mandarin dragonet

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:44 pm

i happened to stop by your store today and seen a spotted mandarin dragonet are they all really that hard to take care of them?

Post by **Gerwin** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:51 am

the feeding them is the tough part, I have found that keeping a tank with a good amount of liverock (30lbs plus) and it be well seasoned( a few months) and be willing to spend 19.99 a month for a tiger pod hit (live copepods) that you should be ok. as a note the one we have in our shop is well over a year old in that system. Hope that helps

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:23 am

yes very much you made it alot better than all of these websites make it sound lol

thanks alot

C-21 USAF · Post by **C-21 USAF** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:32 am

My system is approaching a year old and I think I've bought 2 or 3 bottles of pods...but I have a 150 gallon with a medium rock load and a sump full of rock without predators. I have 2 mandarins and 2 other Gobies that live on pods alone. The key is to have plenty of "protected space" for the pods to reproduce to get more bang for your buck. Hope this helps!

Redfish · Post by **Redfish** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:03 pm

I have read that ORA has Mandarin's for sale that eat pellets and frozen food. I haven't tried to find out who sells them though.

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:51 pm

really that is awesome i will have to look into that

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:58 pm

btw how do you know how many pod you have in your tank probably are they hard tospot out? this is probably a really stupid ? thanks for all the help

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 1:06 am

goalk33p3r wrote:btw how do you know how many pod you have in your tank probably are they hard tospot out? this is probably a really stupid ? thanks for all the help

To me, the pods are not hard to spot. If you sit and look at the display tank in the fish store you can see pods all over the front glass. I'm sure Gerwin and Roger could point them out for you. I know I always see tons of them when I am taking pictures.

I know a few people that have great luck with them. I myself have not had good luck with mandarin gobies. I have sworn to never buy another one. BUT I think I might try loading my sump with live rock and do as Gerwin says and buy live pods to help stock my tank real good for awhile, and then I will break down and buy another mandarin. I really do love these fish!!!

Oh, and no question is a stupid question!

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:46 am

thanks i do appreciate it

i will have to do that next time i go in. i have been doing alot of research on this fish and tried looking the ora mandarin dragonet and it is pretty amazing that they have done that but te same time alot of the reviews said that there mandarin would not eat frozen food just the pods.

btw if i got a small tank like a five gallon or ten gallon tank and reproduce them in there would that be ok or would they need to be in the other tank

Redfish · Post by **Redfish** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:59 pm

Just wondering, how big is your tank? I have a 125g tank and bought about three bottles of the ones Gerwin sells about 8 months ago, now my tank is loaded with them. I had a Mandarin when the tank had been set up for about 6 months and either he starved to death or a crab that I had in the tank at the time got him. I am thinking that I now have enough of the little critters in the tank that I might give the Mandarin another try, maybe there are more

than he can eat, that maybe

wishful thinkin. I don't really see many of them when the MH lights are on, a few but not many. After the MH lights turn off they just appear all over the glass and the live rock. I would say that you would want to see this type of pod production before you get the fish.

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:14 pm

i don't have a tank yet i plan on starting out with a 55 FOWLR tank and moving on up to a 100 in a year. i really wanted to learn alot about everything before i got one.lol you have any pictures of your tank ?
i do appreciate all the help i am getting a 55 tank tomorrow so got to start setting up yes i will need alot of help with that

Shelly · Post by **Shelly** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:17 am

It was a mandarin that I saw that stuck in my mind and made me really want to try salt. After reading up on them, I realized that if I were to try them, it wouldn't be smart for me to even try until I had been active in salt for about a year.

I do have acouple of questions about pods though. Is there such a thing as too much? A bottle goes for how much?

If my intent is to someday have a mandarin, should I or should I not go ahead and buy a bottle to jump start them in my tank?

I do have alot of hiding places. I think they would be able to find places to live and reproduce.

They have got to eat something. Would their introduction help with clean up of tiny trash in the water column?

Thanks guys...for all the help...

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:26 pm

I think you would be better off loading your tank with pods now and let grow like crazy. Then you will have a tank full of little critters for your mandarin when you get it.

That's just my humble opinion. I think I am going to start loading my tank with pods and let them explode (hopefully) and then try another mandarin again.

goalk33p3r · Post by **goalk33p3r** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:48 pm

i think that would be the best thing to i have been doing alot of reasearch on them i really cant wait i bought a 55 gallon now i just got to get the stand and filter and so on lol i am really excited its some thing that i have wanted to do when i was younger i just hope i do good

Post by **Gerwin** » Mon Aug 30, 2010 5:52 am

Shelly wrote:It was a mandarin that I saw that stuck in my mind and made me really want to try salt. After reading up on them, I realized that if I were to try them, it wouldn't be smart for me to even try until I had been active in salt for about a year.

I do have acouple of questions about pods though. Is there such a thing as too much? A bottle goes for how much?

If my intent is to someday have a mandarin, should I or should I not go ahead and buy a bottle to jump start them in my tank?

I do have alot of hiding places. I think they would be able to find places to live and reproduce.

They have got to eat something. Would their introduction help with clean up of tiny trash in the water column?

Thanks guys...for all the help...

19.99 2000-4000ct per bottle.
if your tank is established with fish and live rock for about 3-6 months I think you would be fine and yes preloading is helpful but you must have stuff for the pods to eat so a new tank setup would be the wrong choice to fill with the pods. Small pds gain nutrition from phytoplankton others from dying organics and left over foods from the tank, so a new tank would not support the goal very well. At least that is how I have seen things

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