Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

How to feed dragonet in QT?


lkoechle

Recommended Posts

So, on my list of fish down the road is a dragonet. Hopefully 2 red mandarins and a scooter.

 

All of the incoming fish will be QTed. How do you feed these fish? I do plan on training them to eat prepared foods via a mandy diner and I'll be feeding a variety of food to the main tank (roe, rods, pellets, mysis, cyclopeeze, and a few others) so hopefully there will be something I can find that is tempting for them. So hopefully the training process would be successful. But, how do you feed a mandarin in a 10 gallon qt? Would you dump a bottle of pods in? I would be training in QT anyways, but I don't want the first guy I get to starve to death...

Link to comment

I suggest you TRY for mandarins that are already trained onto a commonly available mix of foods... it makes keeping them in nano tanks much, much easier.

 

The tradeoff is that getting them may try your patience - plenty of stores may SAY theirs are trained... don't buy unless you see the little guys/girls chowing down on a sample of something you can buy right there, too. Yes, you can train them but it's always hit or miss. I still regard mine as only partially trained a year later... having more and more luck with cyclopeeze/LRS mixed with tailings of nutramar nowadays

 

That said, the Mandy diner aproach works well enough in QT and can provide a familiar feeding spot post-QT as well. Just siphon out the blown food after feeding sessions and be prepared to change water in the QT tank more often. Might also be a good idea to lay in some Prime and an ammo-badge to keep an eye on water quality.

Link to comment

With my mandarins, I did the tank transfer method. Takes 14 days total. I found the key to not stressing them out each move was to slowly put my hand by/under them and then lift them out (no nets, they hate nets). They didn't freak out at all as long as they had something to sit on as I lifted them out. A bucket would probably work too.

 

Sort of unconventional though but mine stopped eating frozen when I tried to QT them. The transfer method was for ich and I used prazipro for flukes. I figured 2 weeks was a quicker method then the standard 4-6 (to prevent starvation) and mandarins don't do too well with copper/hypo. It is more work though and requires lots of salt water so its not ideal for everyone.

 

Post #13: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996525

 

Ofc yours may eat just fine in QT. Mine were pretty homesick I think :)

Link to comment

I don't know if i fully understand the directions. Are they transferring between QT and display or two QTs? Interesting method though... I am assuming you were going from QT to display so yours could eat?

Link to comment

Transfer method of ich treatment involves 2 or more quarantine tanks (with medication being optional or omitted for specimens that do poorly with the common products).

 

Basically you're using the parasite's life cycle against it... the visible stage involves it exiting the fish to reproduce. If the fish are then transferred to a clean qt tank and the infected one sterilized the cycle of infection is interrupted.

Link to comment
JoeDigiorgio

I didn't read the above comments but if you're asking how to feed them in QT that's actually really easy. A bare bottom tank with no competition is pretty much all you could ask for to get them on frozen. They've got no micro fauna to prey on so if they are going to eat its going to be something you give them.

 

Start with live brine/black worms from a baster and slowly transition to mysis cyclops etc. Once assured they're disease free and obviously eating what you want, you move them over to the display.

Link to comment

I don't know if i fully understand the directions. Are they transferring between QT and display or two QTs? Interesting method though... I am assuming you were going from QT to display so yours could eat?

 

Two QT's... it just an idea IF you wanted a short QT and/or they won't eat for you. I would first just try and feed them.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...