Ive had a few Mandarins over the years. The first was a wild caught fish, I tossed him in an sps dominant reef with an established Tisbe copepod population. The fish disappeared one day, and finally saw him a month later, looking like he was "pregnant". I started removing the sandbed with that tank and found the mandarin would gobble up any food my fish didn't eat. He would let the current slide him along the bottom and where there were spots the food accumulated, he ate all of them up. He was super healthy, and adapted to the conditions in order to thrive. Recently I added a mandarin to my 20L, which has a large synergy reef triton sump and fuge. She is a tiny Biota Mandarin, maybe 3/4" long. She grazes for pods all day long, and loves the baby brine I hatch, as well as TDO pellets I crush and soak, and direct feed using a long turkey baster. She ate frozen baby brine when I had the LFS feed her prior to buying.
Thanks for the info Hillary! I added a spotted Dragonet last week, I established a pod population and had a mature sandbed before adding the Dragonet. One of the most beautiful fish in the hobby and a joy to have around 😊
Thanks for the awesome video 😃 I've got a green mandarin in a 15g all in one on my desk with a evil hermid (lps killer). It eats frozen artemia and nyos gold pods which I feed 2 times per day but it is not enough and it is skinny. It is in it for about 6 months now. I ame now feeding new hatched artemia 2 times a week. I now also throw in the cheato I prune out of the fuge of my main tank into the mandarin tank and pul it out to replace it with newly harvested cheato after the next prune. And I'm in the process of starting a tiger Pod hatchery. I hope to get it fat and happy that way..
I have had a pearly jawfish. Loved this little guy. He was beautiful and shy, would only come out for feeding. He would sometime allow another goby to house near him.
For my ruby dragonet I have a baby brine shrimp hatchery, and I personally think it’s a necessity with dragonets. Makes it so easy to feed them! I even put some in the acclimation container while I was acclimating my fish to reduce stress and so they can eat before entering the tank and having to acclimate to it (in addition to pods) frozen hikari Cyclopods are very good, any frozen baby brine shrimp, and ROE/lobster eggs are good too. Once they get larger or for the mandarins then I’d definitely say try music, and larger foods. Also selcon, and garlic help for the frozen food.
Do you find it necessary to feed constantly multiple times throughout the day as some people say or is one good feeding every day or even every other day good too?
I greatly increased my. Copepods and Amphipods by installing these on the bottom side of the Filter Socks. “Coghlan's Snap 'n Tap Grommets, 8-Pack, Blue/Black, available on Amazon.” Cut a Small X in the Filter Sock, carefully cut the Triangles out. Tossed the Black Gasket. Snapped the Grommets together, and used a bit of Super Glue on the Grommet. BTW, The Filter Socks Still Work, as only a small percentage of the water can go through the Grommet.
We love the jawfish. We've had both a blue spotted and yellow head. We have not had luck keeping the mandarin. It's not a food issue as we have plenty of copepods. So, something must be targeting them.
I had a green mandarin named Spike that I actually got to eat New Life Spectrum small fish pellets (he started with Tigger Pods). He did really good until a tank crash killed my entire stock. I miss that little guy.
If you need help getting a Mandarin to take prepared foods, I had a lot of success with blood worms and then mine would take any prepared food. Make sure to turn pumps and filter off since they're slow. Try to feed them away from other faster fish, it won't be long before one of them figures out the Mandarin gets its own special puff of food
I love watching your videos, I learn a lot. It would be nice to have a pic on the screen of products you speaking about ie; pod habitats, all in all you're great 👍
Had a green mandarin that lived for about 3 years in my 180. Never fed it....just watched him pick away at copepods that he found on his own. Didn't add until the tank was 1 year old
My super docile false percola clowns went ape about my pearly jawfish. They beat the snot out of it. Once I moved the JF to the sump, they calmed back down. I wonder if they are rivals in nature.
Anything to say on keeping multiple bottom dwellers in a larger system? Aside from plentiful rock and sand, any species that tend to be a bit more on the ornery side? Im looking at my stock list and I have several that dwell in that lvl of the tank.several pistol shrimp, Pearly jawfish, a few gobies, midas blenny, 1 dragonet was my thought. Ive got a 4x2x2 120g. Will have a 29g refugium as stuffed with pods and cheato as i can get it before I add most of these.
I have had pearl head jaw fish for a year and then it was gone. I had two more that were gone in less than a month. I gave up as it seemed careless to continue. I think they were picked on from other fish. Especially from my huma huma.. i currently use the suggested foods. Any thoughts. Jaw fish are one of my favorites because of their homes they build and their character.
Y’all my Ruby Red Dragonet Died the day after I got him! I didn’t realize these guys were jumpers and my top was broken I definitely wanna try again but I definitely wanna prepare before hand so any tips would help!
i have a pair scooter blennys that are absolute HOGS, i trained them together in a 13gallon onto frozenfoods and they NEVER fight they sleep together everynight too
Dragonettes can be fed with a clean, clear olive bottle. Attach the bottle to a stick for easy removal after feeding and put a small amount of frozen mysis in the bottle to protect it from currents, and more aggressive eaters like tangs.
Thanks for another great video! Funny thing is that these are two of the four marine fish I've had. I didn't know the Jawfish's name at the time it was called a 'Goby'. A Blue Damsel was first, then a Yellow Tang, an unfortunate Brown Dragonet:( I didn't know enough about. After losing the dragonet I eventually picked up the 'Jawfish' and had a happy community tank for a few years before I had to move and donated them to a trusted pet store. The Dragonet would eat a little of the frozen brine shrimp but unfortunatly not as much as I thought. I really liked the Jawfish and I am so glad to learn what it was, though it was a muted black and white species. I remember it digging it's burrow under the rockwork. I would enjoy watching as the Jawfish darted out to grab food as it passed by and watching as it made it's rounds of the aquarium walls after dark.
My spotted dragonet was so skinny and I can see its bone line behind its gill. I taught it to eat frozen bloodworms by dropping the worms near it. Now it's fat and healthy.
I have a mandarin in my 120 and 40 gal the one in the 120 is at least three years old. Never seen it eat anything I fed. The key to keeping them in my opinion is running a refugium which will keep the pod population high and give them a place to reproduce. As for jawfish...They are completely suicidal. I’ve had two and even with a cover on the tank they find a way to escape. Usually into the overflow and after a few trips to the overflow and being fished out they have died likely from stress.
Amazing that I watch Hillary for the first time she does my 2 all time favorite fish together. REGARDING YOUR JAWFISH - mine absolutely would NOT tolerate total darkness. When I turned the tank light out for the night, when I first got him, twice, back to back, he immediately jumped out of the tank. Because it was an immediate response I was able to save him, and realized the problem - he was terrified of the pitch dark. There ALWAYS had to be adequate ambient light near the tank when I would turn the tank light out - either a window during the day time and a lamp nearby all night.
Ive had a few Mandarins over the years. The first was a wild caught fish, I tossed him in an sps dominant reef with an established Tisbe copepod population. The fish disappeared one day, and finally saw him a month later, looking like he was "pregnant". I started removing the sandbed with that tank and found the mandarin would gobble up any food my fish didn't eat. He would let the current slide him along the bottom and where there were spots the food accumulated, he ate all of them up. He was super healthy, and adapted to the conditions in order to thrive. Recently I added a mandarin to my 20L, which has a large synergy reef triton sump and fuge. She is a tiny Biota Mandarin, maybe 3/4" long. She grazes for pods all day long, and loves the baby brine I hatch, as well as TDO pellets I crush and soak, and direct feed using a long turkey baster. She ate frozen baby brine when I had the LFS feed her prior to buying.
Thanks for another video Marine Depot and Hillary. Please do Blennies and starfish.
Thanks for the info Hillary! I added a spotted Dragonet last week, I established a pod population and had a mature sandbed before adding the Dragonet. One of the most beautiful fish in the hobby and a joy to have around 😊
Thanks for the awesome video 😃
I've got a green mandarin in a 15g all in one on my desk with a evil hermid (lps killer).
It eats frozen artemia and nyos gold pods which I feed 2 times per day but it is not enough and it is skinny.
It is in it for about 6 months now.
I ame now feeding new hatched artemia 2 times a week.
I now also throw in the cheato I prune out of the fuge of my main tank into the mandarin tank and pul it out to replace it with newly harvested cheato after the next prune.
And I'm in the process of starting a tiger Pod hatchery.
I hope to get it fat and happy that way..
I have had a pearly jawfish. Loved this little guy. He was beautiful and shy, would only come out for feeding. He would sometime allow another goby to house near him.
For my ruby dragonet I have a baby brine shrimp hatchery, and I personally think it’s a necessity with dragonets. Makes it so easy to feed them! I even put some in the acclimation container while I was acclimating my fish to reduce stress and so they can eat before entering the tank and having to acclimate to it (in addition to pods) frozen hikari Cyclopods are very good, any frozen baby brine shrimp, and ROE/lobster eggs are good too. Once they get larger or for the mandarins then I’d definitely say try music, and larger foods. Also selcon, and garlic help for the frozen food.
Do you find it necessary to feed constantly multiple times throughout the day as some people say or is one good feeding every day or even every other day good too?
I greatly increased my. Copepods and Amphipods by installing these on the bottom side of the Filter Socks. “Coghlan's Snap 'n Tap Grommets, 8-Pack, Blue/Black, available on Amazon.” Cut a Small X in the Filter Sock, carefully cut the Triangles out. Tossed the Black Gasket. Snapped the Grommets together, and used a bit of Super Glue on the Grommet. BTW, The Filter Socks Still Work, as only a small percentage of the water can go through the Grommet.
We love the jawfish. We've had both a blue spotted and yellow head. We have not had luck keeping the mandarin. It's not a food issue as we have plenty of copepods. So, something must be targeting them.
I had a green mandarin named Spike that I actually got to eat New Life Spectrum small fish pellets (he started with Tigger Pods). He did really good until a tank crash killed my entire stock. I miss that little guy.
I highly recommend growing your own copepods for a Mandarin if you have a smaller tank. You will also need to train it to eat frozen.
If you need help getting a Mandarin to take prepared foods, I had a lot of success with blood worms and then mine would take any prepared food. Make sure to turn pumps and filter off since they're slow. Try to feed them away from other faster fish, it won't be long before one of them figures out the Mandarin gets its own special puff of food
I love watching your videos, I learn a lot. It would be nice to have a pic on the screen of products you speaking about ie; pod habitats, all in all you're great 👍
Had a green mandarin that lived for about 3 years in my 180. Never fed it....just watched him pick away at copepods that he found on his own. Didn't add until the tank was 1 year old
My super docile false percola clowns went ape about my pearly jawfish. They beat the snot out of it. Once I moved the JF to the sump, they calmed back down. I wonder if they are rivals in nature.
What sand sifters would you recommend for a 20 gallon nano reef tank?
I've had a diamond Goby those are cool. But if you want more color pop a yellow Watchman Goby too!
Anything to say on keeping multiple bottom dwellers in a larger system? Aside from plentiful rock and sand, any species that tend to be a bit more on the ornery side? Im looking at my stock list and I have several that dwell in that lvl of the tank.several pistol shrimp, Pearly jawfish, a few gobies, midas blenny, 1 dragonet was my thought. Ive got a 4x2x2 120g. Will have a 29g refugium as stuffed with pods and cheato as i can get it before I add most of these.
I have a pair of pearly Jawfish which have lived in the same burrow now for 6 months 👍
I have had pearl head jaw fish for a year and then it was gone. I had two more that were gone in less than a month. I gave up as it seemed careless to continue. I think they were picked on from other fish. Especially from my huma huma.. i currently use the suggested foods. Any thoughts. Jaw fish are one of my favorites because of their homes they build and their character.
Y’all my Ruby Red Dragonet Died the day after I got him! I didn’t realize these guys were jumpers and my top was broken I definitely wanna try again but I definitely wanna prepare before hand so any tips would help!
i have a pair scooter blennys that are absolute HOGS, i trained them together in a 13gallon onto frozenfoods and they NEVER fight they sleep together everynight too
Dragonettes can be fed with a clean, clear olive bottle. Attach the bottle to a stick for easy removal after feeding and put a small amount of frozen mysis in the bottle to protect it from currents, and more aggressive eaters like tangs.
I don't have a favorite between the gel and DIY foods. I've tried them both and they both taste terrible.
These are 2 fish i plan on adding to the new seahorse tank
My green mandarin eats frozen mysis, I never taught it to do so, it just started eating it.
That's fantastic! Now you don't have to depend on copepods... I hope mine will start eating frozen 😅
Thanks for another great video! Funny thing is that these are two of the four marine fish I've had. I didn't know the Jawfish's name at the time it was called a 'Goby'. A Blue Damsel was first, then a Yellow Tang, an unfortunate Brown Dragonet:( I didn't know enough about. After losing the dragonet I eventually picked up the 'Jawfish' and had a happy community tank for a few years before I had to move and donated them to a trusted pet store.
The Dragonet would eat a little of the frozen brine shrimp but unfortunatly not as much as I thought.
I really liked the Jawfish and I am so glad to learn what it was, though it was a muted black and white species. I remember it digging it's burrow under the rockwork. I would enjoy watching as the Jawfish darted out to grab food as it passed by and watching as it made it's rounds of the aquarium walls after dark.
My spotted dragonet was so skinny and I can see its bone line behind its gill. I taught it to eat frozen bloodworms by dropping the worms near it. Now it's fat and healthy.
You should do seahorses or groupers
Hello from Chicago Illinois 😊🏳️⚧️👍
I have a mandarin in my 120 and 40 gal the one in the 120 is at least three years old. Never seen it eat anything I fed. The key to keeping them in my opinion is running a refugium which will keep the pod population high and give them a place to reproduce.
As for jawfish...They are completely suicidal. I’ve had two and even with a cover on the tank they find a way to escape. Usually into the overflow and after a few trips to the overflow and being fished out they have died likely from stress.
Amazing that I watch Hillary for the first time she does my 2 all time favorite fish together.
REGARDING YOUR JAWFISH - mine absolutely would NOT tolerate total darkness. When I turned the tank light out for the night, when I first got him, twice, back to back, he immediately jumped out of the tank. Because it was an immediate response I was able to save him, and realized the problem - he was terrified of the pitch dark. There ALWAYS had to be adequate ambient light near the tank when I would turn the tank light out - either a window during the day time and a lamp nearby all night.
Would love a triggerfish episode.
I had 2 yellow rose globes for a week and both disappeared and never saw them again.
That boxfish though!
Really great info. Hope Hilary was retained at brs
You missed out on the scooters
sry... should have watched to whole vid before commenting
I have a tiny captive bred mandarin in my 20g. He’s super cute, on my ig: anaks_reef
These guys won’t eat anything I put them in my 7/8 yo tank and they only last a year
You should use a refugium and seed yo ur tank with pods occasionally
@@atlasaqua2627 lmao I used a refugium with an algae turf scrubber, I have a minors in marine biology, trust me I tried