green mandarin dragonet

J

JimCata

New member
really like this fish I got yesterday. Any advice to making them reallly happy? I made the guy in the fish store feed it to make sure it ate, it did, and now it picks at the live rock like crazy. My only concern is it doesn't have a big gut like the rest of them I've seen in pictures.

It's with a yellow tang, green chromis (tank cycle fish last year), 2 clown fish, yellow watchman gobi, and a 6-line wrasse.
 
Hope he keeps eating frozen. A 29 gallon tank can't have enough rock to feed a dragonet. Especially with a six line competing for pods.
 
Sorry to say,

But 29G is too small for a Mandarin. Mandarins require quite large amounts of mature (12mnth+) Live Rock that can sustain enough copepods for them to live on. Or a Refugium.

The 6-Line will be eating all of the copepods that you have in your system which is going to leave very little food supply for your mandarin and prepared foods are not enough to sustain it.

Unfortunately, your mandarin will starve to death in your tank. I would highly suggest returning it to the LFS.

The sunken belly you refer to is an indication that the mandarin has not being able to eat enough food (copepods) to get nice and fat (healthy basically). This is a bad thing as a lot of mandarins will not recover from this.


Scott.
 
the only wAY you can keep it is to add a large fuge and add copepods on a regular basis and put alot of live rock in the fuge
 
Wow 7 fish in a 29g. Thats a disaster waiting to happen. So many problems there.

1. Even though the LFS fed the mandarin that doesnt mean anything. These fish need a large supply of pods to survive. Whenever they are awake the are looking for food. They eat all day. Daily feedings of whatever you are putting into your tank isnt going to cut it. You might have some pods now but your tank will not be able to keep up with the amount thats eaten. I would take the fish back. Or invest a $100 and get a refugium running for a place to breed pods.

2. You have a fish that is competing with it for food. Thats never good for a mandarin.

3. You have to remove that Yellow tang. They get large and need a lot of swimming room. Standard 75g or larger tank is needed for that fish. I would also take this back to the LFS.

4. You have a very large bio-load right now in your tank. Are you having any algae outbreaks? I wouldnt have more then 4 small fish in there.
 
This is an inappropriate fish for this tank especially with a six line wrasse competing for food. And, of course, the yellow tang should not be in this tank either. It would be best to read about suitability before purchasing fish; your LFS is selling fish, not selling appropriate fish. A mandarin cannot, long term, exist only on frozen food.
 
I do understand about the tang, but it seems happy and is very small, once it starts growing, I'll take it back. I totally overfilter and check everything very regularly, including the calcium. I have over 75 lbs. live rock, rena xp-2, and prizm pro skimmer. I just posted a new thread in the equipment forum about setting up the refugium, weekend project. I bought copepods from a store yesterday and the mandarin is eating like crazy. Hoping they spread so i can get the refugium set up.
 
Jim i saw your thread about the fuge and the sizes you want are way to small to even be close to keeping pod populations up for the mandarin let alone with a sixline in there..even if it does eat frozen that will not support that fish..and i agree with the others take the tang back
 
Honestly Im not trying to give you a hard time, but your tank is too small to support a mandarin. Even if it eats prepared foods it can not survive on them alone. It might take a long time but eventually your mandarin will slowly starve to death. I would try to see if you can find someone with a tank that can support the mandarin. The LFS you got it from obviously isnt to concerned with the fishes long term well being, so I wouldnt take it back there. Just so you know we arent giving you a hard time here is some good info about mandarins.

http://reefcentral.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=3


http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm

Okay now for the tang. Tangs are powerful swimmers, that love to swim, and graze on live rock. A 29 gallon just cant provide the type of swimming room a tang needs. Tangs eat, and poop alot. They add a tremendous amount to you bio load. Eventually you will start to have problems with your water quality.I hope you will take the advice given here, and either upgrade to a larger tank, or find your tang a good home!! Here is also some good info on tangs and the appropriate tank sizes for them...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=739380
 
If he's eating frozen food and picking at the rocks I think you'll be fine. I would supplement with pods often.That may fish is alot for such a small tank I would think about upgrading. I had a tomato clown, a baby blue hippo tang, a green mandrian, a yellow watchman and a bi-color blenney in a 20 gal but I was upgrading within a month to a 65 and even thats not really big enough for when my blue hippo reaches full size. If it works great but be aware that your taking a big risk.
 
Just my own opinion. I have a pair of mandarins in a 12gal Aquapod that eat frozen food. They are th eonly 2 fish in there, and I bought them from a LFS that wont sell these fish unless theya re eating frozen food. They eat a combination of brine, prawn roe and cyclopeeze. Before everyone gets on my case about having them in such a small environment and that they are going to die, I've had these 2 for over a year, they are fat and healthy. It is doable but you have to be committed. I spot feed 3x a day and watch them eat and am vigilant about testing and ensuring a healthy environment for them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11055384#post11055384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaReeferMan
Whenever they are awake the are looking for food. They eat all day. Daily feedings of whatever you are putting into your tank isnt going to cut it.
Click to expand...

Think about it like this. I watch my Mandarin and she will eat 1+ pod every 5-10 seconds.

So 1 Pod ever 5 seconds is 12/minute = 720/hr = 8500/12hr day every day!

Mandarins will do nothing but consume food when they are awake, with the exception of mating :D You definitely need to return this fish, even with a refugium the mandarin will starve because they are placid fish who will not compete for food where-as your Wrasse will.

If you have a mandarin, you must be prepared to pick fish that will not compete with it and to some degree design your tank around it. That is why they are for EXPERTS only.
 
I'll try to find it a home somewhere in the Philly area, I'd give to you Zaita, but a round trip ticket to New Zealand is running $6300 right now, and I need to set up a refugium with that money.
I added live copepods (f-ing expensive) last night with the pumps and lights off, hopefully they'll multiply a bit before they are all eaten. It really goes after the live brine I put in too.
 
Try spot feeding him with a turkey baster or small syringe several times a day right in front of his face. If he is eating and taking frozen food you can also try mixing prawn roe and cyclopeeze in addition to the brine. I feed mine a mixture of those 3x a day. The brine I feed is enriched with sprulina, but they are the only 2 fish in my tank so they dont have any competition for food.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11063577#post11063577 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JimCata
I'll try to find it a home somewhere in the Philly area, I'd give to you Zaita, but a round trip ticket to New Zealand is running $6300 right now
Click to expand...

Yea it is a bit expensive!

Good to see you aren't just going to "see what happens" like a lot of people try to do. I know personally, if I discovered that I had a fish that had a low chance of survival I would get rid of it as soon as possible.

Unfortunately I have had a Scooter Dragonet that came through the supply chain already starved and it didn't make it. But my Mandarin is a happy lil girl :)
 
SCooter Dragonets are tough because many are from areas where cyanide is used to capture them. Similar problems with Mandarins.
 
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