mandarin lack of pod supply

[foxngn]

Hi Guys,

I been keeping my mandarin in my tank for a year already.
All this while the pods supply was enough, until recently I saw my mandarin fish become skinny, i can see it very seldom nip those rock & glasses for pod already.

Those pods was provided from my Hang-on breeding box, usually those pods will be flow into the tank automatically.

Does Blue-eyed cardinal eat pods as well ? As recently i got some of those in my tank.

In this stage, should i put some chaeto into a mesh & leave it in my DT, or i should catch the mandarin into my hang-on chaeto box ?

 

[jraker]

How large is the tank? A breeder box is not able to supply enough pods for a mandy. You need a large external refugium, or a very large aquarium with no competitors to supply a mandy with enough pods.

 

[foxngn]

the tank is a 2x2x2 cube tank. currently there is no other inhabitants that is feeding on pods, so i'm suspecting maybe is the cardinal who had feed on pods as well. But i doesn't seem them to do so.

 

[Silly clownfish]

So that is rough 56 gallons, which is a little smaller than most recimmend for long term pod production for a dragonet. I would mzke a Paul B feeder and start hatching brine shrimp immediately to get some weight back on you fish and try to save it from starving. Then start culturing pods in a couple of pretzel jars. It will take a few weeks for that to really get producing though, so use the brine shrimp for now.

It is possible that your breeder box colony crashed for some reason. I have noticed a decrease in my pod population after overly vigorous substrate cleaning or sump cleaning.

I have never kept any kind of cardinals, so I can't answer that part of your question.

 

[ThRoewer]

While 56 gallon isn't a lot it still could support a single mandarin if it is set up and run right.
Also, it is always good to get your mandarins eat frozen food. While not enough to sustain them, it can fill a gap in pod supply.
Another important thing is to create enough areas in the tank where pods can live and reproduce. I found coarse coral gravel preferable over finer sand. The gravel will create a maze of small crevices where large numbers of pods can live and reproduce.

I kept my pair for a year in a 25 gallon tank and both were eating frozen Mysis. And they were not the only pod eaters in there: I also had a bluesripe pipefish, shrimp gobies and dottybacks in there.

Also it is important to set up a refugium - I have a 10 gallon tank full of Chaetomorpha that is crawling with pods and Mysis shrimp. The live Mysis shrimp definitely helped to get them on frozen ones.

By now I moved my pair into the new 100 gallon tank where they got outright fat from all the pods in there. But they still also pick frozen Mysis if they find some the other fish have missed.

 

[block head]

Best of luck, once they go off pods it's close to the end.

 

[reefless]

Fresh brine shrimp is a good idea. Also try live black worms. I had a target dragonet that would eat frozen mysis and small pellets as long as they were moving in the current