Mandarin Dragonet and Copepods

Stelioshah · Apr 24, 2019

Hello, i have been having a mandarin dragonet in my tank for the past 8-10 months. I have been buying live copepods for my tank every other month. Is this necessary? Is a single mandarin fish able to eat 3 bags of copepods within 2 months? My tank is fairly old (about 6 years old) so i geuss that copepods are supposedly going to reproduce. Is the mandarin fish nevertheless able to eat them all at once so that it starves to death if i stop adding copepods in my system?(I do also have 2 anthias, 1 mccosker's wrasse, 1 purple firefish 1zebra damselfish and 1 rainford goby).

chowwil · Apr 24, 2019

What size is you tank. The tank might be to small or not enough live rock cause the rainford goby feeds on pods too.

Alexreefer · Apr 24, 2019

If your tank is over 6 years old I believe it has a large population of pods as not all pods are eaten right away. I think you should be good but quick questions first.
At night can shine a light inside the tank and if you have a good population you will see them crawling and swimming everywhere. Also, do you have a refugium and if so is it seeded as well? Lastly, how is your mandarin looking? If he ever gets a little skinny then you can always hatch some brine shrimp in a day or 2 for him.

Stelioshah · Apr 24, 2019

chowwil said:
What size is you tank. The tank might be to small or not enough live rock cause the rainford goby feeds on pods too.

my tank is about 80 gallons and i also have lots of rock.

Stelioshah · Apr 24, 2019

Alexreefer said:
If your tank is over 6 years old I believe it has a large population of pods as not all pods are eaten right away. I think you should be good but quick questions first.
At night can shine a light inside the tank and if you have a good population you will see them crawling and swimming everywhere. Also, do you have a refugium and if so is it seeded as well? Lastly, how is your mandarin looking? If he ever gets a little skinny then you can always hatch some brine shrimp in a day or 2 for him.

whenever i "refill" my tank with copepods for the next month i can definitely see some with a flashlight. But past this period its pretty hard to find any. Thats why i am worried about this.

Alexreefer · Apr 24, 2019

If you have enough time( like 10 min a day) you can hatch some brine shrimp and help him stay happy with those. I also use Paul B mandarin feeder. Here is a link to some who uses it.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thanks-paulb-mandarin-feeder.263752/ or http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/
Hope you have success using this

Stelioshah · Apr 24, 2019

Forgot to mention that no, i do not have a refugium which is another reason to be afraid that all copepods can be eaten.

chowwil · Apr 24, 2019

You should be fine. I have 3 ruby red dragonet in a 75gal with lots of live rock and are doing just fine. It's been a year now and I only refilled once.

Hermie · Apr 24, 2019

here's a video from one of the users here where he talks about how many copepods a mandarin eats in a day and tips on keeping them well fed:

Leslie Tabor · Apr 24, 2019

Your tank is definitely established enough for 1 mandarin. With as long as you have been adding pods, you should have plenty in your rocks. Just keep a CLOSE eye on your fish for signs of weight loss.

Jesterrace · Apr 25, 2019

Mandarins are one of the easiest fish to tell if it's being underfed as they develop a pinched look behind their heads and a dent in their bellies. If it doesn't have those then it's doing well.