new dragonet

[K L R]

I just got a new spotted dragonet... and I ws wondering what to feed it ...sometimes youll see it eat a copepod or smtn of the ground is that enough for it to survive?

[fishhead]

I feed mine Reef Bugs, by Marc Weiss. He loves them, as does the scooter blenny.

Video of mandarin feasting on them: Feeding_On_Reef_Bugs - ReefSpace

[fishhead]

I have also seen my mandarin eat mysid shrimp, and brine shrimp, but that takes a while...an acquired taste I guess. Also, if your tank is old enough you really shouldn't have to feed him at all, as I know mine lived on pods for years before I started using Reef Bugs. I had a "pod pile", simply a stack of rubble in a dark corner of the tank where the breed prolifically, enough to feed the one Gobi for sure.
Greg

[K L R]

ok thanks... jst wondering i thought you could only have 1 dragonet per tank?

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Well... the reason dragonets are one of the harder fish to keep in the hobby is because you can't feed them. There are some that are trained to eat prepared foods, but they're extremely rare, and it is something they must be painstakingly taught to do.

They eat copepods and unless your tank has a huge amount of live rock, it's unlikely the copepods will reproduce fast enough to keep the one dragonet fed, let alone 2.

[fishhead]

How old is you tank? Do you have a refugium or sump?

[K L R]

about 6rs old and no

[lcstorc]

Most Dragonets die of starvation in this hobby. Most will only eat copepods and it is difficult to keep a large enought population of pods to sustain them long term. Having an established tank, a fuge and/or pod houses (can be a simple stack of rubble or a more elaborate set-up to keep the other fish out) will increase your changes, but are often not enough.
The Reef Bugs thing is a new one for me, but I have to say, his products are generally junk. This one may not be. I may have to give it a try.
A scooter Blenney is in the same family, but they seem to be slightly easier to get to eat prepared foods.

[fishhead]

Well put. I remember my first Dragonet died of hunger(I presume). I t wasn't until I set up the fuge and had a healthy population of pods before I attempted that again. My target mandarin is about 5 yrs old (at least I have had him that ling) and is doing great. But they are indeed finicky eaters.
Another fact you may not realize is that the Chaeto Macro Algae folks are selling on the forum also makes for an EXCELLENT media in which micro-crustations can flourish. I know whenever I prune back my Chaeto there are lots of copepods and baby brittle stars and serpent stars in there. I rescue most of the echinoderms, and the pods get filtered out of the water and dumped back into the DT. Also I have been hearing about live pods for sale to start new colonies. I can't remember if DT's carried them or who, but maybe someone here knows.
Good luck
Greg
Oh ya, almost forgot, I also once saw a guy feed his mandarines Ocean Nutrition's sinking pellets #2 from a glass vile they would swim into. It was quite a site, and they seemed tyo eat up the little pellets. This is of course not the norm, but I was shocked when I saw them. So there is my 2 cents on the feeding of your target mandarin? You did refer to it as a "spotted dragonet" , which I call a Target Mandarin. It has a greenish base color with circular dark "bulls eyes" on it, or is it the psychedelic one ranging from green, orange, blue and the li8ke. Not that it matters much when it come to feeding them, it's just that the target mandarins only get about half as big as the larger super colorful ones. IMO and experience.

[lcstorc]

This is likely the one you are talking about.
Melevsreef.com - Melev's Mandarin Diner

[fishhead]

Indeed!

[K L R]

yes could i buy copepods and set up a 1\2 gal tank i have and put a heater and airstone in it ?

[fishhead]

Not sure how you are set up, but I wouldn't worry so much about the heater or air-stone, but if you are going to use your 1/2 gallon tank for anything I would fill it with live rock or nano rubble for a nice pod pile! You wouldn't even need light for it, but you would want it to draw and return water from your main tank. That way, you have a breeding ground for pods, means for them to enter the big tank, and some good old biological filtration as well.

[l3fty999]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

Most Dragonets die of starvation in this hobby. Most will only eat copepods and it is difficult to keep a large enought population of pods to sustain them long term. Having an established tank, a fuge and/or pod houses (can be a simple stack of rubble or a more elaborate set-up to keep the other fish out) will increase your changes, but are often not enough.
The Reef Bugs thing is a new one for me, but I have to say, his products are generally junk. This one may not be. I may have to give it a try.
A scooter Blenney is in the same family, but they seem to be slightly easier to get to eat prepared foods.

Uh-oh, sounds like another "impulse buy"... many of us, including myself, have made this mistake before. I would say that most of what you see in the lfs has plenty of information about it on the internet, or you could simply ask questions here. A good rule of thumb is to ask someone that's NOT making a profit of some kind from you. As for reef bugs, I've used that product before and it seemed to work ok for my tank. I do not use it continually, but rather to help increase the variety and quantity of micro-fauna in my refugium. After the first package, I didn't see the need to add any more. Of course, my tank is under stocked so everything had a chance to become established as a natural, renewing food source.

Good luck
Aaron

[fishhead]

I too have used the reef bugs, not as a staple, but for variety (corals seem to like it too). Nothing like a good old established pod pile though.