THE Mandarin Dragonet

The Mandarin goby has been dream fish for me. Along with a Purple Tang and Majestic Angel. I am in the process of building a 125 with a 50 gallon sump. My build is nearly complete. Recently I turned the lights off and waited about 30 minutes.....then I turned the lights back on. I was amazed at the amount of copepods that were crawling all over my tank! So.....I am thinking I can make a Mandarin very happy. Anybody with other thoughts please advise. Thank you

 

bump

 

honest answer is I dont know

but here are 2 images of my 75 taken last October after doing a lights out/ lights on check

there where no fish in the tank at the time
since then I have added 2 wrasse, and both of these fish, eat frozen and in fact pellets
but they are always eating, irrespective of how much I feed, they are always hunting for pods

I dont see the above anymore, I do see pods, but not in those numbers anymore

its hard to say, exactly how many pods you would need to ensure your Mandarin is always able to find food

if you can get one that will eat alternative foods, that will increase your chances of long term sucess

but if I where you, I would let that pod colony build up a few more months before commiting to the Mandarin

Steve

 

My tank has never supported a fish. It has been a long and slow process. I have a Yellow Tang nearly ready to enter the tank. I am just waiting on a specific time line. The amount of Pods in the tank has become insane. They come out during the day. If I drop food in the tank they run out and grab anything they can get. There will be no other pod eaters in the tank. I think maybe I can make it happen.

 

A mandarin is a dream fish of mine too. How long has it been set up? If you think you have enough pods then I would wait just a little bit longer to be on the safe side. Good luck!

 

In a 125g i would say it would be alright to do it..YOu just need a really nice fuge with a good pod population and ALOT of live rock.