How to Train Your Dragon(et)

[ChameleonNYSea]

Hey all,

Yesterday, May 6th, I purchased a Green Mandarin Dragonet to replace my Psychedelic Mandarin that was eaten by my condylactis anemone. (The anemone got the boot.) I am going to try to train my mandarin to eat frozen so it has a better chance of survival. The tank has been seeded with pods for 4 1/2 months as of now, and I add booster pods occasionally. I figured that it would be beneficial to document anything that I notice in my endeavor.

I will try to document any observations daily, and will try to post videos of feeding the mandarin whenever I can.

If anyone has any tips or advice along the way, feel free to post below!

Day 1 (May 6, 2017)
Mandarin was acclimated and added to display tank.
Immediately after entering the tank, a clownfish took a bite out of the mandarin's tail.
Lights were turned off, and the mandarin hid in the rocks. (May have been in shock from the clownfish attack.)

[hotdogoramer]

I have three dragonets and all 3 of them eat only or mostly frozen. The way I train them to eat is to put them in a critter keeper in the display tank with a little bit of macro. Then I buy the smallest mysis (hikari). I feed 1/4 cube daily regardless if they eat it or not. Usually by the 4th or 5th day they start eating it. I leave them in there for a couple weeks extra just to really embed it in their minds.i am currently training 2 for a friend and they also ate by the 4th day. So far this has worked all 4 times that I've tried it.

[ThRoewer]

The fastest way to get them to go after frozen mysis is to feed them live mysis. Works like a charm. In the past I got them to accept frozen within a couple of days.
I used fresh/brackish water mysis that I caught myself. They would live for a while in saltwater​. As long as they are fit and mobile the mandarins have a hard time to catch them. Only when they get impaired, start die and fall down to the bottom they become easy pray for the mandarins. Usually their swimmerets and gill branches continue moving for a good while. That movement is what attracts the mandarins.
This "training" is best done in a rather small and totally bare tank.

There is a online place where you can order live mysis.

This works as well with brine shrimp, so you may start with those as they are easier to come by.
Once they go aggressively after frozen brine shrimp you can mix in some frozen mysis. They may take them by association. This method worked for my current mandarin pair. Though with them I did it in a 25 gallon DT and so it took a good while for them to get the message. In a bare tank it should go faster.

BTW, another live food that is relatively easy to cultivate are Daphnia. You find starter cultures on eBay.

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[ChameleonNYSea]

Originally Posted by hotdogoramer

I have three dragonets and all 3 of them eat only or mostly frozen.

I think I just got lucky that my original Psychedelic Mandarin took to frozen. I just put some brine in a pipette, and I shot it in his general direction with no real rhyme or reason. About three or four days before he went missing, I was one of the very lucky people who was able to witness it eat prepared flake foods.

No update on the mandarin yet, but I will provide one later when I try to target feed him.

I am trying to get the Green Mandarin eating brine shrimp at first. I know that Mysis is much more beneficial nutrient-wise, but right now I am relying on the copepods to provide the nutrition to sustain it. (I have heard that brine is like the fish equivalent of just eating popcorn, with no real nutritional value - is that true?) My plan is that once the Green Mandarin eats brine with gusto, I will add Mysis to the tank. Hopefully if will click and the Green Mandarin notices the Mysis and replaces the brine with the Mysis in its diet.

[ThRoewer]

Brine shrimp are better than nothing and their nutritional value isn't really that bad.

The biggest issue with them is that of all foods they contain the largest amount of copper. It's not really an issue with fish or even inverts, but it may become a problem for corals over time.

If you feed live brine shrimp you should load them up with spirulina about an hour before feeding them to the fish.

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[hotdogoramer]

Here is the current pair I'm training

[ChameleonNYSea]

Days 3,4 (May 8-9, 2017):
I didn't have much free time today to view the tank and observe the mandarin's behavior.
I added flake food to the tank, and he seemed interested and checked it out, but did not eat yet.
He has been picking at the rocks and sand bed.
Additionally, I added about 6 oz of copepods/amphipods to the tank.
I saw him flashing his fin in the glass. I guess he was intimidated by his reflection? The fin looked fairly large relative to his body, does that mean it is a male? (I will try to get a video/picture of this behavior up soon).
He seems to have found a little cave that he sleeps in, and does not seemed stressed to me.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by ChameleonNYSea

Days 3,4 (May 8-9, 2017):
...
I saw him flashing his fin in the glass. I guess he was intimidated by his reflection? The fin looked fairly large relative to his body, does that mean it is a male? ...

Yes, behavior is typical for males.
Males also have an extended first dorsal fin ray. Its length can be up to half the total length of the fish.

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[block head]

My green came from a seahorse tank./ lfs. Lots of live brine. Switched over to frozen brine and mysis. Pellets, flake were later accepted.

[ChameleonNYSea]

Really stinks, but my mandarin died of Marine Velvet, which happened to wipe out a large majority of my fish. Corals and other inverts are fine.

Now for the 10-12 week waiting period to start back up again.

[Rio1969]

I have a female green mandrin on day 5 of TTM, on day 2 she started to eat frozen brine. The LFS said they had her for a week and she had not started to eat prepared foods as yet.