Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[AMAYEU]

Well I did it again (probably because of this thread and how wonderfully helpful Kat and everyone else is) :0) It stormed all weekend so I took Sat. and went to my fav LFS. Just to browse and get a few supplies - and of course went home with a new fish :0) They had one Mandarin in a display tank but it said not for sale :0( She is beautiful and when the gal that owns the store saw me drooling over her she said "it's about time you showed up! I've been saving her for you!" Wow !!! She knew I had given away my Coral Beauty because it killed the last Mandarin I took home. So now that my tank is safe and it's been a couple of months she saved this one for me :0) How sweet is that !? This one eats everything you can put in front of her. I brought her home Sat. and she has been busy eating pods on my LR. My tank is well over a year old and I do have tons of them but I know she'll dwindle that down in no time so I ordered some Tisbe to replenish it and will do so once a month. She eats Nutramar Ova, Spectrum Pellets and Spirlina shrimp. Here is her picture sorry it's from my smartphone. She's checking out that snail. I do have her in my RSM130D and it has 65lbs of fuji LR. Now to pick a name for her !

That is an awesome story, even better because you have a rsm. Seems like a new movement., rsm owners with mandarins. Now we need to get spiro to get one.

[oldSWseamomma]

That is an awesome story, even better because you have a rsm. Seems like a new movement., rsm owners with mandarins. Now we need to get spiro to get one.

I couldn't believe she saved that little jewel just for me :0) It's great to have a LFS owner who keeps her tanks chrome clean & clear, knows her fish and corals and will go out of her way to help you with your tank and fish and tell you a lot of crap just to sell you a fish. Yep I LOVE my RSM130D it rocks ! I just put in InTank's pump upgrade last night and it really makes it run great :0) I still have the stock skimmer and it runs great with it. I would love to get StevieT's media basket and the Tunze skimmer for it within the next yr or sooner. My little Mandarin girl is doing great. She is happily swimming all over the LR picking away at bugs and she ate great last night. I think she likes the Nutramar Ova the best :0) Still haven't picked a name for her yet :0(

[Nanoboss4]

Pics? I make names off of looks:)

[metrokat]

Still haven't picked a name for her yet :0(

 

Daenerys

Dragon Queen of Game of Thrones

[oldSWseamomma]

Pics? I make names off of looks:)

This is the only pic I have of her so far........she's too busy checking out all that LR for bugs :0) I'll have to get out the digital camera and see if I can get any better ones of her. She isn't shy tho - when she is out from the LR she just looks around and isn't scared of me approaching the tank.

 

Daenerys

Dragon Queen of Game of Thrones

I like that !!!! That's it !! Daenerys !!! Thanks !!!

 

I couldn't believe she saved that little jewel just for me :0) It's great to have a LFS owner who keeps her tanks chrome clean & clear, knows her fish and corals and will go out of her way to help you with your tank and fish and tell you a lot of crap just to sell you a fish.

I meant to type "NOT tell you a lot of crap just to sell you a fish ! " must proof read.......... :0)

[Nanoboss4]

Cool metrokat picked a good name:)

[ZephNYC]

I have not had a mandy in years, but I used to have a fatty that ate frozen Mysis. Im looking for a pair to QT and eventually put in my Batcave, but I need them to eat frozen or forget about it. Have you guys had any luck getting Mandies to eat frozen ? When I tell people mine ate Mysis they look at me like I have three heads.

[doppelganger]

question for the mandy experts. Is it possible to mix picturatus (spotted) and splendidus (red/green) together in any combination? I'm not talking about a huge tank either. Just say the usual "nano" reef on here. Would they totally not get along or would they ignore each other?

 

Still loving all the pics and this thread

[JoeDigiorgio]

Here's a typical pic of the ladies as soon as the pumps kick off for a feeding. I wouldn't call it 'getting along' but more like respectfully ignoring one another's existence completely. My newest male picturatus has quite an attitude toward all three other mandarins in the tank but only when he's hungry.

[metrokat]

Joe, if the 2 in my tank are going to get friendly, it's going to be after lights are out right? But they go right to sleep at that time so should i have some candles burnin' in the room or something?

[JoeDigiorgio]

You'll probably be able to tell if she's going to be in the mood that night. She will be unbelievably plump looking, more than you've ever seen her. This means she's hydrated and is full of ripe eggs. Usually that means they will be getting busy that night or the next. Once they hit a rhythm it can be almost nightly depending on their diet, size etc. I leave my actinics on for an extra few hours on nights when i think something may go down. Other than that they kinda just pass out right away after lights out.

 

 

[metrokat]

Well, till yesterday if you asked me I would have said I've never seen a girl more interested in food than a boys junk. Today, in fact just a few minutes ago she hovered over him and turned herself upside down on him too. I think maybe love is in the air? She's not plump yet however.

 

They may still be very young, Draco has been with me since March of last year but she's little so could it be that she is not sexually mature yet?

[JoeDigiorgio]

I doubt she's very immature. I see few females over an inch and a half even working in fish stores. My girl splendidus is about average for what I've seen at just over an inch and I've seen her ripen up more than ten times now. Not since losing my previous male but I'm remaining hopeful that this guy will spark her interest

[JoeDigiorgio]

For the last hour I've been in front of my mandarin haven with only actinics on watching a flurry of interaction between the members of my two pairs. Both pairs are actively flaring and following one another around. The splendidus couple are more into it but Mr Red seems a bit shy about it. She keeps trying to lead him into the open water column but he won't follow.

 

More than likely he's not in shape yet. He isn't eating just anything offered. He's got a strong preference towards blackworms and frozen/live artemia. He hasn't really ventured into the world of mysis shrimp like everyone else has. That's to be expected though at this stage, he is a male splendidus after all...notoriously hardest and most stubborn of the family to train. All I care about is that he's eating at least some of what he's offered, and as long as that's true, I know he'll eventually take to more things; and eventually be a big strong boy and be in condition to mate and hopefully have some babies I'm getting ahead of myself though lol

[doppelganger]

Here's a typical pic of the ladies as soon as the pumps kick off for a feeding. I wouldn't call it 'getting along' but more like respectfully ignoring one another's existence completely. My newest male picturatus has quite an attitude toward all three other mandarins in the tank but only when he's hungry. http://www.nano-reef.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=123229'>image.jpg

 

How big is ur tank? U have 4 in there? Is it 2 of each? Sorry if u answered all this already somewhere

[JoeDigiorgio]

 

How big is ur tank? U have 4 in there? Is it 2 of each? Sorry if u answered all this already somewhere

 

It's a 15gal column and yes I have a pair of each, picturatus and splendidus. And don't apologize, I hate trying to skim back 100 pages for simple answers too lmao I just don't tell people that on here haha

[doppelganger]

that's so awesome!

[metrokat]

For the last hour I've been in front of my mandarin haven with only actinics on watching a flurry of interaction between the members of my two pairs. Both pairs are actively flaring and following one another around. The splendidus couple are more into it but Mr Red seems a bit shy about it. She keeps trying to lead him into the open water column but he won't follow.

 

More than likely he's not in shape yet. He isn't eating just anything offered. He's got a strong preference towards blackworms and frozen/live artemia. He hasn't really ventured into the world of mysis shrimp like everyone else has. That's to be expected though at this stage, he is a male splendidus after all...notoriously hardest and most stubborn of the family to train. All I care about is that he's eating at least some of what he's offered, and as long as that's true, I know he'll eventually take to more things; and eventually be a big strong boy and be in condition to mate and hopefully have some babies I'm getting ahead of myself though lol

I'm quite envious. Bella is very very active, 3 times more active than Draco ever was, so she is a bold little fishy. She pecks everywhere so I guess she is finding stuff to eat. Draco went to town on pellets today, too bad she wasn't around him to learn. I get the best response from her with rotifers. Will try OVA again later today.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Try mixing frozen BBS with the rotifers. Same concept as using live adult brine to incite a feeding response on other foods. Whatever gets her excited, mixed with whatever you want her to eat and you've got a happy healthy fish on your hands

[oldSWseamomma]

New pics of Daenerys The Dragon Queen :0) She finally picked her favorite feeding spot in the tank and it's on the right side of the LR pile in my RSM130D. I turned off the pumps to feed all the fish and out she came looking for goodies. She ate her sprilina shrimp, Ova, and a few pellets but mostly the Ova - she hoovers that up pretty well. Here she is still lookin for more (which I gladly gave her).

[metrokat]

A little hoover eh?

[oldSWseamomma]

A little hoover eh?

That's exactly what she looked like and didn't miss any of it - ha ! And again thanks for the name Kat ! I think it suits her :0)

[doppelganger]

You know what the best part of this thread is? The fact that everyone is being supportive and it's just a great compilation of information rather than accusations of what you can or can't do. How to truly take care of a mandarin in a nano vs 200 lbs of live rock or bust. This is nano-reef's after all and it's so inspiring seeing all these success stories and actual hands on, helpful information.

 

So props to you kat, joe, fret, ama, and everyone else!!!

 

One thing tho... MOAR PICS!

[JoeDigiorgio]

As requested, from two of today's feedings

 

 

 

 

[metrokat]

Video of Bella and Draco. Sassy Bella.