Wanting a Dragonet

[SWaquariast]

I'm wanting a dragonet for my 20g aquarium and have 30lbs of live rock but I know thats not enough copepod supply in the live rock. So I was wanting to know if there is a online store that sells them for cheap.

Also I want to know how to keep these ordered copepods alive,multiplying,and healthy after shipping.

 

[SWaquariast]

I'm wanting a dragonet for my 20g aquarium and I have 30lbs of live rock but I know thats not enough copepod supply in the live rock that i have.

 

[snorvich]

Buying copepods is expensive. Your size tank is really not suited to mandarins. Sorry.

 

[rjsilvers]

There's no way you'd be able to keep it alive in a tank that size without spending hundreds of dollars on pods that you could otherwise use to just buy a bigger tank to begin with.

 

[cardiffgiant]

I've seen people get away with keeping one in a smaller display when they have an established refugium. However, this is still a challenging scenario for long term success.

 

[zacharytrimble]

Some mandarins can be trained to eat frozen preparations of brine shrimp, etc....but the question is...how do you know the one you buy will....but I see the only hope as being (a) a friend who has one acclimated to frozen foods who wants to get rid of his mandarin or (b)....you could get a refugium...wait till there's a good pod supply in it...and harvest pods out of your fuge for a baby mandarin to eat them....these two things are very tough to do....but imo are possibilities.

 

[rjsilvers]

Or you guys could stop recommending solutions for him to get a fish that surely is going to die in a very short amount of time in a tank that small.

Even if he had a refugium (which he doesn't) he would still need to be supplementing phyto to try and keep the pod population up because the mandarin is going to be feeding on them -all the time-.

 

[harryk]

i would say a minimum tank for a mandarin would be a 75g and that is pushing it. They constantly are eating and searching for food. unless you have a fairly large tank with a fuge you'd just be killing the mandarin slowly.

Harry

 

[useskaforevil]

you would probably end up spending minimum $60 a month feeding that fish in a 20 gallon. even if they do end up eating frozen they still needs tons of pods.

trust me i know from experience. bad lfs advice.

 

[tkeracer619]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12539661#post12539661 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Buying copepods is expensive. Your size tank is really not suited to mandarins. Sorry.

I agree 100%

 

[wiscsaltwater]

i would say a minimum tank for a mandarin would be a 75g and that is pushing it.

Nah, ive seen multiple mandarins in smaller tanks my LFS has one in a 29g nano display for well over 2 years and hes happy as a clam. Being a LFS im sure they have the resources to add pods to the tank periodically if needed. Mandarins arent a fish like a tang that needs to swim. Ive plenty of them in small tanks, however, like alot of the posters said keeping a pod population to sustain one in a small tank is the problem, if you had a 20g DT with lots of live rock and say a 20g fuge with lots of cheato you would probably be able to sustain enough to feed a mandarin.

Dont, however, count on them eating mysis or prepared foods, the ones that do are few and far between.

 

[useskaforevil]

since you don't have any experience and you're just going off what you've seen without any knowledge of the feeding routines i would probably not post next time.

 

[psteeleb]

I have a fat and happy one in a 29g without a sump> when I got her she was very skinny, but has plumped up nicely.

She will eat frozen blood worms (loves them and looks for them when I feed), but I'll only give her some about once a month more as a treat. She's doing great on pods in the tank. But I do agree that an established tank with a good pod population is a requirement. And I will agree the larger the tank the better chances of having a good pod population.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Go ahead...

Go ahead...

OK, as is typical on RC, there are always those who give anecdotal advice that goes against conventional wisdom and the experts' studies...(there are countless studies available online if you google mandarinfish)

I am suggesting that the OP not put a mandarin dragonette in his nano tank. But if SWAquarist chooses to believe the opposing opinions... go ahead and buy one and watch it slowly starve...

Whatever you decide to do, please come back to this thread and let everyone know what happened...to the fish...

That's only fair, isn't it?

JMHO

LL

 

[psteeleb]

There is a lot of reports that indicate a larger established tanks are beneficial in keeping Mandarins but I doubt the tank size maters as much as having a pod population. A mandarin can starve in a large tank just as well as in a small tank. My case is fact, not an observation or random investigation (e.g. anecdotal). Another factual case is Melev's 29g, but again a well established tank with a good pod population. I recommend a larger tank for the pod population and I'm sure Marc would also but to say that these two real life cases (and I'm sure others) are anecdotal is a stretch.

I consider this forum as a source of information for the SW enthusiast, I would hope advice would be based on actual experience or factual case studies. Certainly we will get a ton of opinions based on conjecture and that’s even okay as long as the reader knows it’s an opinion. I did not recommend this person should get a Mandarin, all I posted was a fact that mine is alive and doing well in a 29g. The reader can take that piece of information with others and decide for them selves.

Again everyone’s opinions are welcome and if you have personal experience (good or bad) it should also be welcome (without being slammed just because you don’t agree with it).

 

[Lightsluvr]

Didn't mean to slam...

Didn't mean to slam...

I did not intend to slam anyone, but considering the OP's experience level, I think that giving him a glimmer of hope that a mandarin will survive in his nano tank is just wrong. As I stated, JMHO.

Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one...

I also suggested that he go ahead and buy a mandarin and then report back on how he does.

Everybody loves success stories...


LL

P.S. - I just noticed that OP came back almost immediately with a second post acknowledging that 30# of LR wasn't sufficient to sustain a mandarin... looks like he already did the research...that's probably why he hasn't returned to this thread... and we are beating our gums for naught...

 

[Kryptikhan]

I waited almost half a year to plop my mandarin in. Pod popultion w/ fuge was immense. I actually think I could have put her in sooner, but I just wanted to ensure she was fat n happy. Been doing fine I think for about two months now I'd have to check my log.

I also only have 4 other fish (juvies for the most part) in my tank, so in the end there is not that much competition for live pods. Well, I'd at least tend to think so. Who knows what happens in there when they are all pickn around th rocks

 

[rjsilvers]

Re: Didn't mean to slam...

Re: Didn't mean to slam...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12543803#post12543803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lightsluvr

I also suggested that he go ahead and buy a mandarin and then report back on how he does.

How do you feel about a black banded cat shark for my 30g?

You think it will really grow too big? What if I don't feed it very often?

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12543437#post12543437 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by useskaforevil
since you don't have any experience and you're just going off what you've seen without any knowledge of the feeding routines i would probably not post next time.

I had one for a couple years in a 30 cube. No fuge.


Why don't you listen to people's experiences, rather than making nasty little comments about anyone who doesn't agree with you.

 

[shred5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12543632#post12543632 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psteeleb
There is a lot of reports that indicate a larger established tanks are beneficial in keeping Mandarins but I doubt the tank size maters as much as having a pod population.

That is true... pod population can be slim in a large tank too. Allot also has to do with the other fish in the tank. They eat pods to... My clown’s fish pick them off the glass.

One alternative is you can raise Copepods. I have done it but it is a pain. Also they will eat pretty often small enriched live brine shrimp (just after the time they reach adult stage) . I have had very good luck with them. But unless you are willing to put in the time and raise alternate food forget about it in a small tank...

Dave