Mandarin dragonet tank size....

I always see this topic come up. Someone asking if their tank is big enough.. Whether their pod population can sustain a mandarin or not.. And so on and so forth. I have a 40 breeder, and against the advice of literally everyone on here lol I bought a green mandarin about 2 1/2 months into my tank being up. So since may, I've added pods twice.. One bottle from my local LFS, and another bottle of red tiggerpods I got online. My mandarin is still on the prowl 24/7, still not eating frozen foods, and still as fat as ever. Last night when all my lights were out I took out a flashlight and started looking around.. Its been awhile since I've looked around at night, and all I could see were little red dots everyywhere. It was like a tornado of little red dots. At first, I had no clue what they were, then saw they were all dancing and wiggling around.. They were the red tigger pods I added like 3-4 months ago. So I have to think.. The pods are obviously thriving, seeing that along with my mandarin getting fatter and fatter. So am I lucky? Or do mandarins just not eat as many pods as people really think..? Who knows. To think I almost didn't get her because of the advice I was getting.. Moral of the story: I guess sometimes the best advice, is to not take advice at all and experience things yourself..

 

good to hear its doing well, they are very cool looking fish

 

Well it depends really on who's giving advice. When you here it once or twice maybe you would be right but when you have heard these stories hundreds of times there must be something to it. Are you sure your Mandarin is fat? The only real way to see is by looking at them from underneath.(not easily done) look at them from the side they all look fat. It can take them months to starve to death. The fact you are seeing pods is a good sign and your tank is not really THAT small.Time will tell. What would be the motivation for people to tell you that a Mandarin cannot be housed in a small aquarium? Because they don't want you to have one? How many people on here have had success keeping one in a small tank long term? Not months;years. I don't think you will find too many and if you do there is usually a good explanation for it like they have shrimp breeding in the tank supplementing there diet. So many of these fish have been killed already. It really is a shame and I hate to see it. There are plenty of beautiful fish in this hobby why would you even want to chance seeing one starve and die in your tank? Giving our animals the best chance at survival is the duty of everyone who takes the reponsibility to care for another living thing.IMO thats what makes for good aquarium husbandry.
P.S. The fact that you say it is on the prowl 24/7 is a bad sign. It means it is hunting 24 hours a day which is not the norm. for them.

 

i agree and dis-agree there was an artical i was reading on how a guy had set up a 10 gallon tank designed for a mandarin and how well it did for quite awile, so I got one without knowing any better and alas it died but because she choked as to the best of my knowlage any way and I had her in a 20 gallon tank, she haad been in there about 5 months. knowing what I know now a 40 gallon would be a good size to take care of one in if it was set up correctly and if the owner knew what to look for and what the fish need to care for it. as far as the fish eating pods? they eat well past what most new tanks can produce and I think its more of a tank maturity than size to a point. I also think getting a healthy fish makes all the diffrence in the world to, my aunt has a big male in a 26 bow front with a HOB filter CC substrate a clow huge sally lightfoot crab tomato clown and it is plump and content but as far as healthy looking and happy not so much, I have tried to buy it from her numerous times to help the poor gut out but she wont buge on this fish.

I am glad to here that yours is doing well and is plesently plump and that you can enjoy this fish without any real stress and hassle. I also want to say thank you because its stories like this that make me want to get another once my 75 is up and running ;D

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm glad you had luck, as I also have a 40 breeder and want one eventually. How long has your tank been set up? Do you have a sump and or fuge? I also had to experience things for myself. Just bought a valentini puffer, will just have to see how it does. Great to hear the news!

 

Cool fish, good to hear it's doing well. There are lots of different factors resulting in tank maturity, however the general advise for this type of fish is to wait until your tank matures (stable parms and a thriving pod population) before introducing one to the tank. These fish will constantly hunt pods so the bigger the tank, the chances of keeping it healthy long term is increased. I had one in my system for a few years and it was doing great, then all of a sudden it started getting skinny...she now lives in a friend's 500g reef tank and fat again.

Good luck, it would be great if it starts eating frozen food. At first signs of it getting skinny, do the right thing and give it to someone with a tank where you know it would survive. If you haven't already, I would suggest setting up a fuge, it would help maintain your pod population.

 

Lol yes. I'm sure he's fat. I wanted to "chance killing this beautiful fish" because I don't think everyones experience is the same. One person may have their mandarin die in a smaller tank, while anothers is fat and happy. I've had him for more than 6 months, if that doesn't illustrate success, I',m not sure what does. I'll let you know in a few years. P.S. 24/7 is a figure of speech.

 

Thanks for the input! I think 40 breeders are just fine for mandarins. I don't do anything special for it at all to be honest. I don't doubt your aunts mandy is plenty happy where it is.. I've seen them in much smaller tanks, provided pods were added from time to time. If I had a 75, I'd definitely get a male female pair.. Such an easy little fish to care for, and when people look at my tank, the mandarins always their favorite.

 

Yahh I've been keeping up with your build actually, I always like seeing other breeders. Mine has been up since the beginning of March. I don't have a sump or fuge or anything.. I run a canister filter with a HOB skimmer.. Pretty simple setup. Although, I have a little shower caddy deal filled with chaeto that grows like crazy, and probablyyyy around 55 lbs of live rock. With a few lbs of that stacked up in little rubble piles. I saw your puffer though, I love it! I was contemplating getting one myself not too long ago, but never could find one and ended up getting my copperband BF instead. Be sure to keep us updated on the little guy!

 

Thank you thank you. I agree with you that stable params play a factor in their success, but I'm pretty sure thats just about every fish haha. I added mine when my tank was 2 months old, I don't think that would be considered "mature", really. As I said above, I don't have a sump or fuge, and don't really plan on adding one to be honest lol. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.. Thanks for the suggestion though my man.