Mandarin Dragonet Question

Hello fellow 3 reefers! Even though I'm quite new to the hobby, I spent countless hours doing research before I began. I know that mandarin dragonets don't do well in captivity in nano tanks because they decimate the cod colonies faster than it can reproduce but this week I bought one that was tank bred to eat mysis (price was kind of steep). Even with tank breds I've heard horror stories and failure rates, but 3 days into introducing Agent Shagwell to my tank, he already ate one piece [the spot feeding startled him so the rest of the shrimp went elsewhere]. I want to keep my mandarin healthy & I'm willing to go above and beyond to keep the little fellow alive, he has so much personality! Should I buy bottled pods to add in his diet as well or just keep at it strictly with shrimp?

 

I'd say that the bottled pods wouldn't hurt. IMO the key is just to keep him fat, no matter how you do it.

 

Brine Shrimp will not sustain a mandarin. I like this link because it has both sides of the argument and gives some first hand experience.

lgreen's Mandarin FAQ - Nano-Reef.com Forums

 

I had a Mandarin as well that would eat frozen brine and mysis but even with that I was putting a bottle per week of pods into my tank and he was still losing weight.

It becomes such a high maintenance item that, at least for me, was too much so I gave him back to the lfs.

I went away for a few days for business and I came home to a very thin mandarin. Pod populations in a small tank just aren't sufficient to support them for very long at all and hand target feeding isn't always practical.

Best of luck. Personally I will never own another mandarin until I upgrade to a 90+ gallon tank that is very well established.

 

+1

 

you should buy bottle's of pods at least a few just to make sure that you have what you need.

also this might be worth looking into http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-food/going-start-pod-farm-65860.html

I had one in a 20 gallon and can ay untile i get my 75 up and running for more than a year or longer I wont get another one just to risky

 

My little Barefoot loved blood worms soaked in Garlic Guard. He eventually started eating the brine shrimp too. Can't wait to get another one, loved that fish

 

Mine was not trained to eat any frozen food or anything. What I do for supplemental feedings besides pods is use live brine shrimp that were fed phytoplan or NLS pellets. I use the kent sea squirt to spot feed her and she knows what this device is so comes right up to it. I do have a considerably larger tank though..