Mandarin dragonet project

[marinegeek101]

Hello everyone. I have a 32 gallon tank with 55 lb of live rock, my tank is 6 months old. I am willing to take the extra time to make a perfect house for this beautiful specimen. Im am going to purchase more live sand so I have a 3-4 inch sand bed. I have a 10 gallon tank that I am going to use for culturing copepods and amphipods. Keep in mind I am still thinking this over. Does this sound like a good mandarin dragonet establishment/home?

 

[morgan]

if u can tap a fuge in there go for it aye growing ur own will be a strenuos task but if u have a fuge then it does it all its self if u can do that go for it
because they do eat alot
sum speices are more then happy to eat brine but need to be nutrient rich or theres no point

 

[marinegeek101]

Anyother suggestion of things that I should do that would help live?

 

[SueT]

Just make sure that you have a large supply of pods before adding this fish. They are so extremely hard to get to eat prepared foods so one that is eating prepared would be an even better fish. You will need to have tons of pods to keep it full{the fish}. Then finding a healthy one will be another challenge. Sounds like you are thinking about it and that is great.

 

[class clown]

I like the fuge idea and have seen that work before - hang on the back refugium with chaeto, calerpela, miricle mud, and lots of little snail shells where they can lay there eggs is what I've heard works well.. others may have differing opinions, but a guy named LarryB on here had that same configuration running on a 29 gallon I beleive and had a very nice happy fat mandarin. he said the refugium would dump new pods into his tank on it's own, so he never really had to manually feed.

I assume it's important to have a lot of LR too so the pod populations can also develop around that. May want to get this setup, running for a good couple months, then add the mandarin to ensure success.

 

[shallowreef]

Forget the fuge i know some DIY plans for "POD condos" They work grat and they keep your fish out of them. Let me find the link and i'll post it here.

 

[shallowreef]

http://z8.invisionfree.com/Sharks_and_Rays/index.php?showtopic=104

These work really well. I made four of them for my 90 and my mandarin use to hunt from pile to pile all day long.

 

[jezzeaepi]

A 90 is a bit different then a 32 though. Your talking 2 to 3 times the LR. With that amount of LR you may even be able to get by without any piles.

 

[jezzeaepi]

And LarryB's mandarin ate mysis as well.

 

[shallowreef]

It doesn't matter so much as to how much liverock you have its if your pods have a place to grow and hatch without being eaten by fish. These just act as hatching grounds for pods that the fish can't get to.

 

[steve-s]

Why not consider training it before it is placed in the community tank. A 32 gallon tank will not be a successful place for this kind of species unless you do so first. Even if adding a refugium or restocking with pods regularly, it is not a long term plan. Eventually either cost or allowable time will get the better of you.

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html
http://marineaquariumadvice.com/feeding_mandarin_or_synchiropus_splendidus.html

 

[SueT]

I think thats a great idea.

 

[marinegeek101]

My LFS says it also eats frozen food

 

[rudeanduncouth]

Have him prove it to you. I personally have only seen about three that ate frozen food.

 

[SueT]

I wouldn't take their word, but would also make them show you it eats. Mine eats frozen mysis and has enough pods to munch on all day long. They are few and far between. I just wouldn't want to take a chance on a fish like these with a system of that size. These fish have just got to have their pods.

 

[marinegeek101]

Ya ill make sure he proves it. Thanks for the advice. It helped alot!

 

[c0yote]

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

Has anyone else tried this?

 

[jakleen]

lots of live rock,refugium. let the tank and ref. mature well. and also i recomend you reading tropical fish hobbyist,feb. 07 issue. good uck. jakleen