Mandarin Goby, earliest introduction??

[Tmoriarty]

I have a 203g tank and wanted to add a Mandarin Dragonet (eventually a pair) What is the earliest I can add one to the tank. I am running a 15g refugium section in a 75g sump.

Also I am willing to buy pods to supplement pod populations in the tank. I have pukani live rock so it is extremely porous and there are plenty of spots in the tank for the pod population to breed without beign eaten. I see plenty of pods in the tank over 2mm's and hundreds of pods in the refugium ranging from 2-10mm's. The tank is around 2 months old.

I know in general they recommend 6 months minimum, but can I curve that a little bit with having a refugium and a larger tank?

 

[snorvich]

Well, if you want certainty, I would wait it out.

 

[Khemul]

The whole 'waiting time' thing is simply to build the pod population. There is no exact time-table to it. 6 months is just a safe estimate.

If you've got a good population going then give it another month or so to be safe and make sure the population keeps stable, then start considering the fish. If you really want to be sure you can always add a bottle of pods now and let them mix in, but if you've already got a population that'd be a bit of a waste. There is only so much that can be supported.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Figured id update an older thread of mine, I added a Mandarin around two months ago... he was trained onto eating pellets in 3 days... go figure. I see him pod hunting daily but he is plenty fat and content eating pellets (I feed them 3 times a day, in smaller amounts) and my mix of food. Got lucky with a Mandarin that took to pellets, they should help me keep him alive for a long long time.