Mandarin Fish

[Matt1997]

just curious if these have become easier to keep in the reef hobby? I remember having one years back in the 300 reef that would never eat and only durvived off of what was present in the rock. Are these now captive bred? Or are they still the finicky little fish that I remember them being? Just curious as I was reading up on them again and all the threads are from years ago. Around the time we used to have one and they were all pretty accurate with the expierience.

 

[Copperkills]

I enjoyed the company of a Mandarin for several years. I had him eating mysis but he was a slow eater, much like that of a seahorse. I also had a flame angel who was a voracious eater, I had to spot feed my mandarin with a turkey baster and ward off the angel to ensure he was plump.

 

[Matt1997]

I enjoyed the company of a Mandarin for several years. I had him eating mysis but he was a slow eater, much like that of a seahorse. I also had a flame angel who was a voracious eater, I had to spot feed my mandarin with a turkey baster and ward off the angel to ensure he was plump.

Still have it?

 

[TORX]

I have kept one in my seahorse tank for a year now. It eats thawed Mysis. I only feed that tank Hikari mysis and he is fat and happy.

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[Copperkills]

Nope, tank crashed in the divorce and the ex refused to take care of it. Lost my prized Borbonious Anthias too RIP

 

[Kjmsmith]

I’ve had a mandarin dragonet for over 2 years in my 90g - first and only one I’ve had so I can’t speak to other experiences. Mine doesn’t eat any dry or frozen, only live copepods. Since I run a sumpless system, I created a copepod “condo” in my tank which is basically a plastic breeder box with lid that I filled with LR rubble, sand and a clump of chaeto and it sits in the bottom of my tank at the back behind rocks so it’s not visible from the front. Kind of an “in-tank” refugium of sorts. I “seeded” the tank in advance of getting the mandarin and the condo allows for a safe reproduction of copepods as preditors cant get in and the pods just swim out into the tank to keep the food chain for the mandarin supplied.
I was nervous about the fish surviving as I did try to convert it to mysis but it never ate it. It looks healthy and plump so all must be well 2 years later in the condo. I can monitor the pod population by looking in the condo to see whats scurring around. Its always pretty active in there
Good luck if you choose to get one, they are finicky but once established low maintenance and beautiful to watch.

 

[Josh]

Ive had my mandarin a good 9 months now, he has a huge beer belly on him, i have a noticeably high amount of pods and he loves to eat frozen mysis.

 

[jeffopentax]

I’ve had a mandarin dragonet for over 2 years in my 90g - first and only one I’ve had so I can’t speak to other experiences. Mine doesn’t eat any dry or frozen, only live copepods. Since I run a sumpless system, I created a copepod “condo” in my tank which is basically a plastic breeder box with lid that I filled with LR rubble, sand and a clump of chaeto and it sits in the bottom of my tank at the back behind rocks so it’s not visible from the front. Kind of an “in-tank” refugium of sorts. I “seeded” the tank in advance of getting the mandarin and the condo allows for a safe reproduction of copepods as preditors cant get in and the pods just swim out into the tank to keep the food chain for the mandarin supplied.
I was nervous about the fish surviving as I did try to convert it to mysis but it never ate it. It looks healthy and plump so all must be well 2 years later in the condo. I can monitor the pod population by looking in the condo to see whats scurring around. Its always pretty active in there
Good luck if you choose to get one, they are finicky but once established low maintenance and beautiful to watch.

Do you have pic of the pod condo?


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[yveterinarian]

I kept my mandarin for several years, first in my reef tank, then later in my seahorse tank when he was being picked on in my reef tank. He came to me already converted to eating frozen mysis and he did very well. He died after I had had him for about 6 years when he developed some sort of growth on his side. I wasn't able to cure him. If you purchase one that has been converted by the LFS to eat frozen mysis, you shouldn't have too much trouble with it.

 

[Kjmsmith]

Do you have pic of the pod condo?


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Here are a couple pics; one is to give you an idea where it is located in my tank with pic from right side of dt and the other is a closeup to see the actual container. I hve never removed or disturbed it since I added it a couple years ago. Despite the buildup on the container i can still see various types of pods and other crawlers in there making sure the environment is still thriving. Hope this helps.