Mandarin Dragonette advice please! :)

[BuddyBonButt]

To all of you reefers who have mandarin dragonettes I have a few questions for you. I want to start off with my tank and it is an 8 month old 90 gallon tank with a good amount of livestock now.

2 clownfish
1 foxface
Neon goby
Yellow watchman goby
Pistol shrimp
Sand sifting star
2 conch
1 tux urchin
4 cleaner shrimp
Feather Duster
Idk like 30 grazing snails
And 20 banished hermit crabs in the sump

I DO NOT have a refugium so no breeding grounds for pods

I currently have a mandarin Dragonette in quarantine, now before you get to concerned I do have six 10 gallon tanks full of each type of pod. Apocyclops, tisbe, Tigriopus that i culture and sell. I also make 15 gallons of phytoplankton each week, Nannochloropsis, tetraselmis, and isochrysis.

Like most Mandarin dragonettes, it came into the shop with a sunken belly. He's currently set up in a quarantine and I've dosed about 36 Oz maybe 40 of copepods. More specifically apocyclops. He's been in there for about a day and a half and it's still pretty shy. Although he won't run from my hand which is surprising. I haven't really been seeing him eat but he just started pecking at the glass right before I started writing this post. I was wondering if you have any advice to keeping these Fish happy. I have a few questions as well.

* How often do you see yours eating?
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land?
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish?
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other?
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish?
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much?

 

[GHOSTLY]

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* How often do you see yours eating?
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land?
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish?
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other?
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish?
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much?

So mine ate pellets but I can answer some of these
1) all day he's picking at the rocks but will swim into the column go eat too
2)nothing bothers him and he doesn't bother anyone. They do their own thing
3) mine loves tigger pods. I bred them underneath and would dose them weekly but I also had a fuge. It was in an evo tank temporarily till I moved it to a 150
4) i made sure that the pods were everywhere but you can put some in the fuge and some in the display at night
5) i was dosing weekly in my 13g but I also fed tigger feast, phyto, and pellets

 

[BuddyBonButt]

So mine ate pellets but I can answer some of these
1) all day he's picking at the rocks but will swim into the column go eat too
2)nothing bothers him and he doesn't bother anyone. They do their own thing
3) mine loves tigger pods. I bred them underneath and would dose them weekly but I also had a fuge. It was in an evo tank temporarily till I moved it to a 150
4) i made sure that the pods were everywhere but you can put some in the fuge and some in the display at night
5) i was dosing weekly in my 13g but I also fed tigger feast, phyto, and pellets

What did you do to get in the pellets? Was he tank bread? I'm pretty sure mine came from the ocean because he's fully grown and has a sunken belly and he was there for a while. I got into the hobby because I saw one of these fish and decided I had to have one. I didn't think I was quite ready but when I saw him suffering at the shop I kind of just broke and picked him up. Didn't want to see him die so I know I can sustain his diet it's just I need to know how to do it better

 

[Koh23]

Probably not helpfull, but...

I really dont see him eating. But i see him crusing rock, sand, glass, pecking constantly..... Since he is in tank for months, i guess that he eats....

I dose live phyto daily, have fuge with rock, rubble and chaeto.....

As far as other fish goes, newer saw any conflict, he dont touch anyone, anyone dont touch him, peacefull living

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Probably not helpfull, but...

I really dont see him eating. But i see him crusing rock, sand, glass, pecking constantly..... Since he is in tank for months, i guess that he eats....

I dose live phyto daily, have fuge with rock, rubble and chaeto.....

As far as other fish goes, newer saw any conflict, he dont touch anyone, anyone dont touch him, peacefull living

That actually does help, if you're not easily seeing him eat then that gives me hope that my guy will do fine. I do see him starting to peck. Have you by any chance seen your fish leave the sand bed just a little bit to catch floating pods? I'm trying to figure out if I should cut off flow when I dose so they can make it to the bottom but if you're dosing directly to the fuge then they are definitely being thrown around. I don't really have any other fish who specifically go after pods so theoretically I should be good I guess

 

[ASIN28]

I have had my mandarin in my 120 for almost 2 years now. My mandarin is constantly hunting around my rockwork for pods. If you really watch him I’ll see him peck at the rocks as he goes along. I have a refugium which is loaded with pods of all sorts, however once a month at night with the lights and pumps off I add a bottle of tigger pods to the sump and display, give it 15 minutes so they can settle in and then turn the pumps back on. Mandarin seems fat and happy so I guess it’s working. If you can get him to eat frozen that’s a huge plus, but if not just make sure your tank is stocked with pods that’s all

 

[Mschmidt]

No specific advice, I do see mine more active during feeding time even though I do not target feed him. I've had him for 8 mo. or so and although I cannot confirm this, I suspect he eats fallen frozen food too.

to your direct questions:
* How often do you see yours eating? He grazes every time I look in the tank.
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land? Mostly I see him pick at rocks and sand. sometimes the glass.
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish? he mostly ignores my falco hawkfish and the falco ignores him.
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other? nope, but I have only ever dosed mixes
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish? when I add pods it's as if I were seeding the tank; into the filter outlet so they get sprayed around and after dark.
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much? twice since getting the dragonette.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I have had my mandarin in my 120 for almost 2 years now. My mandarin is constantly hunting around my rockwork for pods. If you really watch him I’ll see him peck at the rocks as he goes along. I have a refugium which is loaded with pods of all sorts, however once a month at night with the lights and pumps off I add a bottle of tigger pods to the sump and display, give it 15 minutes so they can settle in and then turn the pumps back on. Mandarin seems fat and happy so I guess it’s working. If you can get him to eat frozen that’s a huge plus, but if not just make sure your tank is stocked with pods that’s all

Ok, I already dose 8oz every week to my DT. That's a little over 5k to 6k pods. That's what I sell it at so I always have a bottle near by to pop open and pour in. He's really sunken in so I'm going to give him 3 to 4 days of close to no contact with me to get him out. If he doesn't start eating like everyone is mentioning how theirs does then I'll try frozen and pellets. But time will tell. Thank you!!

 

[Kasrift]

To all of you reefers who have mandarin dragonettes I have a few questions for you. I want to start off with my tank and it is an 8 month old 90 gallon tank with a good amount of livestock now.

2 clownfish
1 foxface
Neon goby
Yellow watchman goby
Pistol shrimp
Sand sifting star
2 conch
1 tux urchin
4 cleaner shrimp
Feather Duster
Idk like 30 grazing snails
And 20 banished hermit crabs in the sump

I DO NOT have a refugium so no breeding grounds for pods

I currently have a mandarin Dragonette in quarantine, now before you get to concerned I do have six 10 gallon tanks full of each type of pod. Apocyclops, tisbe, Tigriopus that i culture and sell. I also make 15 gallons of phytoplankton each week, Nannochloropsis, tetraselmis, and isochrysis.

Like most Mandarin dragonettes, it came into the shop with a sunken belly. He's currently set up in a quarantine and I've dosed about 36 Oz maybe 40 of copepods. More specifically apocyclops. He's been in there for about a day and a half and it's still pretty shy. Although he won't run from my hand which is surprising. I haven't really been seeing him eat but he just started pecking at the glass right before I started writing this post. I was wondering if you have any advice to keeping these Fish happy. I have a few questions as well.

* How often do you see yours eating?
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land?
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish?
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other?
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish?
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much?

I've had my mandarin since March and she couldn't be fatter if she tried. I got her at the LFS and she was wild and really skinny, I was hoping to save the fish. Dream fish for me, so I bought the Poseidon Reef system to grow phyto and raise copepods before I got the fish. I have a 32 gallon fluval flex, so probably on the small side, however I did my research and understand the limitations, hence why I culture copepods and feed brine shrimp every other day. I'm probably going to get a few more containers and grow other pods as well. I don't have a refugium, looking into maybe doing a HOB overflow and a 10 gallon "sump"/refugium, but I haven't needed it yet. Here are the answers to your questions:

* How often do you see yours eating? All the time.
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land? They have to land. I supplement with baby brine shrimp which I restart every couple of days. I probably don't have to, but I feed live to the corals that will grab it as well. The brine shrimp really have to be close to the wall or a surface since the mandarin won't grab it in the middle of the water column.
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish? Ignores them completely and receives the same response back. She will sit on top of the blenny, who is the biggest bully in my tank.
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other? I only dose Tig pods. I only do it bi weekly since they don't grow the fastest like apoc pods. Otherwise, I have a ton of amphipods and as I mentioned, I'll spot feed baby brine shrimp every two days.
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish? Pippette in the area near the fish. If I'm dumping pods in, I just dump them in at lights out, turn off flow for 20 mins, and assume they will scatter and either continue their lifecyle or be eaten the next day.
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much? No idea how many, just 500ml of water from the Poseidon Reef 3.5L jar every two weeks. Whatever falls out, falls out. Once a month I dump more in since that is when I'll reset the whole bag and water and start with a smaller amount of pods that are left. I dose about 30ml or so phyto daily.

 

[Koh23]

Well, i rarely see him on open space, maybe when he goes from one end to another, but, where is rock, frag, pump, cleaning magnet - there he is.

Sadly i dont have acces to various pods to dose, so, all i have is what came from and on frags, but, he seems to manage it, he is alive, dont notice sunken belly, so i figure he is ok.....

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I've had my mandarin since March and she couldn't be fatter if she tried. I got her at the LFS and she was wild and really skinny, I was hoping to save the fish. Dream fish for me, so I bought the Poseidon Reef system to grow phyto and raise copepods before I got the fish. I have a 32 gallon fluval flex, so probably on the small side, however I did my research and understand the limitations, hence why I culture copepods and feed brine shrimp every other day. I'm probably going to get a few more containers and grow other pods as well. I don't have a refugium, looking into maybe doing a HOB overflow and a 10 gallon "sump"/refugium, but I haven't needed it yet. Here are the answers to your questions:

* How often do you see yours eating? All the time.
* Can they eat free floating pods? Or do they have to land? They have to land. I supplement with baby brine shrimp which I restart every couple of days. I probably don't have to, but I feed live to the corals that will grab it as well. The brine shrimp really have to be close to the wall or a surface since the mandarin won't grab it in the middle of the water column.
* How have you seen the mandarin respond to territorial fish? Ignores them completely and receives the same response back. She will sit on top of the blenny, who is the biggest bully in my tank.
* have you found that your fish likes more of a certain pod that the other? I only dose Tig pods. I only do it bi weekly since they don't grow the fastest like apoc pods. Otherwise, I have a ton of amphipods and as I mentioned, I'll spot feed baby brine shrimp every two days.
* how do you feed? Directly to DT? To the sump? Pipette right to the fish? Pippette in the area near the fish. If I'm dumping pods in, I just dump them in at lights out, turn off flow for 20 mins, and assume they will scatter and either continue their lifecyle or be eaten the next day.
* if you are dosing pods how often and how much? No idea how many, just 500ml of water from the Poseidon Reef 3.5L jar every two weeks. Whatever falls out, falls out. Once a month I dump more in since that is when I'll reset the whole bag and water and start with a smaller amount of pods that are left. I dose about 30ml or so phyto daily.

Thanks. But if you are interested in starting a larger pod culture, you really don't need a hob filter. It'll cause too much suction and trap out the pods in the filter. A Sponge Filter Works well too but I just use a simple rigid Airline tube with very slow bubbles coming out. I do a large water change once a month and I feed it one banana peel until it turns completely black, spirulina powder, crushed up meaty shrimp flakes, and Tetraselmis Phytoplankton. That allows me to harvest around 6,000 apo pods every other day

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Well, i rarely see him on open space, maybe when he goes from one end to another, but, where is rock, frag, pump, cleaning magnet - there he is.

Sadly i dont have acces to various pods to dose, so, all i have is what came from and on frags, but, he seems to manage it, he is alive, dont notice sunken belly, so i figure he is ok.....

Good to know. I'm feeling confident but I'm concerned at the same time. Theoretically he should have plenty of food but if I can't see them I feel like he can't either. I can see them on the glass at the top of the tank but I have a hard time seeing them on rocks even though I know I'm dosing thousands a week

 

[Mschmidt]

Good to know. I'm feeling confident but I'm concerned at the same time. Theoretically he should have plenty of food but if I can't see them I feel like he can't either. I can see them on the glass at the top of the tank but I have a hard time seeing them on rocks even though I know I'm dosing thousands a week

Imo, if he's hovering and pecking around and chunky, hea eating well.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Imo, if he's hovering and pecking around and chunky, hea eating well.

Mine isn't doing that yet, I guess he just needs time to get relaxed. I just hope he starts eating soon though because of the sunken belly

 

[Mschmidt]

What's your qt tank look like?

 

[BuddyBonButt]

What's your qt tank look like?

Only photo I've got of it. It's pretty basic

 

[Mschmidt]

Can you throw in a hide? Small PVC tube or sideways Terra Cotta pot? Just checked the first post and if it's been 2 days, he's probably still adjusting. Kill the lights for a bit and hee should braven up.

If mine eats at a constant pace, it's about 1 pod every 2 seconds. If you keep the tank stocked with pods he'll figure it out.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Can you throw in a hide? Small PVC tube or sideways Terra Cotta pot? Just checked the first post and if it's been 2 days, he's probably still adjusting. Kill the lights for a bit and hee should braven up.

If mine eats at a constant pace, it's about 1 pod every 2 seconds. If you keep the tank stocked with pods he'll figure it out.

There is a 6-in Maxima clam half shell and he can go under the Main rock. He goes in both regularly.

 

[829282610]

They are piggies and can eat around 1,000 pods a day. Other creatures eat pods too and the population can ebb and flow. They can decimate a pod population fast. If it has a sunken belly it’s already in very poor health. I’d move it to a small quarantine or internal DT box and start feeding it frozen enriched foods such as bloodworm, mysis or brine. I would also culture pods since it is there more natural food source. I’ve never been able to get mine to eat pellets. Even an ORA captive bred I had never ate pellets. Although I’d still try. Selcon should be added to any of the prepared foods.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

They are piggies and can eat around 1,000 pods a day. Other creatures eat pods too and the population can ebb and flow. They can decimate a pod population fast. If it has a sunken belly it’s already in very poor health. I’d move it to a small quarantine or internal DT box and start feeding it frozen enriched foods such as bloodworm, mysis or brine. I would also culture pods since it is there more natural food source. I’ve never been able to get mine to eat pellets. Even an ORA captive bred I had never ate pellets. Although I’d still try. Selcon should be added to any of the prepared foods.

I culture six 10 gallon tanks of pods. I'll have plenty of food for him but I will try mysis now that you said that