Mandarin Dragonet / copepods

[Fishgod]

Does anyone know where I can get live copepods to feed my Mandarin Dragonet? He is quickly destroying the existing population, and rarely will eat frozen brine or krill. I have heard that frozen mysid is a good selection as well, or live blackworms. Also, anyone know where I can order live stuff online?

Thanks-

 

[MiltonP]

I would add some live rock rubble piles and maybe some macroalgae to your tank. I doubt you'll get it to feed on anything thats not live. Habor Aquatics and others sell pod packs. You may want to consider a second tank as you are pretty well loaded. I am setting up a 29 mainly for a dragonet(s) but I believe a 20L species tank with an aquafuge may work.

 

[Fishgod]

Thanks. What about rotifers? Or are they too small?

 

[Anonymous]

I went to my local LFS and picked up 6lbs of rubble. That loose stuff in the bottom of their live rock tanks. That created two piles in my 75gal back corners. It is amazing the amount of shrimp and pods we are seeing around those piles in two weeks. Of course my Scotter Blenny spends plenty of time there. I am sure that they were lots of pods in my tanks, but I had also gotten a bunch from IPSF back in October and a start from my 29gal also.

 

[Anonymous]

maybe try live naupli?

 

[Fishgod]

Okay- After doing my homework and a little bit of online shopping, I decided to set up a brine hatchery attached to the side of my tank, there's a neat one that comes with a micron filter that only allows the nauplii of a particular size to swim into your tank. I also will feed the brine hatchlings lots of phytoplankton, which fools the Dragonet into ingesting all those good-for-you plant nutrients.

Because of the size of the system, adding more liverock or sand is not really an option. The fish would exhaust the supply of copepods and I would constantly be buying more sand.

Any other thoughts from anyone?

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Yeah... 12 gal just too small to have a sustainable population. Good luck on the brine shrimp hatchery, and please let us know how well it worked.

 

[Clownkeeper]

IMHO you need a much bigger tank then your present setup to house any type of dragonet. They require so much live food and i think in your system your gonna have a harder time supplying food for its needs.
But good luck with you on this. Keep up updated on how it is doing

Troy

 

[brad789]

how old is your tank? honestly, you have too many fish in that size tank and too few pounds of live rock to be able to deal with the waste products your bioload is going to produce. i would drop your fishload down to 2. your mandarin will eventually starve to death unless you are really committed to the hatchery. abundent live rock or a very mature refuge going mad with pods will help you to keep a mandarin. research before you buy....

just my thoughts, you asked. good luck to you.

brad

 

[naesco]

Find someone with a tank with lots of pods and offer the fish to them or return it to the LFS. They should not have sold you that fish for the size of your tank.
I am saying this because IMO your mandarin has no chance. Sorry

 

[Fishgod]

Okay, I got all the stuff for the hatchery. Until it.. um.. hatches, I've gotten the dragonet to eat a combination of frozen nauplii that have been thawed and vitamin enriched phytoplankton administered by an eyedropper right in front of him. Kinda the same way I feed the scallop. If he doesn't have a problem eating the dead shrimp NOW, just wait until he can get his fins on some live ones!

Not that he can complain, as he is the only fish who gets breakfast in bed every day.

I'll keep posting once the hatchery is established, in a few days or so.

Thanks to everyone for their positive insights and also for the criticisms. It seems the more someone tells me I can't, the more I seem to find ways to, so that has been a motivation in its own way.

 

[teevee]

i agree that your tank is far too small for four fish. you should have checked into the flame scallop as well, as they are apparently extremely difficult to keep alive, and your purchasing of it encourages the collection of a species that is better off left in the ocean.

 

[Anonymous]

i agree that your tank is far too small for four fish. you should have checked into the flame scallop as well, as they are apparently extremely difficult to keep alive, and your purchasing of it encourages the collection of a species that is better off left in the ocean.

i considered bringing that up as well. i don't know anyone who has managed to keep a flame scallop alive for a years time. and you will probably have difficulty with large featherdusters. i hope you target feed them with DT's or something.

 

[Entacmaea]

Thanks to everyone for their positive insights and also for the criticisms. It seems the more someone tells me I can't, the more I seem to find ways to, so that has been a motivation in its own way.

It seems like tact is not working here. While a challenge in this hobby is alluring and motivating, it must be balanced with realism. Please do heed what everyone is saying here, that your 12 gallon system is not large enough for the fish you have. It is not large enough to sustain ONE mandarin. Even if it were the only fish. I wouldn't advise keeping a mandarin with less than 50 lbs of well-established live rock in a mature tank. And 75-100lbs of LR would be safter still.

If you do end up training the Mandarin on prepared foods, you will have to feed it constantly, at least 2-3 times a day. Inevitably, it will not get all the food, and in a small tank with your other fish, it will be out competed by the faster moving water column feeders, and will only get left-overs. Mandarins are shy feeders in my opinion, and mine would only eat live brine if they happened to come into its field of view among the rocks while it was hunting. BTW, Nauplii are very small, and better for the flame scallop than the mandarin. If you are trying to train it, try small adult brine, enriched with something like DT's or cryo-preserved algae from Brine-Shrimp Direct.

I would advise returning the mandarin, at least. Better yet keep only the angle and perc, and think about getting a larger tank if you want to keep a mandarin. You are in for a frustrating ride if you continue on your present trajectory...

HTH, Peter

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Thanks to everyone for their positive insights and also for the criticisms. It seems the more someone tells me I can't, the more I seem to find ways to, so that has been a motivation in its own way.

It seems like tact is not working here.
........
Peter

That is for sure. I am in complete agreemant with Peter here.
Your Mandarin, your flame scalop, and your feather duster will die. Your tank just don't have enough to support them. These animals are animals that will not take prepared food so they are doomed in your system. There are people out there that will dis-agree with me on Mandarin, but I am willing to bet that one way or another, these three animals will be out of your tank in 6 months from today. Mark my words.
Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen

 

[MiltonP]

Our LFS has a red scooter, trained on adult brine, as the only fish in a eclipse 12 that has at least twice the live rock yours does. Most of their 'pet' dragonets are in much larger reef tanks. I would find him a home in an established reef tank or at the least remove your scallop and other fish, which are easier to find good homes for, and get more live rock. I also think he is eating the frozen food out of starvation. They definitely like to hunt.

I wouldn't take him back if the LFS is going to stick him in a bare bottom tank with fake rock and coral. In that case he probably has a better chance with you as you have some live rock and are trying to care for him. I did keep one for 1 1/2 years back 10 years ago when I didn't have a clue about their needs.

 

[shalegac]

I just noticed the contents of the tank over in the nano section and decided to check out your other posts after my reply over there. I'm glad more people caught the contents of the tank. I'm all for pushing the limits of aquariums I do it myself but I am keeping it realistic at the same time. I hope these posts are not discouraging but may be of help. Good luck.

 

[wombat1]

I think even the flame angel is pushing it. I say keep the clown or the angel, but not both, and try and find a bigger home for your other fish.

 

[sammystingray]

I am about to show you the ugliest thing ever. It is actually a tank hidden away in my bedroom that I use to grow pods. All it does really is grow pods to keep up the populations in my main reef tank. It's not pretty, actually butt ugly, but it grows pods fast enough to keep up with a single mandarin I believe. Just a thought for you to consider. There is nothing in this tank but worms, and pods for the main tank. Same idea as breeding brine....it's just pods. If you have a weak stomach, look away, because this thing is ugly..

 

[sammystingray]

Here is the front glass.....lots and lots of pods in the tank. every once in awhile, I scoop out some water and get some off the glass to feed the main tank. I actually go out of my way to grow cyanobacteria for the amphipods, and I also add natures ocean so it can be used to refresh the main tank once in awhile. If you are into bugs, you might find interest in this tank, if not.....it is simply a butt ugly eye sore. :lol: