Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[lkoechle]

Brah!!! My mandys were totally going to do it. Qinglong was flaring and doing the whole holding zhuque between his fins and then my stupid lonely rabbitfish decided she needed friends RIGHT NOW. She is clearly not the friend you want as a wingman total blocker of the you know. Hopefully, I will have a new companion for her in a couple weeks. But for now? GAH!

[kimberbee]

Brah!!! My mandys were totally going to do it. Qinglong was flaring and doing the whole holding zhuque between his fins and then my stupid lonely rabbitfish decided she needed friends RIGHT NOW. She is clearly not the friend you want as a wingman total blocker of the you know. Hopefully, I will have a new companion for her in a couple weeks. But for now? GAH!

Dammit rabbitfish!!

[jamescstein]

My wifes Mandy's dance nightly but they've only spawned once.

[metrokat]

My wifes Mandy's dance nightly but they've only spawned once.

Hmmm, Joe might know why this happens

[JoeDigiorgio]

I mean in community tanks there are distractions. Other fish know they are about to make something yummy so that draws attention. People walking by, change in flow in the tank...you women know how easily you just 'lose it' LOL

 

Does the female hydrate eggs daily and fail to release them or does she just entertain the male's advances without any eggs in the holster ready to go? I've seen both scenarios. Usually females retain eggs if the tank isn't tall enough or if someone or something gets in the way during the rises. Usually not a problem though.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hercules still on the prowl for some pods:

 

 

 

Also, I can't find any live black worms. Any other way to make my Mandy gain some weight? His lateral lines are showing, although I keep stuffing him with live BBS, pods, crab roe and frozen mysis up to 4x a day.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Hercules still on the prowl for some pods:

 

 

 

Also, I can't find any live black worms. Any other way to make my Mandy gain some weight? His lateral lines are showing, although I keep stuffing him with live BBS, pods, crab roe and frozen mysis up to 4x a day.

 

Crab roe? I need some of that. I can send you black worms if you send me crab roe lol

[Snow_Phoenix]

Crab roe? I need some of that. I can send you black worms if you send me crab roe lol

 

I'm stuck on the Asian continent unfortunately. Otherwise I'd totally swap. It's a pity we don't have the Nutramar Ova equivalent here. I keep scavenging the wet markets for fish and crab roe, and you should see all the fishmongers give me weird looks. I think the last one thought I was nuts when I said, "Gimme that fat female crab! I want her eggs for my fish!"

 

Yeah, it didn't go well. Still got the eggs though.

[JoeDigiorgio]

I'm stuck on the Asian continent unfortunately. Otherwise I'd totally swap. It's a pity we don't have the Nutramar Ova equivalent here. I keep scavenging the wet markets for fish and crab roe, and you should see all the fishmongers give me weird looks. I think the last one thought I was nuts when I said, "Gimme that fat female crab! I want her eggs for my fish!"

 

Yeah, it didn't go well. Still got the eggs though.

 

Yea I get fish roe at the Asian markets too. And don't worry about Ova. We don't have it anymore either lol

[gulfsurfer101]

[metrokat]

[jedimasterben]

S. picturatus

 

[metrokat]

Think you should call her Luna. She has a crescent moon marking.

[lkoechle]

I have a question. In the future, could i get a spotted mandarin and have it co-exist peacefully with my green pair? Would a female be a better choice then a male?

[JoeDigiorgio]

S. picturatus

 

I have an idea! Get her eating mysis and...ship her to me! I did something bad the other day and bought a pellet eating picturatus male who is already eating blackworms and mysis for me. Right now he is rooming with the latest clutch of clowns I'm raising so I can keep an eye on him on my girlfriend's desk. He told me he's looking for his own girlfriend though.

 

I'm back in the game and seriously looking for a trained female spotted so I can get the breeding project back up and running. I graduate in two weeks and I have big plans for my upcoming free time!

 

I'll pay appropriately for a female with proof of feeding to save myself the time of training my own. I'm not looking to waste any time this month. I have orchid dottyback eggs hatching in two days and I'm trying to get the culture station back up and running so time is money lol

[jedimasterben]

I have a question. In the future, could i get a spotted mandarin and have it co-exist peacefully with my green pair? Would a female be a better choice then a male?

Your tank is decently large, but unless mandarins are also cheap there (they're around $8 for regular green/reds, $12 for spotted, and $15-20 for ruby reds), I don't think I'd try it.

 

I have an idea! Get her eating mysis and...ship her to me! I did something bad the other day and bought a pellet eating picturatus male who is already eating blackworms and mysis for me. Right now he is rooming with the latest clutch of clowns I'm raising so I can keep an eye on him on my girlfriend's desk. He told me he's looking for his own girlfriend though.

 

I'm back in the game and seriously looking for a trained female spotted so I can get the breeding project back up and running. I graduate in two weeks and I have big plans for my upcoming free time!

 

I'll pay appropriately for a female with proof of feeding to save myself the time of training my own. I'm not looking to waste any time this month. I have orchid dottyback eggs hatching in two days and I'm trying to get the culture station back up and running so time is money lol

IMHO, with a little time, any dragonet will take to prepared foods, especially if they are wandering all around, they'll accidentally eat a bit here or there and then all of a sudden it's like they can't get enough of it

[JoeDigiorgio]

^ I couldnt agree more with the above statement, with the caveat that the fish has to be at least pretty healthy to start with. I've had a good few that were beyond saving EVEN THOUGH they were taking prepped foods.

 

 

Just know my offer is there Ben LOL I'm always willing to pay for good breeding project broodstock

 

WHICH REMINDS ME!

 

Anyone with a confirmed female Banggai especially in South Florida, shoot me a PM...mine keeps egg binding and I'm worried it'll take a toll on her overall health. I'd rather swap her with someone not breeding so she can stop hydrating eggs and reabsorbing them and just live out an otherwise normal life.

[metrokat]

Dot won't sit still for long, hard to get cute pictures but look at that fat belly, she ate LRS in this picture

[JoeDigiorgio]

Gimme gimme gimme gimme!!!!

[lkoechle]

Another question: so my male seems to only eat what i feed him. He is still fat and eats about 20 live (or dead, he aint picky) blackworms in a sitting twice a day. He doesn't hunt. He just stays near his box and just looks pretty. Occasionally, he will cruise around for his lady. Now i am bursting out the seams with pods. These suckers are all over the place and so is qinglong's lady because she refuses to eat what i give her (unless its articpods, she will vaguely pick at those). She is still fat and happy. So what is my male doing? I know blackworms are fatty and rich, so is he just fine? Should i be concerned? He will stop eating when he is done, leave the box, and goes to where he perches for the day until he is hungry for 2nd feeding and then goes back to the box. It just seems strange for a fish stereotyped as "nonstop eater and if it goes more then a day without food it dies"

[JoeDigiorgio]

I very much doubt he doesn't compulsively pick around all day. Maybe not when he knows a feed from you is coming nor immediately after but he picks and pecks I'm sure.

[BulkRate]

Blue crab roe is easier to find than I expected. Asian market's a decent bet if one near you has a good active fish counter that actually is cutting up fish (ie not just defrosting precut crates). Maybe a Floridian can correct me but I think female blue crabs have orange markings on their claws.

 

In my case I have a pound of pasturized raw blue crab row (smallest quantity they'd order) on the way via a local fishmonger. Not much more expensive than a single flat pack of nutramar and hey, if the fish won't eat it I can at least dust off an old she-crab soup recipe for my own benefit.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Blue crab roe is easier to find than I expected. Asian market's a decent bet if one near you has a good active fish counter that actually is cutting up fish (ie not just defrosting precut crates). Maybe a Floridian can correct me but I think female blue crabs have orange markings on their claws.

 

In my case I have a pound of pasturized raw blue crab row (smallest quantity they'd order) on the way via a local fishmonger. Not much more expensive than a single flat pack of nutramar and hey, if the fish won't eat it I can at least dust off an old she-crab soup recipe for my own benefit.

Please tell me more about what you ordered. Any particular brand etc? If its priced similarly to Ova and easy to come by you may have just changed my life LOL

[metrokat]

Please tell me more about what you ordered. Any particular brand etc? If its priced similarly to Ova and easy to come by you may have just changed my life LOL

and mine

[BulkRate]

No idea on the particulars yet... I was surprised enough to get past the "can you order blue crab row?" question with something other than "huh?" as the response.

 

My order should arrive sometime in the latter half of next week. Have to drive halfway across town to get it, but I'm hopeful.

 

Incidentally, I called Nutramar/Quality Marine about a week ago and they said a harvest had been done & to watch for it in the next 2-3 weeks. Anyone think this is actually true, or just the plain-old-string-along speech we've all come to know & expect from various online supply houses?