Waterbox 20 Cube Mandarin Dragonet

[Zakary2003]

I have a waterbox cube 20 that I've just added fish and coral to after 4 weeks of cycling. There are currently 2 clowns and a peppermint shrimp, along with some hermits and snails for CuC. My absolute favorite fish is the mandarin dragonet. I know they can be difficult fish to keep in a tank this small, but I want to get one in a few months when the tank is more mature. Is there any way to get a mandarin dragonet to survive in this setup? What changes would I need to make, like pods or phyto dosing, in order to accomodate one? The middle chamber of my waterbox filtration has a small refugium, and there are 30 pounds of rock in the display tank. I always see tons of pods crawling all over the glass at night. My LFS occasionally has captive bred mandarins that will take frozen food or pellets, but I have some questions about that as well. How many feedings a day would it require if the fish is surviving primarily off of pellets and frozen food? I know they have fast metabolisms and little to no stomach. My college schedule would only feasibly allow 2 manual feedings a day during the school week, but would an auto feeder get enough food down to it if more than 2 feedings are needed? If this is simply impossible, please tell me. Otherwise I would love some suggestions or examples of tanks around my size that have had success. Also, if anyone knows how to convert one to pellets or frozen food consistently, it would save me the $30+ premium my LFS charges for frozen and pellet trained dragonets versus live food eaters.

 

[bluemon]

Since the tank is so new and small, you definitely will need to put in a pod culture every week.

You can try to find one that accepts frozen, but you will still need a pod population

 

[Lavey29]

Generally need to wait minimum 6 months or up to a year to allow your tank to mature and support a copepod population. Even though they may nibble pellets or frozen mine still seeks pods all day. You can seed your tank with different types of pods. Problem also is 2 clowns in a small environment of 15g and rocks may become very territorial also towards other fish.

 

[Zakary2003]

Since the tank is so new and small, you definitely will need to put in a pod culture every week.

You can try to find one that accepts frozen, but you will still need a pod population

I wouldn't be getting one for another few months. The tank isn't quite mature enough imo.

 

[rennjidk]

Go for it! Just make sure you buy a captive bred one like what's offered from ORA. They eat prepared food just fine. I have a 25g cube, and every single thread I post mentioning it, everyone tells me it's going to starve. It's the fattest fish in my tank by a mile and I haven't added pods in a year.

 

[Zakary2003]

Generally need to wait minimum 6 months or up to a year to allow your tank to mature and support a copepod population. Even though they may nibble pellets or frozen mine still seeks pods all day. You can seed your tank with different types of pods. Problem also is 2 clowns in a small environment of 15g and rocks may become very territorial also towards other fish.

Thanks for the response. I was planning on waiting a few months for the tank to mature anyways. I was just wondering what I can do in the meantime to prepare. Would the clowns be territorial towards a bottom dweller? My parents used to have a 120 gallon tank. The clowns would chase off larger free swimming fish like the tangs and chromis and stuff but usually left the bottoms dwellers like our pair of mandarins and our yellow watchman goby alone. It would only mess with the lawnmower blenny when it was grazing near their seabae anemone.

 

[Lavey29]

Go for it! Just make sure you buy a captive bred one like what's offered from ORA. They eat prepared food just fine. I have a 25g cube, and every single thread I post mentioning it, everyone tells me it's going to starve. It's the fattest fish in my tank by a mile and I haven't added pods in a year.

Some do adapt to prepared foods better then others. How old was your tank when you added it? Mine was a year old with a well established biome. I got a wild one and it took many months before I saw him nibble some frozen. He hunts pods in the morning and the evening as his main food source. But he's been in the tank more then a year now and still thriving.

 

[Lavey29]

Thanks for the response. I was planning on waiting a few months for the tank to mature anyways. I was just wondering what I can do in the meantime to prepare. Would the clowns be territorial towards a bottom dweller? My parents used to have a 120 gallon tank. The clowns would chase off larger free swimming fish like the tangs and chromis and stuff but usually left the bottoms dwellers like our pair of mandarins and our yellow watchman goby alone. It would only mess with the lawnmower blenny when it was grazing near their seabae anemone.

Well you got to get through the new tank uglies over the course of the first year and best way to do that with a nano tank is weekly water changes and focus on stability. After a couple months, seed the tank with a few different pod species and hopefully they will establish. It's hard to say what clowns will do. They seem so friendly and harmless loafing around in the tank but can become vicious too. Mandarin is not just a bottom dweller. He will cruise over your rocks too looking for food. Typically their coloring keeps aggressive fish away along with thick mucous coat that taste bad to other fish trying to nip him. You just never know from one tank to the next. I highly recommend you wait till at least the 6 month mark and get past some uglies and see if you have a stable environment to support the Mandy.

 

[rennjidk]

I got a wild one and it took many months before I saw him nibble some frozen.

I said captive bred, like the ones offered from ORA. They've never seen a pod, and eat prepared from birth.

 

[Lavey29]

I said captive bred, like the ones offered from ORA. They've never seen a pod, and eat prepared from birth.

Yes and I've seen posts of those that purchased them and couldn't get them to eat.

Simple thread search will show you numerous threads about tank raised ora mandarins not eating.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/biota-mandarin-troubles.910749/&ved=2ahUKEwisv8iD2MmAAxWEh-4BHca2CIQQFnoECBoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0kb0cRh5YzKM72IHI1aKhg

Definitely not a sure thing

 

[Zakary2003]

Yes and I've seen posts of those that purchased them and couldn't get them to eat.

Simple thread search will show you numerous threads about tank raised ora mandarins not eating.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/biota-mandarin-troubles.910749/&ved=2ahUKEwisv8iD2MmAAxWEh-4BHca2CIQQFnoECBoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0kb0cRh5YzKM72IHI1aKhg

Definitely not a sure thing

I'd be getting one from my LFS so I'd know it already eats prepared foods. I've seen them eat frozen mysis and pellets myself. None are currently available but I'm patient enough to wait.

 

[Lavey29]

I'd be getting one from my LFS so I'd know it already eats prepared foods. I've seen them eat frozen mysis and pellets myself. None are currently available but I'm patient enough to wait.

Sounds like you are putting good thought into this so hopefully you will be successful....best of luck

 

[littlefoxx]

I have a waterbox cube 20 that I've just added fish and coral to after 4 weeks of cycling. There are currently 2 clowns and a peppermint shrimp, along with some hermits and snails for CuC. My absolute favorite fish is the mandarin dragonet. I know they can be difficult fish to keep in a tank this small, but I want to get one in a few months when the tank is more mature. Is there any way to get a mandarin dragonet to survive in this setup? What changes would I need to make, like pods or phyto dosing, in order to accomodate one? The middle chamber of my waterbox filtration has a small refugium, and there are 30 pounds of rock in the display tank. I always see tons of pods crawling all over the glass at night. My LFS occasionally has captive bred mandarins that will take frozen food or pellets, but I have some questions about that as well. How many feedings a day would it require if the fish is surviving primarily off of pellets and frozen food? I know they have fast metabolisms and little to no stomach. My college schedule would only feasibly allow 2 manual feedings a day during the school week, but would an auto feeder get enough food down to it if more than 2 feedings are needed? If this is simply impossible, please tell me. Otherwise I would love some suggestions or examples of tanks around my size that have had success. Also, if anyone knows how to convert one to pellets or frozen food consistently, it would save me the $30+ premium my LFS charges for frozen and pellet trained dragonets versus live food eaters.

I have a mandarin in a 70, I waited until I saw the pods crawling on the glass, then waited two more months before adding the mandarin. I dosed every day the first month I had him, now I dose trigger pods and stuff every two weeks. My dude is fattttt

 

[OrionN]

It is doable, if you really set the tank up as pod friendly, meaning plenty of space where your pods can live without predation in the tank. I would put in a lot of large coarse clam shell fragments about 1 inch thick in various area of your tank. These "pod piles" will give refuge for your pods and keep them from been eaten by your fishes. If you do this and ensure that they get some food, they will multiply quickly and feed you Mandarin and other fish. I keep 1 Mandarin in a 22 gal Oceanic cube tank for years without problem setting up the aquarium up this way. You will be very limited in fish you can keep. I keep a small Magnifica and two Percula clowns together with the Mandarin. Clams, corals and other invert but no other fish.
This was the absolute smallest tank I was able to keep a Mandarin in. You can also feed your mandarin with Paul B Mandarin feeder. I am too lazy and busy to feed them multiple times a day, along with hatching brine shrimp to use to feed them.
Picture of my pair in a 40 gal breeder right now

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

If you do buy one, I would definitely culture your copepods outside the tank before you buy one. I have a 20g H that I would hatch live baby brine shrimp for and he goes crazy for them. If you do wait for the BBS to get over 24hrs they do lose nutrition so you will have to feed them Selcon or Reef Nutrition RG Complete or Phyto-feast. I've done both. There's a lot of YT videos on culturing phytoplanton and copepods. I did a lot of research on caring for them but once I got one, it was a whole different story on feeding him once it started. I'm not trying to scare you by a long shot but it is a lot of work and you have to be dedicated to culturing and feeding. Otherwise, it really cool to watch them hunt and move around.