Captive Bred Madarin Goby (dragonet)

[RaymondL]

I know these fish are challenging when it comes to their diet, but recently my LFS started carrying captive bred ones - I prefer all my fish captive versus wild. Anyhow, they said that they've been fed dry food/pellets, and said that it's optional to feed them anything else. I'm curious if anyone here have any experience with such fish that are captive bred and what did you find in terms of their dietary needs.

I'm a bit skeptical that they would only need dry food versus ie. copepods, etc.

 

[KrisReef]

Optimal is live food for dietary considerations, but pellets and captive bred are a modification of behaviour that suits the hobby well. I think it is obvious that a live food diet that mimics wild dinner plate conditions is superior to Cheerios as a staple, but it may be possible to survive on dried oats for a lifetime. HTH.

 

[PotatoPig]

I recently (7 weeks ago) got a captive bred direct from Biota. They come raised entirely on prepared foods and Biota sells the foods they’re raised with, so should be a good bet.

That said… my tank was kinda built around this fish and ensuring a pod supply so the entire thing is chock full of pods she’s been chomping down. As far as I can tell she’s never even sniffed at any of the food I ordered at the same time. The other fish seem to like it though.

An advantage of buying direct from Biota, should you go this route, is your fish is coming from a facility that *should* be free of diseases and you’re putting it through one tank relocation rather than two+ if you get one from the LFS.

 

[DaveyB]

My LFS in California had Green Mandarins that were wild caught and they got them to eat frozen blood worms before selling them.
I bought one and it was the easiest fish to care for. Never had an issue.

 

[RaymondL]

I recently (7 weeks ago) got a captive bred direct from Biota. They come raised entirely on prepared foods and Biota sells the foods they’re raised with, so should be a good bet.

That said… my tank was kinda built around this fish and ensuring a pod supply so the entire thing is chock full of pods she’s been chomping down. As far as I can tell she’s never even sniffed at any of the food I ordered at the same time. The other fish seem to like it though.

An advantage of buying direct from Biota, should you go this route, is your fish is coming from a facility that *should* be free of diseases and you’re putting it through one tank relocation rather than two+ if you get one from the LFS.

Thanks - looks like Biota is out of stock of the mandarins. When you got yours 7 weeks ago, it went straight to the pods and didn't even consider the dry prepared food that it was suppose to be accustomed to?

Pods: if I'm going to get one, I'll likely get pods as well, but not knowing anything about and what kinds to get, or how to harvest them, would welcome any help with regards. Thanks

 

[Rugops]

It isn't unheard of that they might not consider commercial foods when introduced into a new environment even if they had eaten before. This is common in finicky fishes like CBBs and certain angelfish. They can be very hard to keep.

 

[PotatoPig]

Thanks - looks like Biota is out of stock of the mandarins. When you got yours 7 weeks ago, it went straight to the pods and didn't even consider the dry prepared food that it was suppose to be accustomed to?

Pods: if I'm going to get one, I'll likely get pods as well, but not knowing anything about and what kinds to get, or how to harvest them, would welcome any help with regards. Thanks

Going straight for it’s natural diet is understandable. That wasn’t meant as a criticism of Biota, more if I’d have known I’d have gotten another fish instead of food…

If you’re going for pods (you should, there’s literally only upsides of having them) then either random pod species that hitchhike in on live rock/inverts/etc or go with Tisbe pods.

Tigger pods are a popular one to culture, partly because you can really easily see them, but they’re free swimmers and big enough to be of interest to virtually all planktivores, so they get wiped out very very quickly. I culture them for direct feed, I’ve added them every day for weeks and if I skip a few days they’re all gone. They’re also not great for mandarins as the mandarins mostly hunt on rocks while Tigger pods mostly hang out in the water.

Tisbe pods are too small to interest most other fish, and hang out on rocks where the mandarin hunts, and do well in tanks - add some to the tank well in advance of the mandarin and they’ll quickly populate, especially if you have a sump with reduce space - even just a pile of rocks in there as a breeding ground.

 

[jrill]

My biota mandarin eats mostly pellets. I occasionally drop in prepared pods but he still goes for the pellets comong to the surface when the feeder comes on.

 

[Biota_Marine]

Thanks - looks like Biota is out of stock of the mandarins. When you got yours 7 weeks ago, it went straight to the pods and didn't even consider the dry prepared food that it was suppose to be accustomed to?

Pods: if I'm going to get one, I'll likely get pods as well, but not knowing anything about and what kinds to get, or how to harvest them, would welcome any help with regards. Thanks

I have another batch of mandarins ready after this weekend. Many of our customers say they end up going after pods initially because they're so abundant but once settled down they go after thier frozen feeds and pellets they're used to. In new tanks I suggest having some frozen baby brine shrimp on hand when you add them.

 

[Zionas]

Do they need a sand bed? Would you advise keeping a CB one in a a bare bottom tank?

 

[apb03]

Even with a Biota I really can't feed it prepared foods, it's always deep inside my rockwork foraging. I hope some foods reach it that is left over from feeding the fish and I squirt some in the rocks now and then. It seems to do well regardless.

 

[lazyreefer808]

My LFS in California had Green Mandarins that were wild caught and they got them to eat frozen blood worms before selling them.
I bought one and it was the easiest fish to care for. Never had an issue.

Hi. I was wondering which LFS in California? I was going to get a captive bred shipped but if the wild mandarins are eating frozen then that’s better.

 

[Biota_Marine]

Do they need a sand bed? Would you advise keeping a CB one in a a bare bottom tank?

They don't really need a sand bed we have some customers that have them in bare bottom tanks but they do need a decent amount of rockwork to cruise around and feel comfortable.

 

[Zionas]

I see. Thanks for sharing.