Mandarin dragonets

[ajwalker261985]

Hi guys,



Just bought 2 mandarins and was told frozen would be ok for them as that's what they were feeding in my lfs but the other fish get to it before it can sink down to them I think? Anyone got any advice?



Also if anyone's got any advice on love Copepods,how much to use per feed,how to keep them live etc that would be great.

 

[NanaReefer]

www.livecopepods.com

Everything you'll ever need to know about Copepods.
Mandarins CANNOT live on prepared foods alone!

 

[Eienna]

Ouch.
Don't ever buy a fish without properly researching them first. It's not easy, I know, but relying on the store's word is asking for trouble.

That said, tisbe biminiensis pods are best (and can be found on the drsfostersmith.com website). Tigriopus will do in a pinch, but they are much harder for dragonets to catch because they don't run around on surfaces the way tisbe do.

As for frozens, they usually take to Nutramar Ova pretty naturally. Once they are big enough you may get them to take mysis shrimp. Avoid brine shrimp; there's not nearly enough nutrition for the bulk in those. Oddly enough, my mandarin liked New Life Spectrum Small Fish pellets, but I don't know how common that is. I have also heard of them going after Reef Frenzy, but not having tried the stuff myself I couldn't say how much of it is dragonet-sized chunks.

 

[evan.lundberg4]

+1 try Nutramar Ova. My scooter dragonet took to them immediately.

 

[ajwalker261985]

I had researched them and I read that they are picky eaters but as I said the owner of my lfs had been feeding them frozen with no trouble,just I think because I have a few aggressive eaters on my tank.

Ok thanks I'll give it a try.

 

[Eienna]

You said they said you could feed them frozen, not that they were already taking it. Glad to hear that they are. Feed often - and if you can get them to target-feed, so much the better, because they don't compete with other fish worth beans.

 

[dodgerblew]

In an active tank dragonets need an abundant natural food source of pods for survival or they will slowly wither away. If you notice, all day long they are just cruising rocks, stopping, looking down cruising some more. That is how they feed....on pods. If you don't have a healthy pod population you will need to make one, even more important bc you bought two. You can target feed but they are such slow feeders more often then not the other critters will steal the food before the mandarins get it. And reef frenzy is great for mandarins but they have small mouths so reef frenzy nano would be better.

Btw, did the LFS sell you a pair? Two males will fight.

 

[ajwalker261985]

Yeah they sold me a pair and they're fine together. ok so I'll look into love Copepods and nutrama ova,thanks guys.

 

[evan.lundberg4]

Yeah they sold me a pair and they're fine together. ok so I'll look into love Copepods and nutrama ova,thanks guys.

The Nutramar Ova is good too because it's so small the dragonets can easily eat it and for the most part other larger fish don't bother with it. You'll prob have to turn off your pumps when you feed and leave them off for a bit because it will just get blown all over.

Also I know a lot of people have had issues buying from them but I have had good experience getting live copepods and amphipods from reefs2go. They usually run a half off deal once a month on them. Just an idea.

 

[ajwalker261985]

Ok that's cool,yeah I had my tank for about a year so I I know how to feed bit not a lot of experience with love foods,does it matter how many Copepods you add in one time?

 

[NC2WA]

+1 to Ova..good stuff..

most people that keep mandarins have a refugium on their tank to provide a constant source of pods...you will be amazed how quickly the pods will be eaten by the mandarin...personally, I don't think one year is long enough for a mandarin

I would get a long turkey baster and target food at the bottom of the tank the Ova where the mandarins are..this way you ensure they are at least getting the food to them...the number one cause of death for this fish is....starvation.

 

[ajwalker261985]

Ok I'll try target feed ova and I'll also add live pods? Should that do the trick?

 

[tektite]

How big of a tank do you have?

Remember especially when you must provide them with their food, mandarins don't have stomachs and mush be fed multiple times a day. Just a couple times will not be enough if your tank doesn't have a sustainable copepod population.

 

[ajwalker261985]

Yeah well iv been researching and iv ordered some live Copepods,also I will be target feeding prawn roe but to help keep my copepod population strong after iv added them should I dose phytoplankton too?

Iv read a couple of capfuls a week?

Your thoughts?

 

[ajwalker261985]

My tank is 40g

 

[gtbarsi]

Phyto will really help them grow and multiply but you need a safe place for them to do the breading. Do you have a fuge, if so how big is it? I am really concerned as 40g is not much space so support the pods for 2 mandarins. If you do not have one you need to set one up asap, the larger the better. You can set it up off of your sump in a separate tank if you do not have room in your sump.

 

[ajwalker261985]

Don't have a fuge or a sump.if need be I'll just keep dosing pods but can I not dose the phytoplankton straight into the tank with the pods?

 

[NC2WA]

Careful with phytoplankton as i agree it will help feed the pods but also will increase algae

 

[ajwalker261985]

It's ok iv found a way around all my problems,I'll set up a copepod tank separate and hatch them myself.

 

[tektite]

40G is very small for 1 mandarin, let alone 2. An adult mandarin can eat thousands of pods in one day. Most pod bottles you get have a few hundred if that, that's a couple hours of snacking for a pair of mandarins. Unless you feed them several times a day, and they eat a lot of frozen, the pair will not survive for long. Either way, frozen or pods/phyto, be prepared for high nutrient levels and corresponding algae problems. I'm experienced with mandarins, had a big pair that mated every night, but even with my experience I would never attempt a pair of mandarins in a tank as small as a 40G.