Supersize my Mandarin

phljess

New member
Here is a picture of my Mandarin Dragonet looking for an all you can eat buffet.

65474jsw_mandarin_001.jpg


Here is a picture after she found one.

65474jsw_mandarin_002.jpg


Reef Tank= a few thousand
Lights= a few hundred
Realy Obese Mandarin= Priceless
 
Yeah, after seeing that thing IRL, I am fairly certain is has some sort of cancer, or is some sort of mutant.
 
Hey, I did some research on this and I found a site: http://www.thekrib.com/Marine/dragonets.html, that made this comment "I had to put mine on a diet, cause a friend of mine kept joking on him for being so fat."
It also talks about buying one that is overly fat to insure that it is not already on the brink of starvation to insure its health and longevity .
 
I think the pictures speak for themselves, if a Mandarin is provided the correct environment. It will not starve to death.
 
Yep, I agree. I don't think anything is wrong with it, I think it's just a pig, lol. I want one so much, but I want it in my newer 120gal, and it has only been up for 3 months. How long do I need to wait to insure its health? I thought maybe 6 months?
 
About 6 months or so dependingon how much LR is in there. If you are starting to see pods in your tank thats a good sign but unless you have enough LR and a refugium I would wait for another 3 months to be safe.
 
Okay Ron, thats what I will do. I have about 100lb of live rock, but my tank is 120gal, so I still need more. As for pods, I used all of the rock from my old tank and they have lots of pods, and pods are also growing on the overflows. I do not use a refugium, but I would like to learn more and give it a try.
Thank you,
Nancy
 
Phil, I love ya like a brother and I agree with what you say 100%. I still think your fish is a freak. My mandarins are always fat and happy-- just not that FAT and happy. That fish has an eating disorder. Either that or she's so full of eggs that she's about to burst. Get a male for her.

If I recall correctly, you have some LED moonlights. Put a healthy male in there and run 12 hour light cycles. When the main lights go off and the moonlights kick on, watch for them do do this funny dance where they kind of quivver at the bottom of the tankk and then spiral up together toward the moonlight. When they reach the top, they release their gametes. They are open water spawners. That is why they are so tough to rear in captivity.

You may actually have a fish there who might be a good breeder if you were willing to fool around with it. Quite frankly Phil, of all the club members, you are the one with the most advanced breeding facility we have. Doing shrimp might be a waste of time. Maybe we could do some real pioneering here. Whaddaya think?
 
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