Waterbox AIO 20 Gal & Mandarin Dragonet

[Kurtz]

Setup:
Waterbox AIO 20 Gal
Running for over a year with the rock currently in it.
Replaced the sand because the previous owner let the tank go down hill. Once he decided to sell it he just stopped maintaining it.
The previous owner told me the Mandarin was a wild-caught and not captive-bred.

Hello all. I purchased a Waterbox AIO 20 Gal Nano Tank off Craigslist for a steal, but it already have two fish. A clown and of course a small Mandarin Dragonet. Thus far the Dragonet is doing great. He eats one or two Brine Shrimp at feeding time that settles to the bottom, but I have been doseing the tank with all kinds of pods weekly. I just want to keep the Mandarin happy and healthy. Clearly, a 20 Gal Nano is well under the recommended size for this fish, but since I purchased the tank and it's my problem now. I don't mind indefinitely buying Pods if that is my lot in life. That said, I had a few questions.

1. Would adding marine pure balls in the back area of the tank give pods a place to hide and reproduce and help me build a population?
2. Is it even possible to build a population big enough to sustain him in this tank? (If not I am fine putting in pods indefinitely.)
3. If I do have to add them indefinitely, what cadence does everyone recommend?
4. How much nutrients is he getting out of the few Hikari Brine Shrimp that I see him eat? I have to assume not enough to sustain him.

Any suggestions or insights would be appreciated.

 

[Kurtz]

Any suggestions or insights from anyone?

 

[Roid Reefs]

Never had experience with one in my tank, but have worked with them at the store. Have considered one greatly. From what I have read and heard from other hobbyists, you will most likely not be able to maintain a pod population in that tank. You could add some marine pure, or even just a bunch of LR rubble to the back for a place for them to reproduce to add some to the tank.

An option if you want to not have to buy so often, is start a remote breeding tank for pods.

How To Culture Copepods – The Mandarin Garden

www.themandaringarden.com

You can easily get two 2.5 gallon jugs and a dual airline pump and be good to go. get some corrugated plastic, cut in into strips that can fit through the lid, and zip tie say three or four of the strips together and drop them in for a housing place for the pods. Can even tie a fishing string to the plastic and pull it out and shake it off in the tank for feedings.

That article says do not do water changes, but I would recommend it. do maybe a half gallon change weekly, and just dump the old water (which should have some pods in it) into your tank and pull out a gallon from the DT. Feed a couple drops of phyto feast every few days. Easily done at room temperature.

 

[CheckeredPants]

Adding media in the back will certainly give pods a safe haven to populate and reproduce in. You could even add some decorative macro algae to your display for them to live in too. When it comes to having to reseed the tank, it will do nothing but be beneficial since it adds to the diversity of the gene poll within your system. As for the cadence, that I’m not sure of. Checking the glass at night with lights out will give you an idea of how your pod count is doing. If you see little to no pods it should signal you to add more. Granted, there are mandarins that live of prepared foods, and he can probably live a healthy life without pods, it’s still best to give him access to his natural diet.

 

[Roid Reefs]

Adding media in the back will certainly give pods a safe haven to populate and reproduce in. You could even add some decorative macro algae to your display for them to live in too. When it comes to having to reseed the tank, it will do nothing but be beneficial since it adds to the diversity of the gene poll within your system. As for the cadence, that I’m not sure of. Checking the glass at night with lights out will give you an idea of how your pod count is doing. If you see little to no pods it should signal you to add more. Granted, there are mandarins that live of prepared foods, and he can probably live a healthy life without pods, it’s still best to give him access to his natural diet.

Agree, of he is eating some mysis, keep trying to train him to eat that. May even get him eating pellets, (rare, but it happens)

 

[bwomac44]

From my research, it seems that the Mandarin will outpace the pods in a tank of that size(eat the faster than they can reproduce).
Brine shrimp supposedly aren’t the most nutrient dense when compared to something like mysis shrimp. I just had 2 tiny Ruby red dragonettes in quarantine and fed them finely chopped frozen mysis tails 2-3 times a day. PE and Hikari. I rotate daily.
They were okay doing this, but look healthier after being in my 120 gallon for even a week.
Ideally these fish eat pods all day long. I’d be skeptical that a 20 gallon could support it.
But if you dose pods and supplement with cut up mysis/brine shrimp tails the mandarin may be fine.
If he’s not gaining weight though after a few months, maybe look for a new home for it.
You can look at picture online to see what a healthy mandarin is supposed to look like.
A lot of people have skinny malnourished dragonettes which is always a bummer to see
I have a lot of marine pure in my sump, not sure how that helps the microfauna population. Definitely doesn’t hurt! I’d add some
Tisbe copepods are what you want to add to your tank. They reproduce in aquariums better than the others (I.e. tig and apocalypse). I’ve gotten them from PodYourReef before, as well as algae barn. This would be way to expensive to do this frequently though

1) Spot feed finely cut mysis tails once or twice a day
2) Marine pure balls in back
3) Tisbe pods

If he’s not gaining weight or is losing weight I’d look to rehome

 

[bwomac44]

 

[Kurtz]

Yeah, I spot fed him Brine Shrimp this morning. looks like he ate it up. I cannot get that close to the tank because he tends to be skittish, but I think he ate it well. So maybe I just need to try some more nutrient-rich food or soak the brine shrimp in something before feeding it. If he is eating it I should be able to make sure he stays healthy.

 

[Jason boles]

Bio balls from seachem seem to do well for me and my pods. I also put a mesh loofa thing in my sump and occasionally remove it and it has soooo many pods in it and I shake them out into the tank.

There is also a how to thread somewhere around here on a guy who was feeding them through a tube attached to a petting fish / screen type setup.