red mandarin drragonet
- Thread starter dufrezney
- Start date
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
First off the butterfly is to large for a 30g.
The mandarin is a very ferocious Eater of copepod and you'll need at least 100 lbs of lr to support its eating habits or continually stock copepod in a separate tank for them to breed and grow.
I would stay away from these guys Imo with a 30g tank. Just my opinion, hate seeing them die from starvation in every other posts.
They are the most mellow fish I have, no one cares about him or harasses him.
Please do your research, and get rid of the butterfly.
The mandarin is a very ferocious Eater of copepod and you'll need at least 100 lbs of lr to support its eating habits or continually stock copepod in a separate tank for them to breed and grow.
I would stay away from these guys Imo with a 30g tank. Just my opinion, hate seeing them die from starvation in every other posts.
They are the most mellow fish I have, no one cares about him or harasses him.
Please do your research, and get rid of the butterfly.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
For the mandarin it doesn't matter on space, very true.
The space for live rock is needed for his source of food. They eat every 15 seconds. They don't just swim around the tank, they are constantly hunting. You can convert them to man made food, but it takes along time and still doesn't guarantee success. This is why I suggested setting up another tank to grow just pods.
The space for live rock is needed for his source of food. They eat every 15 seconds. They don't just swim around the tank, they are constantly hunting. You can convert them to man made food, but it takes along time and still doesn't guarantee success. This is why I suggested setting up another tank to grow just pods.
i have 2 in a 265 gal with probably 250-300 lbs rock and a 24 inch hang on refugium just for pods. they never stop looking for pods. even at nite sometimes. and they are fat. the female was eating fish food in the store but i have never seen her eat it in my tank. once she started getting live food she wouldnt touch fish food of any sort. i could probably fit one more in there but i dont want to take the chance because they are doing really well. if you put one in a 30 even if its a really mature tank after a month or two he will have depleted the pod population to the point of no return and you will have the enjoyable experience of watching him slowly starve to death
blazend
Reefing newb
The requirement i always set before owning a mandarin is a mature tank. They seem to need the mature rocks and copepod collection in your tank.
I have had mine for a while but every month i add copepods to my sump that has chaeto algae allowing them to breed and every once and awhile i take a powerhead and blow that chamber of my sump. Thus making them move to my second chamber and get sucked into my return pump and into my display.
I have had mine for a while but every month i add copepods to my sump that has chaeto algae allowing them to breed and every once and awhile i take a powerhead and blow that chamber of my sump. Thus making them move to my second chamber and get sucked into my return pump and into my display.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Do you really think that any pods live going through a pump? I would try sticking my finger in it first to see what the outcome is first.
blazend
Reefing newb
Haha good point. I would say if they make it into the display died or alive the fish are going to have a buffet of it.
I have 2 pipe fish and mandarin. They have survived just fine so they are getting food from somewhere.
Do you suggest feeding the main display with copepods? @mariobrothersleeve Also if you wanna stick your finger in my pump you can. But the size difference from pods to my finger is a MASSIVE difference.
I have 2 pipe fish and mandarin. They have survived just fine so they are getting food from somewhere.
Do you suggest feeding the main display with copepods? @mariobrothersleeve Also if you wanna stick your finger in my pump you can. But the size difference from pods to my finger is a MASSIVE difference.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
I don't know if the size is different lately in my system. I have seem to develop a gorilla pod. I should take some pictures.
I don't think it really matters having a fuge to grow pods. They do stay right where it's safe and love the macro algae of the refugium.
I commented much earlier because I kept a mandarin alive for a year with a 14g biocube. I had a 5g mini tank in my basement where I cultured pods to feed the 14g. It worked for a year before I pulled the mandarin to the 72g. I was not worth it. The mandarin hid in the back of the rock work where the pods were and I found very little satisfaction in it.
So, to conclude my very boring respond. ...... mandarins are a pretty fish as in pretty boring. If you want excitement, I'd go with the.......... hahaha, I really don't have a favorite.
I don't think it really matters having a fuge to grow pods. They do stay right where it's safe and love the macro algae of the refugium.
I commented much earlier because I kept a mandarin alive for a year with a 14g biocube. I had a 5g mini tank in my basement where I cultured pods to feed the 14g. It worked for a year before I pulled the mandarin to the 72g. I was not worth it. The mandarin hid in the back of the rock work where the pods were and I found very little satisfaction in it.
So, to conclude my very boring respond. ...... mandarins are a pretty fish as in pretty boring. If you want excitement, I'd go with the.......... hahaha, I really don't have a favorite.
most of the pods that are in your tank live on the structure. those are the ones the mandarines are eating. i dont think they can catch the free swimming ones. i have a thriving population of tiger pods in both my tank and refugium. i can see them as well as the other pods at night with a flashlight. they are always swimming around in the holes in the structure. im sure some pods get killed but some survive the return pump.
blazend
Reefing newb
My mandarin (Jackie Chan) is very active and he actually flys around in my rock work. He is so fun to watch he will actually come up to the tank glass and stare at me flaring his back fin (hence why we named him Jackie Chan)
I do notice when he is hungry he sits in this corner where one of my returns is. I always expected that is where the pods are getting sucked in and thrown into the tank dead or alive. I have 2 pipe fish and they never leave that corner.
I do notice when he is hungry he sits in this corner where one of my returns is. I always expected that is where the pods are getting sucked in and thrown into the tank dead or alive. I have 2 pipe fish and they never leave that corner.
my male red likes to display in the front corner. i think he sees his reflection. he killed his mate almost right away. i tried a green spot female and he totaly ignores her. i have had him for about 4 yrs and her for 3 . they were already full grown when i got them so i'm expecting to lose one anytime.
joshuashih1
Seahorse Owner
Just to talk about my experience with this type of fish. I have had 2 different ones both of witch I was able to convert to eat frozen foods. In the store that I bought them from they were eating pellets but when I got them home they never wanted pellets but were accepting frozen foods such as bloodworms, and different types of tiny shrimp (all frozen and then thawed) I fed them once every 2 days as I did for the rest of the tank and they have servived for over 2 years until my tank crashed but until that happened they were extremely healthy. Yes they were eating all my copepods but were still happily eating the food I put in the tank. Just wanted to share my experience with this fish.
