Green mandarin dragonet In 10 gallon tank

[Star reefer3]

Is this feasible I have a well established 10 gallon reef and was wondering if I could keep one of these beauties In this sized aqurium. Any help would be awsome

 

[James M]

IMO no but
Are you going to be dosing pods ?
Do you have a fuge setup already ?

 

[Katrina71]

+1 I wouldn't.

 

[Alexreefer]

I would not. I would do it in a 75 gal or bigger set up with pods that have been running for over a year. The mandarin will easily wipe out your pod population. If you add pods every day with phyto with will take time to start a culture.

 

[cracker]

I say no way ,unless your ready to have a constant supply of live food for this fish .

 

[dylana407]

Can get expensive adding pods all the time. It's not an expensive fish. You can try, but make sure you do your research.

 

[ScottR]

Those fish are notorious for starving themselves. If you got a good pod population, you can try to introduce mysis shrimp and see if it’ll take both. I’m sure it’ll get through the pod population quite fast. But some people have been able to introduce mysis alongside pods and eventually some dragonets will take both. At my LFS, I always see them and there’s at least one or two dead ones.

 

[Star reefer3]

Ok so pods are expensive but a store near me has trained her dragonet to only eat mysis shrimp and also I do have a refugium so do you think i could keep these non pod eating dragonets and i know she only feeds them mysis and there all very healthy

 

[Jesterrace]

Is this feasible I have a well established 10 gallon reef and was wondering if I could keep one of these beauties In this sized aqurium. Any help would be awsome

Really bad idea. There is no way on earth a 10 gallon tank, no matter how well established can support a pod population that can keep a mandarin sustained long term. If it adapts to frozen and you can feed it several times a day (ie 3-4) and it is the only fish in your tank (other fish will out compete it for food), it might work, but once again not recommended. I had one in my 36 gallon and spent a few hundred on pods, had it adapt to frozen mysis and reef frenzy and it still starved to death in 3 months. The fact remains that if you have a full time job or go to school full time you will be hard pressed to keep it from starving. They have very short digestive tracts and need to feed almost constantly during the waking hours.

 

[Star reefer3]

Really bad idea. There is no way on earth a 10 gallon tank, no matter how well established can support a pod population that can keep a mandarin sustained long term. If it adapts to frozen and you can feed it several times a day (ie 3-4) and it is the only fish in your tank (other fish will out compete it for food), it might work, but once again not recommended. I had one in my 36 gallon and spent a few hundred on pods, had it adapt to frozen mysis and reef frenzy and it still starved to death in 3 months. The fact remains that if you have a full time job or go to school full time you will be hard pressed to keep it from starving. They have very short digestive tracts and need to feed almost constantly during the waking hours.

Thanks for the info

 

[Claus84]

I agree with most of the above, very bad idea 75g min ideally

 

[ForrestGump]

I have been keeping one for a couple months in my Fluval 13.5 and so far she is doing ok, but I add some pods to the tank every week and have a small refugium with cheato and a pod colony feeding the tank. That said I wouldn't recommend it. As soon as I have a good colony of pods going in my 65gal, thats where she's going.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I got a pair that were eating mysis as well, the problem is, once they are exposed to their natural food, some wont keep eating mysis. My female has done GREAT in my 380 gal. She is actually fat. She picks at rock all day, even with my ridiculous heavy feeding, I rarely see her eat mysis, roe etc. I would not try one in less than a 120 gal with lots of rock and LOTS of pods. They literally eat ALL day. If you can't provide the most natural existence for them, IMO it is not worth it. We spend thousands of $$$$ trying to emulate reefs, but then expect certain fish to change their natural habits to suit us. It is weird to me. They are beautiful, good luck if you decide to try one, a fat happy mandy is amazing.

 

[Jesterrace]

No kidding. It saddened me the first time I saw what a fat and happy mandy was supposed to look like when I thought of my little green skinny mandarin. I can't believe how huge Mandarinfish get, they get almost as wide as they are long when they are well fed.

 

[Jesterrace]

I have been keeping one for a couple months in my Fluval 13.5 and so far she is doing ok, but I add some pods to the tank every week and have a small refugium with cheato and a pod colony feeding the tank. That said I wouldn't recommend it. As soon as I have a good colony of pods going in my 65gal, thats where she's going.

I agree, furthermore few can sustain the cost of weekly pod additions. That works out to $80-$100 per month just to feed ONE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!! Even a St.Bernard doesn't cost that much to feed per month.

 

[ForrestGump]

I agree, furthermore few can sustain the cost of weekly pod additions. That works out to $80-$100 per month just to feed ONE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!! Even a St.Bernard doesn't cost that much to feed per month.

Or you can start culturing pods to support your Mandarin!

 

[Jesterrace]

Or you can start culturing pods to support your Mandarin!

True but even in a separate pod tank might have difficulty keeping up with the demands of a mandarin in such a small tank.

 

[jd371]

Even my established 75g wasn't enough. I had plenty of rocks and a fuge and the manadarin was putting on weight after being added to the tank so I thought everything was fine. It took a year for my mandarin to slowly starve to death. When I noticed the mandarin losing weight I placed a few orders for pods but it was already too late.

 

[dylana407]

I agree, furthermore few can sustain the cost of weekly pod additions. That works out to $80-$100 per month just to feed ONE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!! Even a St.Bernard doesn't cost that much to feed per month.

I wanted a mandarin too until I saw the price of pods. How do the sellers know there are 1000 pods in th was bag anyway? Lol..

 

[Jesterrace]

I wanted a mandarin too until I saw the price of pods. How do the sellers know there are 1000 pods in th was bag anyway? Lol..

Exactly. If you have a big tank with a big sump and lots of chaeto and dose pods and let them breed for several months then it's doable as they will generally sustain one, but beyond that it's definitely a very high maintenance fish.