Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[JoeDigiorgio]

2nd batch of BBS also crashed. So I separated the eggs from the salt in the 3rd batch and it's percolating. sigh. When are they going to be buddies so that she can learn?! I don;t have frozen brine to feed her, only frozen mysis and Draco doesn't eat those. I will try it later.

 

I swirled the sponges in the water and let the pods swim out. Fish went crazy. I let the sponges sit in the fuge for a bit and swirled and shook them in there. water was cloudy for sure with pods.

 

Honestly, they'll probably never become 'buddies'. My pairs only hang out when the pumps kick off and food goes in. Otherwise they go about their business foraging and when they run into one another they kinda do a 'oh hey...nice to see you...I gotta go I'm hungry' and continue foraging. On days when the females hydrate eggs there is more interaction especially after their last feeding but beyond that its really not much.

 

Also, if you're feeding her brine from a pipette or baster or something and get her used to eating from that, I bet you'd be able to go straight from live brine to frozen mysis without much issue. Who knows, maybe Draco will develop a taste for mysis when she does

 

really? That's good my first mandarin is going to be picturatus:)

 

I'm sure this is a bit of a statistical anomaly, but I have yet to work with a picturatus, male or female, that took more than 2 days to start eating frozen mysis. In fact, they all took it by the second or third feeding. Again, I'm sure this isn't a set standard but its enough for me to say they're definitely less picky than splendidus. They also try new foods pretty readily once they're used to frozen feed.

[metrokat]

what about that video somebody posted of mandarins swimming together?

[JoeDigiorgio]

Those two were...'in the act'

 

Btw, I just fed the children and all 4 of them ate frozen brine shrimp the new picturatus and the red splendidus males shared a pile of shrimp together like they have been buddies forever lol

[Nanoboss4]

That's cool that they take frozen easier(in your case:)) I was looking at Ora ones anyway so they will already be trained:)

[metrokat]

Momma is stressing out. (Er that means me). Bella and Draco showed no interest in the live BBS (yes finally got a good hatch).

So I'm not very happy and I refuse to loose sleep over a fish again.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Honestly, I've never had any kind of luck worth writing about when feeding mandarins BBS. Adult brine almost always gets a huge response but it must be the tiny size or something that just doesn't do it for my mandarins.

 

Today I brought home blackworms and let me say...they were quite the hit! All 4 mandarins were slurping them down like slimy spaghetti. At first the girls were a little put off by them but the boys went in hard and those two are definitely not the type to be left out so it didn't take long for the whole group to clear the entire pile of worms. The four of them probably ate about a table spoon of blackworms.

 

Oh. And I'm trying not to get too excited but the female splendidus has been more full looking all day since before breakfast. I'm thinking she's hydrating eggs. I have the blues on for the next hour or so just to keep tabs on any activity but likely nothing until tomorrow.

[Nanoboss4]

Honestly, I've never had any kind of luck worth writing about when feeding mandarins BBS. Adult brine almost always gets a huge response but it must be the tiny size or something that just doesn't do it for my mandarins.

 

Today I brought home blackworms and let me say...they were quite the hit! All 4 mandarins were slurping them down like slimy spaghetti. At first the girls were a little put off by them but the boys went in hard and those two are definitely not the type to be left out so it didn't take long for the whole group to clear the entire pile of worms. The four of them probably ate about a table spoon of blackworms.

 

Oh. And I'm trying not to get too excited but the female splendidus has been more full looking all day since before breakfast. I'm thinking she's hydrating eggs. I have the blues on for the next hour or so just to keep tabs on any activity but likely nothing until tomorrow.

I hear almost everywhere blackworms are great transitioning food. I hope she lays for you:) pics please, this is a showoff thread:p

[metrokat]

I 'think', only 'think', Bella ate a little bit of rotifer and copepod frozen soup. She was pecking away at the area I squirted the food.

Oh! And I saw HER flaring her fins at him. Females initiate contact I believe so I took that as a good sign.

[jbb]

.Oh! And I saw HER flaring her fins at him. Females initiate contact I believe .

 

Is that what you were doing in that pic you sent me ?

 

[metrokat]

[AMAYEU]

Joe investigating the new reef club coral swap pick ups.

 

Conclusion - 1) no pods because of the coral dips

2) choose corals over getting me girlfriend, eh.

[metrokat]

 

Bella

 

 

Some Fin flaring was going on over here

[AMAYEU]

Love the pics esp the 1st one. "Fins flaring" .... We either threw out the PG rating or this thread was intended to be on the X side. Haha.

 

So this was their fist intimate date? Hopefully it's not a one night stand.

[JoeDigiorgio]

They both look awesome Kat. Bella is definitely very healthy. I fed blackworms again today. Interestingly, Big Red had a few then acted kinda full, until the female splendidus came up to eat. When he saw her start grazing, his appetite picked right up and he ate a few more worms. That sorta solidified to me that they can be encouraged to eat by seeing con specifics doing the same.

 

In other news, there was some aggression towards all three mandarins on the part of the new male picturatus. I take the blame though...err rather pass the blame onto my girlfriend who didn't feed the kids while I was at work all day. He calmed down once he realized there was enough to share.

 

Didn't get any pics worth posting, the worms seem to wriggle down into the caulerpa with their dying breaths so everything comes out pretty obscured by the fronds at the bottom. Will try again tomorrow.

 

Keeping an eye out for a spawn again tonight. Didn't see anything last night but when I got home from work both girls looked plump even without eating all day. Usually their stomachs are pretty flat after going several hours without a feed. Could just be all the amphipods too though.

[metrokat]

Bella looks good today, she ate the baby brine shrimp.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Awwwww ))) that's great. Now tell her to make Draco eat them. So he can be big and strong lol

 

I was thinking about it earlier. My red one is not very big. Bigger than the girl but he's nowhere near full grown. He's only like 2.5". He is going to be a stunner at 3.5" and I can't wait.

[Veng]

Bella looks good today, she ate the baby brine shrimp.

That's awesome! Maybe after my trip I'll try my hand at some. I've been keeping my eye out for a nice 1" one.

[Jstn]

Kat, they look great.

 

I currently have my pair in a 20h, with 4 other fish (resetting my 40b), and they are doing great, even competing with the wrasses for pellets.

[metrokat]

Love the pics esp the 1st one. "Fins flaring" .... We either threw out the PG rating or this thread was intended to be on the X side. Haha.

 

So this was their fist intimate date? Hopefully it's not a one night stand.

They're hardly "together" or I would say they are fond of quickies. but food certainly draws them to the same spot.

[metrokat]

OH BOY! Bella bi-tch slapped Draco today!

[oldSWseamomma]

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 !

[JoeDigiorgio]

OH BOY! Bella bi-tch slapped Draco today!

 

I'd take that as a sign she's quite settled in and confident in her new home What's his is hers now I suppose

[xzeror]

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 !

 

wow, how much did you pay?! That sounds amazing buying it already eating like that.

[oldSWseamomma]

wow, how much did you pay?! That sounds amazing buying it already eating like that.

She was $25. The gal that owns the LFS won't sell any unless they are already trained and eating well. She had her at the store for about 3 weeks and her and her staff always train the Dragonets they get in if they aren't already eating. They won't sell one that isn't which is so great. I don't mind paying that price and she ate very well before I took her home.

[Nanoboss4]

Nice that's awesome:)