so far so good, 24h have past, i see the mandarin looking for pods, i have not seen him get one, but fingers cross.

i did something i never do, but it seems to work. typically i will use an elbow pvc pipe or a short piece of 3-4'' long. this time, was lazy and dumped a 12'' (maybe a bit more) pvc pipe. It makes a darker area than short pipes, most of the pods end up in there... and that's where my mandarin hang out. the pods are just running up and down the inner surface of the pipes, i hope that kind of proximity will help on feeding.

the DT rock trick works well, got another bunch of pods