Would like to add a Mandarin

[Obzen]

Hi eveyone. New to the site here. I would like to add a Mandarin to my 29 gal. salt water tank. I currently have 2 clowns and just added a Coral Beauty dwarf angle fish about a week ago. everything seems pretty peaceful. I guess my concern is would adding a Mandarin to a 29 gal be over stocking and would it stress out my Coral Beauty? My set up is 29 gal tank with a 20 sump/fuge.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks

[MondoBongo]

a 29 gallon is not nearly large enough to support a dragonet long term.

you are realistically looking at a minimum tank size of 55 gallons, with a 20 gallon refugium.

sorry, but 29 won't cut it.

additionally, your tank is also far too small for your coral beauty. minimum tank size for them as per live aquaria is 70 gallons.

[gone fishin]

To give you an idea of how much a Mandarin eats, they will grab a pod about every 5 seconds they are awake. that is why a larger tank that is matured with a large sustaining pod population is suggested. Also, make sure that you do not have any other fish that eats pods. A mandarin will be out competed for food just about every time.

Sadly in smaller or immature tanks the mandarin will slowly starve to death. Some folks are lucky enough to get their mandarin to take other food but this is still only a supplement.

[Mythicalelf]

Obzen I too wanted to keep a mandarin goby in a 29 gal but after reading a lot about their care I decided to not get it. I have read of people keeping them and them doing well but most of their tanks are 75+ gallons and have reefuguim to grow pods. search the forums and there is a lot on this topic.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1492650

[smedlin]

Originally Posted by gone fishin

Sadly in smaller or immature tanks the mandarin will slowly starve to death. Some folks are lucky enough to get their mandarin to take other food but this is still only a supplement.

I had a Mandarin Dragonet for many years (lost it during Hurricane Ike, when I went 13 days without power..).

I have a 150G tank, so plenty of pods.. but the mandarin would also eat bloodworms left and right.

[jeffp1]

I have one in a 90 gal. tank and it continuously feeds. I buy pods every so often as to ensure he doesn't run out of food. 29 gal. is definitely too small.

[Rob6311]

Originally Posted by gone fishin

To give you an idea of how much a Mandarin eats, they will grab a pod about every 5 seconds they are awake. that is why a larger tank that is matured with a large sustaining pod population is suggested. Also, make sure that you do not have any other fish that eats pods. A mandarin will be out competed for food just about every time.



Sadly in smaller or immature tanks the mandarin will slowly starve to death. Some folks are lucky enough to get their mandarin to take other food but this is still only a supplement.

To add on to this, the reason they eat so much is because pods are very small and a fish that size needs to eat a lot of them to sustain themselves. But on the other hand you can get very very lucky like I did and get a mandarin that will eat frozen foods. Mine absolutely loves mysis shrimp, but it is very hard and not very common to come across one that eats frozen foods.

[snorvich]

All mandarins will eat frozen. However, because of their need to eat constantly, feeding frozen is not going to sustain them without sufficient copepods in the tank. Also, success with a mandarin is one year. My advice is always a 75 gallon tank minimum that is 9 months mature.

[pdiehm]

to piggyback off of this...

Will pods form themselves in a tank? or does a batch have to be introduced? I know many keep pods in a refugium, but would a tank with 75-100lb of Pukani rock provide enough security for the pod population to maintain itself?

Reason I ask is I read somewhere that you don't need to buy pods, they will just form out of the blue, which confused me.

[MondoBongo]

Originally Posted by pdiehm

to piggyback off of this...

Will pods form themselves in a tank? or does a batch have to be introduced? I know many keep pods in a refugium, but would a tank with 75-100lb of Pukani rock provide enough security for the pod population to maintain itself?

Reason I ask is I read somewhere that you don't need to buy pods, they will just form out of the blue, which confused me.

it's not that they form out of the blue, they're just really sneaky about hitch hiking in on things.

so if you used live rock, or tossed in some macro algae, or some frags on plugs, chances are good they snuck in with them.

it doesn't hurt to introduce them, or culture them externally. but they are like little ninjas. able to sneak in quite well.

as for the 75 - 100 pounds of pukani, i don't know. it depends on a lot of things. the rock is only a piece of their habitat. sand forms a huge surface area for them to live and breed as well. also related are the nutrient levels in your tank. they mainly feed off little stuff, even smaller than themselves. phytoplankton and bacteria, things of that nature.

so your feeding habits will also have an impact on their population.

predation is also a major concern. dragonets are slow, methodical feeders. if you have other pod munchers in your tank, take a six line wrasse for example, they will easily out compete a dragonet for the available food.

i have designed my tank primarily around my mandy. everything i do, everything i add, everything i change, i first think about the impact to her. i feed heavy. i have lots of rock and sand. i don't have anything competing with her for food. i culture pods externally. i supplement her diet in a variety of ways. as long as she's fat and happy, i'm happy.

[pdiehm]

Originally Posted by MondoBongo

it's not that they form out of the blue, they're just really sneaky about hitch hiking in on things.

so if you used live rock, or tossed in some macro algae, or some frags on plugs, chances are good they snuck in with them.

it doesn't hurt to introduce them, or culture them externally. but they are like little ninjas. able to sneak in quite well.

as for the 75 - 100 pounds of pukani, i don't know. it depends on a lot of things. the rock is only a piece of their habitat. sand forms a huge surface area for them to live and breed as well. also related are the nutrient levels in your tank. they mainly feed off little stuff, even smaller than themselves. phytoplankton and bacteria, things of that nature.

so your feeding habits will also have an impact on their population.

predation is also a major concern. dragonets are slow, methodical feeders. if you have other pod munchers in your tank, take a six line wrasse for example, they will easily out compete a dragonet for the available food.

i have designed my tank primarily around my mandy. everything i do, everything i add, everything i change, i first think about the impact to her. i feed heavy. i have lots of rock and sand. i don't have anything competing with her for food. i culture pods externally. i supplement her diet in a variety of ways. as long as she's fat and happy, i'm happy.

I am using plain dry rock. I will have 60 lb of reef flakes and 30 lb of mini flakes as substrate. As far as I know my stocking in mind doesn't have any known fish who use pods as gourmet. No plans for a mandarin or 6 line wrasse. 2 tangs, a fox face, pair of clowns, a goby or so. Stuff like that. I am guessing I will introduce them after the tank is cycled.

[Rob6311]

Originally Posted by pdiehm

to piggyback off of this...

Will pods form themselves in a tank? or does a batch have to be introduced? I know many keep pods in a refugium, but would a tank with 75-100lb of Pukani rock provide enough security for the pod population to maintain itself?

Reason I ask is I read somewhere that you don't need to buy pods, they will just form out of the blue, which confused me.

No pods will ever form out of no where, because nothing can come out of no where. A lot of people are referring to putting in live rock, because a lot of people get pods as hitchhikers. But adding pods will definitely help

[pdiehm]

I thought so. Will get an order of pods at some point once cycle is done