My new reef tank fish

[Randy-L]

My first reef Tank ready fish.
I have wanted one of these ever since I first saw one.

[lReef lKeeper]

how long has this tank been up Randy ?? IMHO a mandarinfish, (actually a Dragonet), is a fish for a very established tank. as they are a challenge to feed. they must be provided with plenty of live food, which is usually added as hitchikers on LR and in LS. they seem to like live brine shrimp, and live black worms. but it does not fare well with competitive feeding fish in the same tank. it is a favorite among us in the hobby, but has a very poor survival rate in captivity, as it ofter starves to death in newly setup tanks.

[Randy-L]

Yes - I have heard all this before. And yes, I am aware that the fish will most likly only eat live foods. I have been feeding him live brine and he seem to be doing good so far, though it is way too early to see how he will do in the long run. I do have some live copepodes on the way and will be building a refugium soon.

I know that I have taken on a challenge but I don't intend on putting anything else in the tank for some time. Except live rock.

I'll let you know how things work out.

[lReef lKeeper]

sounds like you have it all figured out then. just wanted to give you some insight on your new fish. BTW ... i will be getting one soon also, so when it gets to the display tank we can compare notes on them to insure thier survival.

[Randy-L]

I would not go so far as to say that I have everything figured out but I think I will be able to do fairly well.

[lReef lKeeper]

where is a good place to get live pods ?? any point in the right direction will be helpful.

[chrisl1]

That's a tough fish to keep. I added one to my setup after a year and a half, it didn't make it. That litle guy needs lotsa food, I would get a fuge going asap, it's going to need lots of pods to maintain. Get chaeto from a bunch of people to establish diversity, I'm not sure how fast pods reproduce, but what happens when he eats em all? Wish you luck with it. They are really neat looking but, they really dont fare too well. How old is the setup you have?

Chris

[Randy-L]

Hi,
I found this, thought I would share.
http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

[lReef lKeeper]

great site, i added to favs for when i get the 2 mandarins in a couple weeks. thanx

[Randy-L]

I thought I better add that not all Mandarins will eat non live food. But this method has many advantages. uneaten food can be lifted out and replaced.

I'll let you know how it works out.

[dakar]

Mandarins are hard to keep for long periods of time.... but if you are looking for pods http://oceanpods.com/ is probably one of the few sources I would order from... I spoke with the gal on the phone at some length and she was pretty knowledgable... but better yet is to just grow your own and save the $$$.

[Randy-L]

I'm getting mine from Ashby Aquatics http://www.ashbyaquatics.com/ . Should be getting them on Thursday and will be setting up a Refugium.

Will try to keep you posted on how thing go.