Pods and a dragonet

[johnqx4]

pods, Pods, PODS...

I have set up a couple of fragging/propogating tanks. I have seeded them with pods (which I love). I am in to the world of the small...

Now they have simply exploded (a good problem to have). My tanks look like the old "ant farms" we had as kids (I think I am dating myself

In the next week or so I plan to get a scooter blenny.

However, if someone has purchased one (or other dragonet) without realizing the feeding requirements. I will give you what you paid for it (within reason

Or if someone wants me to babysit one and fatten it up, I will do that.

regards,

johnny

 

[showtime305]

I have a Spotted Mandarin Dragonet that I hate to part with, but my larger tank has been sold. The guy buying the tank would rather not have any high maintenance fish, so it needs a new home. PM me if you are interested so we can work out a price.

 

[george]

Heh. A dragonet will obliterate the pod population if you put it directly in the tank. I have heard several suggestions to help. The best is to gather a pile of rubble that the mandarin can't get into so that the pods can continue to breed. Otherwise, you'll quickly get a fat mandarin with no food left. A ball of cheato will do the trick as well, but you may not want that in your frag tank.

 

[matttvi]

I read of a reefkeeper who had a paired couple of peppermint shrimp that spawn on a weekly basis, the dragonet, according to her, was fat and happy eating the spawns!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Mandarins get a bad rep sometimes. I do agree and understand that they are finicky eaters, but they will accept prepared foods as well. My mandarin eats pellet, flake, and any frozens. I actually saw him trying to choke down a big chunk of squid my trigger missed once. And my tank is overflowing with microlife. It just takes acclimitization and proper selection.

That being said, I do agree that it is a risk, and a good safety net is to have a strong pod community present, but I don't think that the credo for mandarins should be "if you don't have a 8000 gallon tank with 8000 pounds of live rock that has matured for 10 years, there is no way a mandarin will ever stay alive".

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I agree, I had a 6 year old mandarin in my 40 gal years ago. Only about 30 lbs of rock, no fuge, no sump. I did have a GREAT pod colony in that tank for some reason but my mandarin got fat and happy off frozen foods. This might not be the norm so I do not think everyone SHOULD go out and get one, but it can be done with a willing animal and good quality foods.

 

[kappaknight]

I keep a ball of chaeto in the main tank in the shadows under tons of rocks so it won't grow out. I also have a HOB fuge which is helps a lot. The chaeto ball in the main tank has been great at keeping predators out of the center though.

 

[glxtrix]

I agree, I had a mandarin in my 15g for awhile and it ate all kinds of prepared foods, actually would swim at the top of the tank and wait for me to feed her with a turkey baster......spoiled fish, lol. Sadly tho i lost her to a surface skimmer that was a tough day.

 

[tedman920]

not to get off topic too much, but does anyone know of a place currently selling madarins that are accepting frozen or prepared food? or have one that i can have/buy

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I hope we did not start something and now people are going to be running to get madarins because they might take prepared foods. There are still alot of nutritional concerns with prepared foods and such.

 

[showtime305]

tedman920 wrote: not to get off topic too much, but does anyone know of a place currently selling madarins that are accepting frozen or prepared food? or have one that i can have/buy

They are hit and miss on accepting prepared foods. I was lucky enough to get one that does accept prepared foods. The problem with Mandarins is there feeding habits. They are use to eating pods and other micro fauna throughout the day, so just feeding them once or twice per day without the natural food source availble is risky.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Xyzpdq0121 wrote: I hope we did not start something and now people are going to be running to get madarins because they might take prepared foods. There are still alot of nutritional concerns with prepared foods and such.

I can say this of any fish we may buy- it may or may not take prepared foods.

What nutritional shortcoming are you speaking of? I know of many people (inlcuding myself), who have fish that thrive on prepared foods (albeit it a varie diet).

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Well a Mandrin has a short mouth suited for pods and worms. So squid and the like prob won't take to... Lets see.. Brine shrimp would be a great choice in the minds of many because of it size but there is little to no nutritional value. So if you go brine shrimp you need to suppliment with Selcon, Zoe, Zoecon, etc. And even at that it is not a good balanced food source for this animal. (IMHO) Cyclop-eeze might be a good choice but the price is something to contend with, nutrition is there though. Krill is too big for the most part. I have yet to see frozen pods or packaged microfauna. I just think it is ill advised and quite honestly, morally wrong, to get an animal in the hopes that you can wheen it off of its natural food source and on to something that is convienent or available. It goes along the lines of keeping cleaner wrasses in my opinion. All I am saying is it&#8217;s not unheard of that a dragonet will accept (with training) frozen/defrosted foods in place of live, but it is rare that non-live foods sustain them. Mandarins almost never accept enough of anything other than live foods that are omnipresent in their system to sustain themselves. A nutrient rich live rock reef tank, read that as one heavily populated with hard substrates, with substantial interstitial crustacean and worm, and other small sessile invertebrate life. The rule of thumb of about 100 gallons will support <u>one</u> individual, might be playing it too careful but are you willing to bet the life of another creature on it? And all this assumes you have no similar food-competing tankmates.In the wild their food choices are principally small crustaceans and worms. You can culture these "incidentally" in a large main/display system with lots of substrate and/or live rock, but adding a live fishless refugium will go an immense distance in assuring your mandarin/s receive sufficient live food. These fishes cannot live on dried-prepared or frozen/defrosted, or chopped meaty foods.

Yes the above might be true for some fish that we buy (ie, will they take to captive care) but some animals have a LONG history of not and some people still try anyways. I do not get it.

 

[george]

I always ask what they're feeding it at the store and finally found one at Cap Bay that they were feeding fish eggs and cyclopeze.

I set up one of these

 

[flyingarmy]

Do you think that a Scooter Blenny would be ok in a Reef with Mitrax crabs? I have one in my 5.5GAL Pico that I think would do better in my 20GAL Reef with more copeds, microfauna. Sorry to but in to your thread!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Xyzpdq0121 wrote: Well a Mandrin has a short mouth suited for pods and worms. So squid and the like prob won't take to... Lets see.. Brine shrimp would be a great choice in the minds of many because of it size but there is little to no nutritional value. So if you go brine shrimp you need to suppliment with Selcon, Zoe, Zoecon, etc. And even at that it is not a good balanced food source for this animal. (IMHO) Cyclop-eeze might be a good choice but the price is something to contend with, nutrition is there though. Krill is too big for the most part. I have yet to see frozen pods or packaged microfauna. I just think it is ill advised and quite honestly, morally wrong, to get an animal in the hopes that you can wheen it off of its natural food source and on to something that is convienent or available. It goes along the lines of keeping cleaner wrasses in my opinion. All I am saying is it’s not unheard of that a dragonet will accept (with training) frozen/defrosted foods in place of live, but it is rare that non-live foods sustain them. Mandarins almost never accept enough of anything other than live foods that are omnipresent in their system to sustain themselves. A nutrient rich live rock reef tank, read that as one heavily populated with hard substrates, with substantial interstitial crustacean and worm, and other small sessile invertebrate life. The rule of thumb of about 100 gallons will support <u>one</u> individual, might be playing it too careful but are you willing to bet the life of another creature on it? And all this assumes you have no similar food-competing tankmates.In the wild their food choices are principally small crustaceans and worms. You can culture these "incidentally" in a large main/display system with lots of substrate and/or live rock, but adding a live fishless refugium will go an immense distance in assuring your mandarin/s receive sufficient live food. These fishes cannot live on dried-prepared or frozen/defrosted, or chopped meaty foods.

Yes the above might be true for some fish that we buy (ie, will they take to captive care) but some animals have a LONG history of not and some people still try anyways. I do not get it.

Oh yeah, Brandon, I agree with much of what you ahve said. Of course the food has to be appropriately sized, and I agree, these fish do have a track record. However, from the posts of many, they can and will accept prepared foods. So, I don't think we can claim that you <u>NEED</u> 100 gallons per individual. Is that a safe bet, absolutely. Necessary- nope.

My point is more along the lines of prepared diets as being appropriate. You said "There are still alot of nutritional concerns with prepared foods and such." This I don't get where you're coming from. We do not feed these animals what they eat in the ocean. Nobody does, because it is impossible. Lionfish may eat anthias in the wild. Does that mean we can't keep them suitably under the premise of feeding them an appropriate an varied prepared diet? Of course not. This is my point- the prepared foods that are out there will suffice in allowing suitable care for a lot of marine fish. To say that fish will be nutrionally challaenged because they're eating prepared food is a broad misinterpretation. Animals can certainly be offered the wrong types of prepared foods, but that doesn't mean the right stuff isn't out there. I hope I have cleared up my point a little.

 

[johnqx4]

I don't know where all this came from...

i simply have several tanks with a ton of pods. I can easily support one or more dragonets.

I plan on buying one, but offered to take one if it got over anyones head.

This thread has jumped to where it doesn't need to be...

Let it go, it is not worth all this...

johnny

All's well that ends....

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Johnny,
Sorry to hijack.. All's well that ends!