Any chance to keep a mandarin dragonet in my reef 120gal tank?

[homebrewdude]

I saw one of these mandarin dragonet at the LFS.
They look great!!!

I have been reading up on them and see that they need to eat pods.

This was my plan - maybe.

I have a 120gal tank and a 30gal tank for a sump

The sump operates at close to 3/4 full
The refug area has about 10gals worth of swimable area.
Obviously there is some flow from the skimmer area through the refug and onto the return pump.

I have Chaeto growing in the sump and pods.
2-3" sand bed
live rock rubble on the overflow side.
I have pods in the Chaeto and I can see them in the live rock

Assuming I keep building my pod colony in the sump, and my tank is stable, can I add one of these to my sump area?

Then try to get the fist to eat store bought food.

If he takes to food, then move him to the 120gal
200lbs sand
100+ lbs of live rock

If it all fails, then just keep him in the sump....

Any thoughts?

[jmaneyapanda]

How old is your tank? Maturity is the issue reagrding the pod population.

Something else to think about- these fish can and will eat prepared foods. I think you would be fine with it in the display.

[homebrewdude]

I thought they only ate pods?

I can buy a sinking type of food?
Maybe feed at night?

I have 2 clowns in the display - they are pigs

My tank is not ready yet.... I just added more live rock

[jda]

It could be months before a mandarin will eat prepared foods - if it even will at all.

I would wait until your tank is more mature.

[Aquai]

My mandarin eats most things i put in the tank now except flake...

I also think he has a tasting for ich parasites as he's been alot more lively with my recent whitespot outbreak on the sand bed. . .

[homebrewdude]

I was thinking of a Scooter Blenny also.
But these might fight if in the same tank?

[Bkndsdl]

I agree with Jda, I'd wait until the tank matures. Now, how you determine when your tank is mature is not easily determined, but I would say for a 125, maybe wait anywhere from 6 months - 12 months. I wouldn't put him in the sump; you will decimate your pod population, and imo never have enough pods get to the display to keep him alive.

Once you decide to put one in, though, I've got a few things I do that I do that I assume helps. One thing, I have the drain from my fuge in the side of the fuge with a screen; I think the pods will get to the tank better this way. I see alot of pods hanging around the drain, so that confirms it for me.

Also, I have my return from my fuge piped to end up directly in front of my sump pump suction. I feel the pods have more chance of being sucked up and put into the display this way.

I shake up the macro in the fuge every week or so to help w/the export.

When I upgrade to a larger tank, I plan on having a dedicated overflow for pod export, and a dedicated return from the fuge; no going through the skimmer at all.

I want to experiment with light; I know that pods are attracted to light, so I was thinking of shining a small flashlight right on the fuge drain, hopefully attracting the pods to the drain and into the display.

Have you ever noticed the large amount of pods and brine shrimp in your overflow? I want to add a drain for the overflow itself to drain directly into the fuge, capturing the pods that get stuck in there

I know that's alot of info, but I hope it helps.

[jmaneyapanda]

yes, agreed with jda and bkndsdl, except if you can find one you know is eating prepared food at a lfs. When I got mine, I watched him eat frozen myssi at the store first. No issues wwhatsoever. But if you are going with an unproven one, have an established mature tank before adding. But they CAN AND WILL eat prepared foods!

regarding scooter, they are the same ball of wax, in care. I would not put a mandarin and scooter in the same tank, unless huge.

[Aquai]

I have a scooter and a mandarin in the same tank no problem, although i think one is male one is female...

[homebrewdude]

What size is your display?
Mine is 120gal

[jmaneyapanda]

it will be just as tricky as putting in two manadrins, just so you know.....

[homebrewdude]

I wonder how hard it will be after my other fish are established for 6+ months?

2 tomato clowns
1 yellow tang
hopefully a pair of Cardinal fish

[mclc26]

I made the mistake of buying a mandarin too early. He was about 3.5" long and ended up disappearing after a few days - never to be seen again. My tank wasn't mature enough and he was too big (ie: required more food) to get enough to survive.

I must say that these are probably one of the most beautiful looking fish, IMO. The way they move around the tank is pretty cool as well. That being said, after waiting some time, I picked up a Target Mandarin. This guy is smaller (about 1.5") and I have also tried adding some 'Aquapods Copepods' to the tank. Don't know if that stuff works as I couldn't really see anything in the bottle aside from a little piece of chaeto that was in there.

I've got him in the tank along with Hippo, Sailfin, and Yellow Tangs, a Fridmani, Molly Miller Blenny, Foxface, Pygmy and Flame Angels, and a clown perc. All seem to be enjoying each other's company aside from the Flame chasing the Pygmy every so often..

[rambone]

don't put him in your refugium/sump the purpose of it being called a "refugium" is that there are no higher order predators.