This Sycorax Dragonet give my Mandarin Dragonet a run for his money.
The dragonet debate
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Bruce Burnett
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I would say any of them as long as you have a good pod population and regularly add more.
One reef tank s not the same as another reef tank. If there is enough food then it can support a Mandarin. Usually not in a 20 gal, but a normal 50 gal tank should support a dragonet if you don't put certain wrasses and dwarf angels in it.
C4ctus99
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50 gallon with a 48”x18” footprint, so lots of sandbed to cover and plenty of liverock. The 50g tank comes in a couple months, 20 gallon currently has a crap ton of liverock. Poseidons kitchen is also local to me so I can get pods regularly
Koty
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My Mandarin "lives of. the land" as my tank swarms with Cpods and Apods. I have a young tiger wrasse that eats from the rocks all day—I just got this one yesterday. It landed on the sand and immediately started eating. There seem to be so many pods that they come to him as he keeps eating from a 10 x 10 cm area on the sand. That also explains how my watchman Gobby quadrupled his size filtering sand in less than six months. IMO, a refuge is recommended with these guys.
FreshwaterConvert
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I’m living for everyone’s gorgeous dragonets! Definitely have some serious fomo, can’t wait to have one some day! My tank now isn’t ready for one at least. But my next tank in a few years will be built around one.
I’ve heard so many different answers to this over the years, but what is a reasonable sized tank for one, assuming that the aquarist can supplement feed multiple times a day? Along with a healthy pod population. I’ve heard people say 70 gallons is the minimum all the way down to 10 gallons, and I’ve heard plenty of people say lately that their captive bred mandarins eat anything they throw in the tank (even some claims of flake food). Also, would a green vs a target mandarin make much difference? I assume no but wondering from other peoples experience
I’ve heard so many different answers to this over the years, but what is a reasonable sized tank for one, assuming that the aquarist can supplement feed multiple times a day? Along with a healthy pod population. I’ve heard people say 70 gallons is the minimum all the way down to 10 gallons, and I’ve heard plenty of people say lately that their captive bred mandarins eat anything they throw in the tank (even some claims of flake food). Also, would a green vs a target mandarin make much difference? I assume no but wondering from other peoples experience
blaxsun
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I apologize for the crappy image, but seeing either of my mandarins (let alone both together) is a rare occasion - and they're usually more active at night (so this was a quick iPhone shot). Below the talbot damsel you can see the male and his new mate hunting a copepod vein in the rocks.
fishnchips17
Community Member
Unfortunately, you're going to get alot of answers about minimum tank size for mandarins just because every tank system is different. Having a refugium really helps with providing pods for these fish. Anecdotally, I have a 50 gal tank with refugium and I have no problems keeping a Mandarin without supplemental feeding.
FreshwaterConvert
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Yeah, I think for feeding I would supplement pods probably monthly, and hatch out baby brine shrimp and feed a lot of frozen foods throughout the day, along with having a place to feed him pellets as well.
