I purshased Captive Bred Mandarin Dragonet from Live Aquaria about 2wks ago for my 32 gal. Bio Cube prior to getting him i stocked the LR with pods, he dosen't seem to like the frozen cyclopods by Hikari i try target feeding him, i think with him being so tiny regular brine and mysis shrimp are to large for him right now. He seems pretty healthy i see him moving about picking at the LR, so i guess my question is since i don't have a refugium how often should i add pods to the tank???
Mandarin Dragonet Feeding
- Thread starter Tango725
- Start date
I’ve got a pair of them and dump a jar of Poseidon’s feast copapods from algae barn every week. Rebooted tank after getting them because of hydroids and vermetids. Tank was completely drained and cleaned and all rock killed off.
Had them in QT for a month with rock from the tank then they were moved with corals and fish back to the main tank a month ago—so now an extremely young system.
They are doing fine and growing but also eat reef frenzy (and fish eggs). I’ll probably continue the weekly copapod dosing for the next year until the tank really matures. No refugium either.
32 gal is a little small so I’d add at least monthly. If you see him constantly pecking at rock then he is probably eating good but populations may not be able to maintain themselves with the constant feeding. Observation is key.
Had them in QT for a month with rock from the tank then they were moved with corals and fish back to the main tank a month ago—so now an extremely young system.
They are doing fine and growing but also eat reef frenzy (and fish eggs). I’ll probably continue the weekly copapod dosing for the next year until the tank really matures. No refugium either.
32 gal is a little small so I’d add at least monthly. If you see him constantly pecking at rock then he is probably eating good but populations may not be able to maintain themselves with the constant feeding. Observation is key.
mcgyvr
New member
Seeing as they can eat hundreds to thousands a day you will likely be adding pods weekly or more to maintain its proper diet...
Personally I would never have one in such a small tank as maintaining the proper level of natural food in a small tank is expensive... A large tank would be more self-sustaining..
Personally I would never have one in such a small tank as maintaining the proper level of natural food in a small tank is expensive... A large tank would be more self-sustaining..
Mandarins only due well long term when pod production is self sustaining.
I have kept one for years in a 70g, with 6 soccer ball size rocks and no other competitor.
I would estimate that one mandarin eats 5-7 thousand per month, so that's what you need to add. Different suppliers post different counts and it's not cheap. Add them at night, lights out, no flow or filter for an hour so they can hide
I have kept one for years in a 70g, with 6 soccer ball size rocks and no other competitor.
I would estimate that one mandarin eats 5-7 thousand per month, so that's what you need to add. Different suppliers post different counts and it's not cheap. Add them at night, lights out, no flow or filter for an hour so they can hide
ichthyogeek
New member
Forget Cardi B (but not really), Paul B has a wonderful brine shrimp setup for his mandarins and other picky eaters.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593683
It should be the weird looking box. I think Paul made it by taking an aquarium safe container, and filling it with live baby brine shrimp every morning; he cuts a hole in the top of the container, weighs it down with rocks, and then uses...I think nylon mesh over the top that lets the baby brine shrimp out slowly throughout the day, and it mimics the pods.
The only reason I don't have a mandarin right now is because I'm too lazy to make a baby brine shrimp disperser like Paul does, and hatch out baby brine shrimp every day.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593683
It should be the weird looking box. I think Paul made it by taking an aquarium safe container, and filling it with live baby brine shrimp every morning; he cuts a hole in the top of the container, weighs it down with rocks, and then uses...I think nylon mesh over the top that lets the baby brine shrimp out slowly throughout the day, and it mimics the pods.
The only reason I don't have a mandarin right now is because I'm too lazy to make a baby brine shrimp disperser like Paul does, and hatch out baby brine shrimp every day.
ichthyogeek
New member
Forget Cardi B (but not really), Paul B has a wonderful brine shrimp setup for his mandarins and other picky eaters.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593683
It should be the weird looking box. I think Paul made it by taking an aquarium safe container, and filling it with live baby brine shrimp every morning; he cuts a hole in the top of the container, weighs it down with rocks, and then uses...I think nylon mesh over the top that lets the baby brine shrimp out slowly throughout the day, and it mimics the pods.
The only reason I don't have a mandarin right now is because I'm too lazy to make a baby brine shrimp disperser like Paul does, and hatch out baby brine shrimp every day.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593683
It should be the weird looking box. I think Paul made it by taking an aquarium safe container, and filling it with live baby brine shrimp every morning; he cuts a hole in the top of the container, weighs it down with rocks, and then uses...I think nylon mesh over the top that lets the baby brine shrimp out slowly throughout the day, and it mimics the pods.
The only reason I don't have a mandarin right now is because I'm too lazy to make a baby brine shrimp disperser like Paul does, and hatch out baby brine shrimp every day.
FlatBrokeMedic
New member
IMHO your pod population should be self sustaining, I trained one To eat frozen food my last tank using a piece of air hose and a syringe to shoot cyclopezee into a shot glass laying on the bottom of the tank. The biggest problem I had was feeding every day really raised phosphates in the tank.
steallife904
New member
Tank is on the small side for one. I keep 1 in my 150. He did learn to eat stuff out of my rods frozen food but he does graze the rocks all day. I still add new pods once a month or every other, cant hurt
