Mandarin Dragonet impulse buy -- return to store or move to nano tank?

[TX_REEF]

Doesn't a Scooter Blenny have the same diet requirements as a Mandarin?

Someone with more experience can correct me, but I believe scooter blennies tend to take to frozen and pellet food easier than wild caught mandarins.

 

[FoolishWizard]

LFS will give me 50% credit if it's alive and healthy after 72 hours in quarantine. I'm trying to rehome it and am insisting that whoever buys it can provide the proper diet. I don't want this little beauty starving to death.

Which color is it?

 

[jabberwock]

20 gallons with 2 clowns, I think you are done with stocking.

 

[bitstream]

Right on... Mesa too... Just grabbed an urchin from Aquarium Arts last week... Guys seem pretty knowledgeable and have heard they are a good place to get healthy fish.

But like others have said, the risk is probably too high with a wild caught mandarin...

Everything in my saltwater tank is from Aquarium arts, save for a single turbo snail. Everything is happy and healthy.

The only thing I had in my tank that didn't last was a cleaner shrimp I bought from Kona, but I don't blame them... it looked like a failed molt.

I bought some corals from Aquarium Arts and am really pleased with how much you get for the money. I bought two Avatar Chalices from them for $25 each... they want $60 each for the same ones at Kona. All the corals I got from Aquarium Arts were super clean, too. Absolutely no hitchhikers except a couple amphipods and a pinch of algae.

It impresses me how clean all their tanks are. Not once have I seen a lick of cyano, Dinos, hair algae, or even much green algae for that matter. Just some apitasia in a few small snail/shrimp tanks. I've been in Kona and seen huge tanks full of cyano, Dinos, and/or diatoms. Kona isn't bad, but their coral prices are obscene.

You also get surprisingly good sized coral frags for the price from LE Corals, but their tanks have some of almost everything... apitasia, cyano, bubble algae. The corals I got from there were pretty clean and healthy though. Dipping them found a couple detritus worms, a flat worm, and there was a little feather duster (I think) on my zoa frag, but nothing a little super glue couldn't cure. I also find that of all the 3 shops I mentioned, that LE Corals gives the most reliable advice, followed by AA (depends if it's an adult or a kid you're talking to), and Kona doesn't seem to offer a ton of advice -- they'll sell you almost anything and rarely ask about your tank, etc. Heck, they don't even reliably post the specs for their saltwater mixes, so you have no idea on the parameters. A couple batches I got from them were mixed at like 1.028!

 

[bitstream]

20 gallons with 2 clowns, I think you are done with stocking.

... and a Royal Gramma... and 2 snails and 2 tiny hermit crabs.

As long as I am on top of the water parameters and they are stable, it's all good. I do 10% weekly water changes which include vacuuming the sand bed, weekly testing, excess algae removal as needed, and the skimmer on this tank is way oversized for the bioload... to the point that if I leave it running 24/7, it'll zero out my phosphates and nitrates!

With the current bioload, running the skimmer mostly at night, and 10% water changes, my phosphates stay at 0.02 and my nitrates in the 10-15 range. Can drop those down further with larger water changes, but I'm basing this on the cleanliness and health of what's in the tank.

 

[bitstream]

Which color is it?

Blue/green female. The only prettier ones are the males.

 

[bitstream]

Someone with more experience can correct me, but I believe scooter blennies tend to take to frozen and pellet food easier than wild caught mandarins.

That's my understanding thus far, though I've heard you still need a reliable amount of pods... so unless I can find one that will survive and thrive on frozen, it might be a no-go. Definitely curious to see what other folks experiences are.

 

[FoolishWizard]

If you are really wanting a Mandarin, take a look at thebiotagroup.com for their captive bred ones, raised on prepared foods.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I say return unless you want to culture pods or get it to eat prepared food. It might die while you are trying to get it to eat.

It will likely die either place...

 

[DrkNMighty]

That's my understanding thus far, though I've heard you still need a reliable amount of pods... so unless I can find one that will survive and thrive on frozen, it might be a no-go. Definitely curious to see what other folks experiences are.

I have a Biota captive bred one. It has taken frozen and pellets from the day I got it. It also continuously hunts pods ALL day even with taking other food. I think no matter what you will need a decent supply of pods to have a mandarin, whether it is captive or not. It just determines how quickly it will go through the pod supply.

 

[nickng]

Best to return the wild caught one and recuperate some cash. A mandarin dragonet can live in a 20 to 30 gallon tank with peaceful inhabitants. Make sure to get one of the biota aquacultured or bred ones around the 1.5 inch size. Also start seeding the entire tank abt 2- 3 moths ahead with around 3-5 bottles of mixed types of copepods ie something like this https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/live-foods/copepods/5280-pods/ and with mix of Tigger-Pods Live Copepods (6 oz) - Reef Nutrition or Apex-Pods Live Copepods (6 oz) - Reef Nutrition or Nutramar Tigrio Live Copepods, 4 oz. It's possible to train the captive bred one to eat frozen brine. My mandarin will eat frozen brine. And by the way inject the copepods at night whenlights are out around the rock or under and turn down the return and flowpumps for about 30min to 1hourfor the pods to settle in. And intially just culture some brine shrimps and drip it into the tank via an air tubing or like one of the videos below
Here are some video with tips I found useful.

 

[exnisstech]

Blue/green female. The only prettier ones are the males.

The only difference between male and female mandarins is the dorsal fin. Females are just as colorful as males.

 

[nickng]

Here’s a picture of mine in a 32 gal biocube with 5 other fishes.

 

[jabberwock]

... and a Royal Gramma... and 2 snails and 2 tiny hermit crabs.

As long as I am on top of the water parameters and they are stable, it's all good. I do 10% weekly water changes which include vacuuming the sand bed, weekly testing, excess algae removal as needed, and the skimmer on this tank is way oversized for the bioload... to the point that if I leave it running 24/7, it'll zero out my phosphates and nitrates!

With the current bioload, running the skimmer mostly at night, and 10% water changes, my phosphates stay at 0.02 and my nitrates in the 10-15 range. Can drop those down further with larger water changes, but I'm basing this on the cleanliness and health of what's in the tank.

Not really concerned about the bioload...

Hopefully your clowns stay nice, and your hermit crabs don't grow out of their shells.

Sorry, double post.

 

[bitstream]

Not really concerned about the bioload...

Hopefully your clowns stay nice, and your hermit crabs don't grow out of their shells.

Sorry, double post.

I’m aware of hermits attacking snails. Right now the snails are WAY bigger than the hermits and I’m finding that the areas of the tank they inhabit are different. They haven’t crossed paths yet.

I did just see one hermit attacking the other, so I broke up the fight and gave them some mysis to munch on.

If worst comes to worst, I’ll rehome one or more hermits. I think the snails provide way more benefit than the hermits do, despite the snails being literal turd machines.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I’m aware of hermits attacking snails. Right now the snails are WAY bigger than the hermits and I’m finding that the areas of the tank they inhabit are different. They haven’t crossed paths yet.

I did just see one hermit attacking the other, so I broke up the fight and gave them some mysis to munch on.

If worst comes to worst, I’ll rehome one or more hermits. I think the snails provide way more benefit than the hermits do, despite the snails being literal turd machines.

It is a nano…. They all inhabit the same space

 

[bitstream]

It is a nano…. They all inhabit the same space

Well, if it want to get technical, the way they’ve divided the work is that the turbo stays on the glass, the trochus stays on the rock work, and the hermits tend to the sand bed.

I didn’t plan it that way, it’s just how Mother nature decided she wanted my tankmates to function.

Of course, I say this and who knows what tomorrow will bring!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Crabs are opportunistic omnivores. The tank is tiny, none of them have a territory. Snails will lose that battle sooner or later. No big deal, but be aware of the limited space. Your stocking list is full.

 

[Macbalacano]

I had been obsessed with getting a Mandarin for a while when I had a 50G. Even then I was concerned about being able to have a pod population big enough for it to be healthy. No way I would ever consider putting it in a nano. Unless you are willing to spend tons of money on pods or cultivate your own pods very regularly. Trying to train it to eat other foods will likely be very difficult and may be very stressful for both of you.

If I was in your shoes, I'd return it in a heartbeat. We all have hard lessons to learn, at least this one can still result in the animal being alive and some $ back in your pocket!

 

[ahosel10]

A Mandarin is doable in a nano with the right game plan. Instead of constantly adding to my pod population, I committed to culturing white worms. It’s super easy but it takes time to ramp up the operation.

I’d take the little gal back unless you’re willing to spend an arm and a leg on pods from the LFS.