Can dragonets be mixed in the same tank

[Garrett11]

hey
i currently have a manderin and have had it for almost a year now in a 65 heavily stocked lps tank with well over 100 lbs of LR i have trained him to eat frozen mysis and was wondering if i could put a green spotted manderin with him and maybe either a scooter or a red scooter blenny without it being a problem.

 

[lwillis22]

I am sorry, can't answer your question but wondered how you trained him to eat frozen food?

 

[nanoreef heaven]

I am not sure about the spotted one but a scooter for sure. I've seen videos of people keeping pairs of both and I had one each until my clown bullied my scooter to death.

*Sent from my little corner of the reef. Nano nano!*

 

[Sk8r]

No. Bad risk that one would kill the other. Even in same type, opposite sex, one will likely kill the other.

A scooter, ok, but watch your food supply very closely and read on my blog about keeping dragonets (poke the blue number under my avatar). Having both in that small a tank is real dicey, even if one is eating frozen. I'm personally suspicious as to whether a mandy gets ALL it needs from frozens or pellet.

 

[Garrett11]

some are more difficult but i started mine in a breeder net and put the mysis in there with him, after a few days he started eating it, just be sure to remove any uneaten food, if it doesent work some mix it with copepods 50 50 and slowly increase the ratio of mysis, but if u just ask at the store for them to feed the manderins most places are cool with it then just watch what one eats, some jump on it right away

 

[Lostinthedark]

I tried to introduce a much larger male with the small female Red Mandarin in a 120. She hounded him relentlessly till I took him out and returned him. I hope it works but be prepared for the worse.

 

[OrionN]

I disagree with Lostinthedark here. I have seen plenty of tanks at LFS with multiple scooter dragonet with out problem between them. Long term food source will be a problem in our tank.

For Mandarin Dragonet Female will tolerate other female and male but males will not tolerate other males. I have had multiple tanks with Madarin pair and never have problem getting a pair to tolerate each other. They pretty much act indifferent to each other until late afternoon before the light goes out when they spawn. It is a beautiful dance if you are lucky enough to be able to keep a pair.

In your tank, I doubt that what you have in the tank will be enough to feed two mandarin. Eating frozen food will help but I am not sure if you want to depends on this long term. If you judge that you have enough food for two, I would add male/female of the same species. See if you can search the net for a video of Mandarin spawn. It is a breath taken display. Imagine the fully intense color of the mandarin at it's best on full display.

In choosing male and female Mandarin, use first spike of the dorsal fin. Males have long first dorsal fin spike females do not. However in capture and transit, some males had their spike broke off and will look just like females for many months until their spike regrowth. I think this may have happen to Lostinthedark's male.

 

[Teddynola]

I can only answer for myself, but I have a pair of blue mandarin dragonettes and a male scooter dragonette in my well established 75g. I started with the scooter, and while he does eat pods, he will also eat NLS pellets, mysis and cyclopeeze. I later added the female mandarin. She only eats pods, no aggression issues at all. About 8 mos later, I added the somewhat larger male mandarin. It was an instant attraction (the pic below was taken about 5 minutes after adding the male), and all is peaceful in the tank. I do have to say, I never had any qualms about food availability, since I cultivate copepods as a side business. But, I really don't add that many pods to the tank, my population seems to remain robust, as evidenced by my plump and seemingly happy dragonettes. I highly recommend seeding your tank with tisbe pods, they live in and on your rocks and sand, where the dragonettes feed and they also eat detritus, bonus! What works for one tank, may not always work in yours. Good luck.

 

[Teddynola]

Oops, here's the pic.

 

[dirk_brijs]

absolutely not
if you add them both at the same time no issues if they are different sexes.
Mandarins how cute they look are some of the most vicious fish alive. They just don't nip but if you saw them go at other fish they actually bite and hold on like dogs.
Very vicious and very territorial. I saw an older spotted one almost shred a smaller new addition almost to pieces.

 

[Teddynola]

Dirk, have you seen the mouth on a mandarin? Look at the pic above, how can that bite and hold on to anything? Just asking.

 

[sponger0]

Dirk, have you seen the mouth on a mandarin? Look at the pic above, how can that bite and hold on to anything? Just asking.

Whether or not it seems feasible to you, this has been described to me this way many times. Yes, when dragonettes fights, it's like 2 dogs fighting.

As for the OP question, unless you have a 120 gallon plus, I wouldnt attempt it. Whether or not they eat prepared foods. This is not an effective way to feed them. People dont seem to notice dragonettes behavior. All they do is eat all day long. If you have then eating 3 times a day, thats still not enough food for them if the tank isnt loaded with pods to much on all day. Prepared foods should be considered a supplementary diet, not primary.

 

[Garrett11]

thanks for all the replies, i think i might consider a scooter but im gonna stay away from the green spotted, i just liked the coloring better