Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[MikeTR]

one day i'll catch mine off guard.. i can look all i want.. but when he sees the camera he's like.. meh.. i'll just move into this here shadow.. and ease myself back into the rock work.

[ccapasso]

He's always zooming around pecking at pods. I feed new spectrum pellets which makes his belly stick out so I guess that lasts him the rest of the day.

 

Nice...I feed those same pellets. All the fish love it (that and reefcleaners filter feed food).

[MikeTR]

one day i'll catch mine off guard.. i can look all i want.. but when he sees the camera he's like.. meh.. i'll just move into this here shadow.. and ease myself back into the rock work.

 

 

 

[metrokat]

He's cute. Video him when the room is completely dark.

[Tamberav]

one day i'll catch mine off guard.. i can look all i want.. but when he sees the camera he's like.. meh.. i'll just move into this here shadow.. and ease myself back into the rock work.

+1

 

The only photo I managed to get of him in the back corner peering at the scary black camera.

Eats formula 1 pellets and Nutramar ova

 

 

This thread got me Googling mandarins.. and I came across this:

Didn't know there was another kind. "Synchiropus occidentalis" Guess they are rare but there are some pairs now that people are trying to breed. Neat!

[Mstefa1]

U guys are making me want one! I've considered one for my Aquapod, especially since I have a HOB fuge loaded with pods. Would look for the ORA alternative food eating one though.

 

Unfortunately ,I have too much going on right now. They are beautiful fish so keep posting so I can drool please.

[kalireefer]

Pretty fat male in my 10 gal happy with mysis and pod grazing

[metrokat]

Pretty fat male in my 10 gal happy with mysis and pod grazing

How long have you had him?

[kalireefer]

I think around Christmas I picked him up. Mandarin's are the reason I jumped into this wonderful hobby. I had a mated pair in my 14 gal biocube for about three years till the tank crashed due to a extended power outage. ... Thankfully I have a Honda generator that can power a small city with now so i got back at it set up a 10 gal rimless with a kessil a150 and a mp 10 and im loving the reef scene again

[fretfreak13]

Arg! I will post a shot of my baby girl Sasha Monday when I'm back at school where the tank is. She is a spotted mandarin that eats nothing but PE and San Fransisco Bay Brand Mysis. I've tried to vary her diet with OVA, pellets, Cyclopeeze, and brine. She wants nothing to do with it...the little wierdo.

 

I have the most unorthodox tank on NR, I'm sure...thats why I don't update my tank thread. Don't want all the flame from jerks over the net who are just parroting information about critters they've probably never kept themselves lol. My tank works just the way it is. I have had Sasha since November 12, 2012.

[metrokat]

Cool, does she eat frozen or just pods? If just pods, do you have a culture ? 10g is small for a mandy btw.

[Hexadron]

This fish is one of the sole reasons I want a bigger tank. So beautiful

[metrokat]

Duh, sorry, you said she eats mysis.

[fretfreak13]

Yes, literally..JUST mysis. There are pods all over the glass, and in a 6 gallon tank you'd think she'd annahilate the entire population in less than an hour. To my knowledge she doesn't touch them. She is fed mysis at least three times daily, if not more, straight out of a turkey baster. No food is wasted, she eats every piece given to her. lol

 

Edit: Just realized you weren't talking to me. >.>' Whoops.

[kalireefer]

Yes, literally..JUST mysis. There are pods all over the glass, and in a 6 gallon tank you'd think she'd annahilate the entire population in less than an hour. To my knowledge she doesn't touch them. She is fed mysis at least three times daily, if not more, straight out of a turkey baster. No food is wasted, she eats every piece given to her. lol

 

Edit: Just realized you weren't talking to me. >.>' Whoops.

That's awesome to here another dragonet is doing well in a smaller tank because my buddies with larger tanks 400 gal plus always have gave me sh*t for having my mandarins in 40 gal and smaller but mine have always been nice and fat due to being on frozen food and having a more condensed feeding area for them with no fast moving fish swooping all the food. Just my .02 i got a pretty good buzz at the moment...

[mandarin_goby]

My little target mandarin won't stay still long enough for me to get a pic. I just love her, she reminds me of a tiny hummingbird. They've always been my favorite saltwater fish.

 

She's maybe 1.5 inches and is constantly hovering around. Since I've had her (about 3 months), she's grown a bit and gotten a bit plump, thank goodness. Her name is Mandy (original, I know). She always brings a big smile to my face when I see her

[Tamberav]

That's awesome to here another dragonet is doing well in a smaller tank because my buddies with larger tanks 400 gal plus always have gave me sh*t for having my mandarins in 40 gal and smaller but mine have always been nice and fat due to being on frozen food and having a more condensed feeding area for them with no fast moving fish swooping all the food. Just my .02 i got a pretty good buzz at the moment...

My mandarin is in a 20g but planning to move to a 40B.. I'm actually worried about moving to a bigger tank because I feel the small space allows me to target feed mine easily and he has a favorite "feed me here" hang out spot. I don't have mine trained to a diner (eats off the sand) and thinking I will try and do so before moving over to a 40B to possibly make the transition more smoothly.

 

I think we may find out mandarins can be even healthier in small systems when properly cared for.

[fretfreak13]

That's awesome to here another dragonet is doing well in a smaller tank because my buddies with larger tanks 400 gal plus always have gave me sh*t for having my mandarins in 40 gal and smaller but mine have always been nice and fat due to being on frozen food and having a more condensed feeding area for them with no fast moving fish swooping all the food. Just my .02 i got a pretty good buzz at the moment...

 

Holy hell, is your name Kali? MY name is Kali!!! Spelled the same and everything!!! O_O

 

And my mandarin isn't even the biggest flame-enducer living in my tiny tank. I have three fish in that tiny tank, and one would even cause more of a buzz. I've had THAT one since January 16th, and I am waiting until I have her for at least eight months happy and healthy before I even post about her... >.>'

[yoshii]

My old male, unfortunately he jumped out when I was on vacation

Currently I have a small female in my 55, but she gets shy when the camera comes out

[mandarin_goby]

That's so sad, Yoshii, he was stunning!

[jfarabaugh]

over 3 years old now. older image but one of my best

 

[metrokat]

Yoshi and JF - love those pictures. I can't get Draco to show me his dorsal fin at all, I've seen him flare it only a few times when another fish got in his face. He is so peaceful, I call him a hovercraft or submarine, zooming here and there, cocking his head. Even though I saw him eating Nutramar at the store when I bough him home (March of 2012 BTW ) I was worried he would starve so I started a Tisbe culture for him. 3 months later I stopped culturing pods but I also got a fuge so likely he has a fresh supply daily.

 

I have noticed that feeding the tank with live phytoplankton vs dead also shows a real difference between pod populations. And I thought pods weren't picky about the kinds of phyto they eat.

That's so sad, Yoshii, he was stunning!

he was!

My mandarin is in a 20g but planning to move to a 40B.. I'm actually worried about moving to a bigger tank because I feel the small space allows me to target feed mine easily and he has a favorite "feed me here" hang out spot. I don't have mine trained to a diner (eats off the sand) and thinking I will try and do so before moving over to a 40B to possibly make the transition more smoothly.

 

I think we may find out mandarins can be even healthier in small systems when properly cared for.

Have you tried a mandy diner?

 

Here is Draco going for the nutramar

[Tamberav]

Yoshi and JF - love those pictures. I can't get Draco to show me his dorsal fin at all, I've seen him flare it only a few times when another fish got in his face. He is so peaceful, I call him a hovercraft or submarine, zooming here and there, cocking his head. Even though I saw him eating Nutramar at the store when I bough him home (March of 2012 BTW ) I was worried he would starve so I started a Tisbe culture for him. 3 months later I stopped culturing pods but I also got a fuge so likely he has a fresh supply daily.

 

I have noticed that feeding the tank with live phytoplankton vs dead also shows a real difference between pod populations. And I thought pods weren't picky about the kinds of phyto they eat.

 

he was!

 

Have you tried a mandy diner?

 

Here is Draco going for the nutramar

 

I put a baby food jar in last night for him to get used to but I think its a little too small to be comfortable. However, the jar I would like to use won't fit in that back corner w/o moving the rock and I can't do that because it is home to my goby/pistol.

 

What did you make yours out of? An open top one might work better for where I have to place it.

[metrokat]

I made the little dish out of a plastic cup, my Tide washing detergent cup to be exact. I glued a frag tile to weigh it down and the stick is a hollow stick they use to hold birthday balloons. I attached airline tubing at the top of it and injected ova.

[Tamberav]

I made the little dish out of a plastic cup, my Tide washing detergent cup to be exact. I glued a frag tile to weigh it down and the stick is a hollow stick they use to hold birthday ballons. I attached airline tubing at the top of it and injected ova.

Thanks Kat! This actually gives me some good ideas.