Free Mandarin Dragonet

[nofriendsbz3]

Free Mandarin Dragonet in Southern California.

Hello my name is nick and i made a very very very very bad decision and bought a mandarin dragonet.

The guy at the local fish store told me that i could get it to eat brine shrimp and he owuld be fine.

Well hes kinda skinny now and i dont want to see him die, so if there is anyone out there in southern california that wants one of these interesting and beatiful fish then just email me at

nwarner33@gmail.com

once again its free to the first person who thinks they have a tank for it.

-Nick-

[kusanagiz]

funny enough I actually wanted one of these fish but I'm just not sure if I have an established tank to support it so I hold back on doing so.

know this doesn't help but just wanted to comment.

[KING OF THE REEF]

i have one that doesnt eat brime or flakes for that matter. i not an expert but mine has been in my tank since last month and there is no way in hell that it will die. it naturally feeds on copopods and other pods thaT LIVE IN THE SAND AND ROCK. do not get rid of it. it will live as long as you dont add any thing else like it's type. (other dragonets).

[kusanagiz]

may be that his tank is not established enough to have enough pods for the mandarin to survive. Getting skinnier is definitely a sure sign something is wrong.

[GinaSofia]

Imareefer,
Don't be surprised if yours doesn't make it(sorry to be so blunt).Once you notice it's sunken belly,it'll probably be too late.They slowly starve to death.Pods take a lot of live rock and time to establish before you have enough to substain a mandarin.

Nofriends,
If no one with an established tank comes forward,try emailing Dave@o2manyfish.com he has huge,established tanks and is in Encino.

[allurs]

i'll take it, where u at?

[nofriendsbz3]

Sweet hes all yours..

im in covina off of the 10 fwy.

email me

nwarner33@gmail.com

[beanpole209]

you can buy pods on ebay and at http://www.floridapets.com and that will sustain a mandarin for several weeks if you cant get anyone to take him

[nofriendsbz3]

....

[GinaSofia]

you should try posting this in the SoCal forum here..you'll get more locals to see it.

[reefer6]

there are very few who can sustain a mandarin goby for more than 6 months. The main reason is that very few of them will adapt to frozen or not "live foods" to begin with and then of those few they need to be segregated during feeding because they are very slow feeders and the other fish will inevitably out compete them for food. The second issue which I think Imareefer will no doubt be dealing with soon if he is keeping the fish in a 20 gal tank is that the goby is a constant eater and will soon deplete any pod population you once had. The only chance for a fish like this is to prepare yourself for the arrival of it. 1st build up the population of pods in your tank to where you see them freely running about. then provide them with places to successfully hide from predetors such as the goby so they will be able to reproduce (rubble piles in the back corners of the tank and behind rock structures work well for this in smaller tanks). then you need to plan on what other fish will be compatable with the goby. Or you can just do what I did and build a 360 gal tank to let it run around in with 600 pounds of fully infested live rock and no other competition for food. I do not however have a manderin because I had once had one starve and I can tell you it is a terrible feeling. You think you know what you are doing and that everyone is over reacting until the belly gets thin and the fish gets shy and next thing you know your digging the pale body from your overflow. Its a sad day indeed. Good luck with a new home I hope they have a very established and very large tank.