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Mandarin Myths


Gulls

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HI all

 

Am Fairly new to nano systems

downgrading from a big tank to a nano wasn't easy and the initial struggle just seems to settle a bit

 

I have a question on keeping mandarin (dragonet) in a nano tank. Though most of the informatives suggest a minimum 45 gallons tank for fish to survive. mostly the requirement based on balance of pods surviving and multiplying for regular consumption.

 

My question is whether the set up requirement is 45 gallons or the display need to be that big.

I currently have a 17 gallon (net) display.

I topped it up with the following

a) 7 gallon refuiguim ( Rock roubles and marcoalgae)

b) 8 gallon RDSB - (7 inches of sand)

c) 15 gallon sump ( skimmer, reactors, return pump)

 

The same has been running for a year and seems to have achieved stability as far as water parameters are concerned

Would the system qualify as the bare minimum for a mandarin to be successfully kept?

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10 minutes ago, Gulls said:

HI all

 

Am Fairly new to nano systems

downgrading from a big tank to a nano wasn't easy and the initial struggle just seems to settle a bit

 

I have a question on keeping mandarin (dragonet) in a nano tank. Though most of the informatives suggest a minimum 45 gallons tank for fish to survive. mostly the requirement based on balance of pods surviving and multiplying for regular consumption.

 

My question is whether the set up requirement is 45 gallons or the display need to be that big.

I currently have a 17 gallon (net) display.

I topped it up with the following

a) 7 gallon refuiguim ( Rock roubles and marcoalgae)

b) 8 gallon RDSB - (7 inches of sand)

c) 15 gallon sump ( skimmer, reactors, return pump)

 

The same has been running for a year and seems to have achieved stability as far as water parameters are concerned

Would the system qualify as the bare minimum for a mandarin to be successfully kept?

Depends on feeding and if you plan to culture pods and so on...a Mandarin feeder with white worms and freshly hatched brine shrimp is a nice suppliment too. A Mandy in a nano tends to limit what corals you can keep.... simply from the influx of frozen food suppliment.

 

Macro algae dominated display can make it easier as it provides food to the pods and hiding spots. You still want to feed the pods phyto or even pellets. You can only have as many pods available as there is food... Mandarins die in clean 100g tanks too.

 

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Snow_Phoenix

Are you in the US? If yes, try to get one of the captive bred ones. They arrive tiny, but you'll have better success with them as compared to a wild-caught mandy.

 

Also, consider designing your display around the needs of the fish as well. Meaning, add as much macro as you can to the DT (macro is a breeding ground for pods) and also ask yourself, are you truly willing to keep up with the demands of keeping this fish well-fed and happy? Mandys eat a *LOT. They're forever eating. 

 

If you want to keep it on a steady diet of live pods, it'll be very expensive on your part - if I'm not mistaken, the average Mandy consumes up to 5K pods per day. A 7G refugium seems like it's large enough, but in the long run, it would be best if you train your mandy to accept prepared food, such as frozen mysis. 

 

There are several threads in NR you can poke around in - one of them had a detailed step-by-step layout of how to train dragonets to accept prepared food. I believe it's called 'The Many Methods of Training Dragonets' by IGreen. You might want to have a look at that. 

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1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Are you in the US? If yes, try to get one of the captive bred ones. They arrive tiny, but you'll have better success with them as compared to a wild-caught mandy.

 

Also, consider designing your display around the needs of the fish as well. Meaning, add as much macro as you can to the DT (macro is a breeding ground for pods) and also ask yourself, are you truly willing to keep up with the demands of keeping this fish well-fed and happy? Mandys eat a *LOT. They're forever eating. 

 

If you want to keep it on a steady diet of live pods, it'll be very expensive on your part - if I'm not mistaken, the average Mandy consumes up to 5K pods per day. A 7G refugium seems like it's large enough, but in the long run, it would be best if you train your mandy to accept prepared food, such as frozen mysis. 

 

There are several threads in NR you can poke around in - one of them had a detailed step-by-step layout of how to train dragonets to accept prepared food. I believe it's called 'The Many Methods of Training Dragonets' by IGreen. You might want to have a look at that. 

I am not from US.

Yes i plan to keep the fish happy and healthy. Hence the queries.

I do not plan any macro algae in display. It is planned in the refuge.

I have lots of rocks though in the entire setup and sand even more if DSB is considered for the  surface area

 

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The general recommendation is 30-45 gallons devoted to growing pods for the fish. Your sump doesn't count towards that, it's not great space for pods. 

 

Macroalgae in the display is HIGHLY suggested. 

 

What lives in the tank right now? Do you see a lot of pods? Any fish, cleanup crew? 

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For cleanup crew, i have just a snail and a hermit crab

Have a percula clown and a few corals

Nothing else apart from sand (1 inch) and rocks (about 10 Kgs) in the display

 

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They need to be fed frozen often when in a small tank and more importantly the pods need to be fed or it doesn't matter how much rock you have. Expect to run a dirty tank and be limited on what you can keep for corals. Pods love debris and filth.

 

It should be treated like a species tank and not a regular reef tank. I would skip over any fish or shrimp that will steal food from the Mandarin.

 

You can look up how to culture pods...freshly hatched brine shrimp and white worms as well.

 

Simply having rock and a fuge is not a set up for success in a small tank... they need more then that. The green spotteds have always been a bit easier to keep for me...just because they seem to be more aggressive eaters with the blues being more shy.

 

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On 6/2/2020 at 11:45 PM, Tamberav said:

They need to be fed frozen often when in a small tank and more importantly the pods need to be fed or it doesn't matter how much rock you have. Expect to run a dirty tank and be limited on what you can keep for corals. Pods love debris and filth.

 

It should be treated like a species tank and not a regular reef tank. I would skip over any fish or shrimp that will steal food from the Mandarin.

 

You can look up how to culture pods...freshly hatched brine shrimp and white worms as well.

 

Simply having rock and a fuge is not a set up for success in a small tank... they need more then that. The green spotteds have always been a bit easier to keep for me...just because they seem to be more aggressive eaters with the blues being more shy.

 

Of course bro. The intention is to know the requirements. Would never risk a fish without having the set up in place. Was also intending to set up a brine shrimp hatchery. If any amount of success can be achieved through it

 

Since you are experienced in keeping one, would be more interested in knowing your setup and factors i need to further consider

 

 

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7 hours ago, Gulls said:

Of course bro. The intention is to know the requirements. Would never risk a fish without having the set up in place. Was also intending to set up a brine shrimp hatchery. If any amount of success can be achieved through it

 

Since you are experienced in keeping one, would be more interested in knowing your setup and factors i need to further consider

 

 

 

I ran a species tank...was 20g with 6 of them with a 20g fuge and it was moslty macro algae. It had a large skimmer and biopellets because I fed often and heavy. I would turn the pumps off for a few hours when I fed. The heavy feeding kept the pods breeding like crazy.

 

Basically expect to have corals that like dirtier water and you need a way to export the excess nutrients and train the Mandarin to frozen.

 

 

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On 6/4/2020 at 10:42 PM, Tamberav said:

 

I ran a species tank...was 20g with 6 of them with a 20g fuge and it was moslty macro algae. It had a large skimmer and biopellets because I fed often and heavy. I would turn the pumps off for a few hours when I fed. The heavy feeding kept the pods breeding like crazy.

 

Basically expect to have corals that like dirtier water and you need a way to export the excess nutrients and train the Mandarin to frozen.

 

 

Pardon me for the gender confusion.🌹

thanks for her revert 

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