Dark Waters
New member
Hello I'm trying to learn more and more about them...I know they are considered difficult to keep but they are beautiful to me...also WHICH TYPE OF PODS ARE BEST FOR THEM.... thanks in advance
Mandarins- anyone have success with them?
- Thread starter Dark Waters
- Start date
MondoBongo
Obligate Feeder Obsessed
they're going to eat a variety of pods, primarily benthic ones though. i.e. ones that stay close to, or on, the substrate.
with a sufficiently sized and set up tank, they're not difficult to keep. where most people get in to trouble with them is placing them in far too small a tank, or not taking in to account their other stocking choices, and potential aggression or food source competition.
we're going on 3 years here with my mandy, and a little over a year with my scooter. both dragonets, both from the same genus. if properly cared for, and barring any outside influences like a tank crash, these fish are reasonably hardy, require little direct care, and should be excellent long term residents.
again, the keys are planning for them. make sure you have an appropriate tank size. for a single mandarin you're looking at no smaller than a 55 gallon tank, with a 20 gallon productive fuge, heavily stocked with live rock, and no pod competition (so no things like wrasse, pipefish, etc....).
that's the bare minimum in my opinion required for a decent chance at reasonable success. the larger the tank, the more rock, the more sand, the larger the fuge, the better your chances for success.
with a sufficiently sized and set up tank, they're not difficult to keep. where most people get in to trouble with them is placing them in far too small a tank, or not taking in to account their other stocking choices, and potential aggression or food source competition.
we're going on 3 years here with my mandy, and a little over a year with my scooter. both dragonets, both from the same genus. if properly cared for, and barring any outside influences like a tank crash, these fish are reasonably hardy, require little direct care, and should be excellent long term residents.
again, the keys are planning for them. make sure you have an appropriate tank size. for a single mandarin you're looking at no smaller than a 55 gallon tank, with a 20 gallon productive fuge, heavily stocked with live rock, and no pod competition (so no things like wrasse, pipefish, etc....).
that's the bare minimum in my opinion required for a decent chance at reasonable success. the larger the tank, the more rock, the more sand, the larger the fuge, the better your chances for success.
MondoBongo
Obligate Feeder Obsessed
here is my standard list of good threads to get you started learning about dragonets:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2374330
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2367532
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2363996
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2113800&highlight=feeding+station
keep in mind that feeding stations and other types of feeding will not replace the need for a robust pod population. any additional feedings from the keeper are best considered supplemental.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2374330
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2367532
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2363996
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2113800&highlight=feeding+station
keep in mind that feeding stations and other types of feeding will not replace the need for a robust pod population. any additional feedings from the keeper are best considered supplemental.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
+1 getting one to eat prepared foods in invaluable
drauka99
Member
One of my happiest days was seeing my mandarin go right into the shot glass I had on the sand bed for his feeding station and tear up a cube of mysis. I also did a little dance recently when I saw my ruby red pop some flake food out of the water column. As said its not a primary food source but nice for supplemental feedings.
Frontier
Duke of Valonia
I had success in my 90 and then 210 with the same one. I guess I had him about 6 years and gave him away when I left the hobby. The 90 was very well established before I even considered it. I had a ton of pods and was able to get him to take brine shrimp (live or frozen) and finally pellets.
ThRoewer
New member
I have a pair of mandarins in a 25 gallon reef tank for a year now. Sooner or later they start picking up eating frozen food like brine shrimp or Mysis, especially if your tank has live Mysis (mine is swarming with them).
But you also need to be prepared to heavily supplement pods - I have several tigger pod cultures out on the balcony.
But you also need to be prepared to heavily supplement pods - I have several tigger pod cultures out on the balcony.
Dark Waters
New member
Dark Waters
New member
MondoBongo
Obligate Feeder Obsessed
two primary ways:
1. seed them
2. wait
they tend to find their way in to setups. when a system is new they will go through some boom and bust cycles, until their population stabilizes.
then you can manage those populations by feeding your tank normally, and avoiding things that eat them like wrasse.
you can also create structures or use things like refugiums to help give them safe places to feed and breed.
this is one of the reasons that new tank owners are generally advised to wait 6 months to a year before purchasing their first dragonet. this gives your pod populations time to stabilize, but it also gives you, the keeper, time to better understand your system, get comfortable with your husbandry and care, and most importantly work through quite a few newbie mistakes. the first year is generally the most difficult time in regards to making some major bone-headed mistakes. happens to all of us.
SNAKEMANVET
PREMIUM MEMBER
I have had my pair for almost 2 years now.They are both eating frozen and flake food now.Took them about 6 months to start eating other foods.My tank was setup for about 2 years before adding them,so my pod population was big enough for both of them.
