Is it possible for me to train my dragonet to eat harvested pods from a container?

jcurella · 09/05/2012, 09:03 PM

Just wondering, I bought one today and totally forgot that they survive off pods. I have an abundance of pods from 2 20 gallon refugiums. I've read about people training seahorses to feed from a container or certain location in the tank. Does anyone know if I could train my dragonet to feed from a container with harvested pods or some sort of similar idea?

dirtyBit · 09/05/2012, 10:08 PM

Do you not have pods in the tank? Mine just works the rocks all day. It's doing great and even eats frozen food now.

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coralreefdoc · 09/05/2012, 10:44 PM

You "forgot" they need copepods as their main food source, or you didnt research thoroughly before purchasing one and then came across the info as you were looking up what to feed them ...

Either way, its good to see you are now taking the necessary steps towards creating an environment/diet that will help enable your Synchiropus splendidus thrive.

Harvest pods from your refugium, as well as supplement with a commercially available bottle/container of live copepods every few weeks, in order to increase density levels in the main display enough to properly support this species ! Keep a close eye on body weight, if your specimen thins out put it in the refugium to gain weight. HTH

Research. Research. Research

incognitus · 09/06/2012, 12:50 AM

You can train your dragonet with a slender anchovy glass jar so that it has a small rim. Dragonets don´t have fear to get in but other fishes can´t. It´s better you feed freeze food because it will get much more food, blood worm and eggs are good. This way mine eats pellets nowadays.

jcurella · 09/06/2012, 01:39 AM

Thanks for all the help everyone! incognitus Anchovy jar is something I was thinking about. Was wondering if I could harvest live pods and keep them in something like that so he will go to it for food. You mentioned frozen food. I would like to start with live pods and ween him to frozen food. What about zooplex? is that an option too? I just want to train him to go to a certain spot for feeding so he knows where to eat. thanks again for all the help everyone!

Fishbulb2 · 09/06/2012, 03:11 PM

I also used newly hatched brine shrimp to acclimate mine to his new home. He's been eating them for several weeks now. I've noticed that now he even eats frozen mysis shrimp. I think it's important to use all of the live foods you can everyday for the first few months until they get acclimated. Eventually, I do believe a lot will convert to frozen foods if they've made it that long. My goal is to very slowly decrease the frequency that I feed mine pods and brine shrimp and monitor him to see if he continues to grow on the frozen mysis.

Good luck.

FB

MandarinFan · 09/07/2012, 01:47 AM

My little female mandarin loves to eat. We had been using a small baby food jar for her diner location but the flame angel gets in it, even with rubber bands over the opening trying to deter him... What is an anchovy jar? TIA!

incognitus · 09/07/2012, 04:50 AM

Here you are

MandarinFan · 09/08/2012, 03:07 PM

Great, thank you! I will try that.

SushiGirl · 09/08/2012, 03:18 PM

You can google mandarin diner and find lots of examples.

Please remember that they won't live long if they don't have actual pods, so you cannot rely on weaning them off of pods & onto prepared foods altogether. As said, they hunt & eat pods all day long to remain healthy.

09/05/2012, 09:03 PM	#1
jcurella Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 80	Is it possible for me to train my dragonet to eat harvested pods from a container? Just wondering, I bought one today and totally forgot that they survive off pods. I have an abundance of pods from 2 20 gallon refugiums. I've read about people training seahorses to feed from a container or certain location in the tank. Does anyone know if I could train my dragonet to feed from a container with harvested pods or some sort of similar idea?

09/06/2012, 03:11 PM	#6
Fishbulb2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 1,807	I also used newly hatched brine shrimp to acclimate mine to his new home. He's been eating them for several weeks now. I've noticed that now he even eats frozen mysis shrimp. I think it's important to use all of the live foods you can everyday for the first few months until they get acclimated. Eventually, I do believe a lot will convert to frozen foods if they've made it that long. My goal is to very slowly decrease the frequency that I feed mine pods and brine shrimp and monitor him to see if he continues to grow on the frozen mysis. Good luck. FB __________________ Just getting back in, but trying to do it right! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon tank. SPS, LPS, few softies

09/08/2012, 03:18 PM	#10
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	You can google mandarin diner and find lots of examples. Please remember that they won't live long if they don't have actual pods, so you cannot rely on weaning them off of pods & onto prepared foods altogether. As said, they hunt & eat pods all day long to remain healthy. __________________ Visit my Homepage or "My Albums" (via Profile) for hitchhiker pics. Current Tank Info: 55g softy/LPS tank & 20L reef tank

09/05/2012, 10:08 PM	#2
dirtyBit Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 309	Do you not have pods in the tank? Mine just works the rocks all day. It's doing great and even eats frozen food now. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

09/05/2012, 10:44 PM	#3
coralreefdoc Moved On Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Cavitation Bubble Posts: 776	You "forgot" they need copepods as their main food source, or you didnt research thoroughly before purchasing one and then came across the info as you were looking up what to feed them ... Either way, its good to see you are now taking the necessary steps towards creating an environment/diet that will help enable your Synchiropus splendidus thrive. Harvest pods from your refugium, as well as supplement with a commercially available bottle/container of live copepods every few weeks, in order to increase density levels in the main display enough to properly support this species ! Keep a close eye on body weight, if your specimen thins out put it in the refugium to gain weight. HTH Research. Research. Research

09/06/2012, 12:50 AM	#4
incognitus Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Spain Posts: 63	You can train your dragonet with a slender anchovy glass jar so that it has a small rim. Dragonets don´t have fear to get in but other fishes can´t. It´s better you feed freeze food because it will get much more food, blood worm and eggs are good. This way mine eats pellets nowadays.

09/06/2012, 01:39 AM	#5
jcurella Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 80	Thanks for all the help everyone! incognitus Anchovy jar is something I was thinking about. Was wondering if I could harvest live pods and keep them in something like that so he will go to it for food. You mentioned frozen food. I would like to start with live pods and ween him to frozen food. What about zooplex? is that an option too? I just want to train him to go to a certain spot for feeding so he knows where to eat. thanks again for all the help everyone!

09/07/2012, 01:47 AM	#7
MandarinFan Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 52	My little female mandarin loves to eat. We had been using a small baby food jar for her diner location but the flame angel gets in it, even with rubber bands over the opening trying to deter him... What is an anchovy jar? TIA!

09/07/2012, 04:50 AM	#8
incognitus Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Spain Posts: 63	Here you are

09/08/2012, 03:07 PM	#9
MandarinFan Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 52	Great, thank you! I will try that.