Microfauna

[Tee]

Hi all,

First off, I just joined Wamas as a member, hello everyone. I had my tank running for about 7 months now. My rock started to have coraline purple. All I have in my 55 galon now are live rock, one anemonie, one Tomato Clown, one Damsel, one Six Line. I just bought a Dagonet from Marine Scene for 30$. I read from all the site that this fish need "Microfauna" to eat.

I bought used live rock from Craigslist, and has been in my tank for 7 months now. How do I know if my rock has Microfauna? Does Dagonet eat flake and pellet too?

I am gonna need a couple of equipments anf stock for my new tank too. Hopefully when I got my membership card, I can get some used equipment from you guys.

Thanks a lot,

 

Tee

[Brian Ward]

which type of dragonet did you buy? some can be trained to accept frozen mysis, others are extremely difficult. microfauna are pods. you typically cultivate pods in your fuge as that provides them a safe place to multiply and then they are eventually pumped into your display. 7 mos can be a bit young for the tank. if you bought a mandarin, 55 is entirely too small and it will slowly starve to death over a few months. i believe the 6-line will also compete with it for food. I don't think a dragonet is a good choice for your tank right now.

~Brian

[djcerna]

Check out your tank at night after the lights have been out for awhile. If you see "critters" running around then you have them. You can buy some from BRK as the have then in a bottle.

[Tee]

Yeah, I have the Mandarin Dragonet. Oh man, I am in trouble now.

 

Tee

 

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Check out your tank at night after the lights have been out for awhile. If you see "critters" running around then you have them. You can buy some from BRK as the have then in a bottle.

[dschflier]

I agree with Brian. I think your mandarin will starve over time. I think even in a well established 55 it is difficult to keep one alive.

[Brian Ward]

Mandarin's are beautiful fish, and that causes many people buy them without knowing their requirements - you're not the first. Just a warning for the future, as we have all made this mistake, research your fish choices very carefully before you buy. If you don't already have the fish, I would try to cancel the order. If you do, then you may want to see about trading him away - maybe for a frag or a different fish. Even if you're lucky enough to get one that accepts frozen, he will need to be fed 3-5 times per day. Good luck.

~Brian

[jamal]

its more a function of the amount of live rock than the size of the tank. how many #'s of live rock do you have in your 55 gal? also if you dont have a refugium you can get one and culture pods in there as stated previously and replenish your fuge on a regular basis.

[Rascal]

IMO you would need a lot of quality live rock, a large well-established refugium, and a lack of competitors for the same type of food (that was a good point about the six-line) to make this work. It sounds like this fish is not for your tank at the moment, although with time and preparations you might be able to create a better environment for one in the future.

 

You might talk to the Marine Scene about taking this one back for store credit (just be aware they only accept fish on Tuesdays). A blenny or goby would probably be a better choice for your tank right now.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Try squirting some PE mysis at it with a turkey baster. Both my 6 line and my mandarin go crazy for it (had them both for years)

 

My mandarin also eats formula 1 pellets

 

FYIW: I don't feel live rock or a fuge are necessary at all to keep this fish.

 

tim

Edited September 10, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay

[Rascal]

Try squirting some PE mysis at it with a turkey baster. Both my 6 line and my mandarin go crazy for it (had them both for years)

 

My mandarin also eats formula 1 pellets

 

FYIW: I don't feel live rock or a fuge are necessary at all to keep this fish.

 

tim

 

 

Hmmm, so you could listen to someone with years of experience successfully keeping both of the types of fish you have (tim), or some other guy who is basically just repeating the conventional wisdom and paraphrasing what he has read (me). Tough choice. Let us know how it likes the PE mysis.

[Tee]

:(

Thanks a lot for all the response. I have about 60 lbs of live rock. My Dragonnet is not coming out my rock often. It will be a challenge to get him, even if Marine Scene accept store credict. I am not worry about the 30 dollar. I am sad now that I know I will starve my fish to death.

:..(

 

Tee

[Brian Ward]

Give him as much attention as you can. I also do not have one, though i do have a scooter blenny (that accepts frozen). As tim recommended, shoot some PE mysis at him with a turkey baster - if he doesn't respond initially, try some of the garlic treatments that are designed to entice picky eaters. support him as best you can, as long as you can - hopefully you'll get yours trained as tim has his and he can live a long, healthy life.

~Brian

[davelin315]

I would go with something smaller than the mysis to entice it to eat if it's not eating frozen or prepared foods. Once they are eating frozen or prepared you can introduce more. If you look closely at the mouth shape of the mandarin, especially the size, you will see that it eats very small foods. It is a hunter and the "microfauna" that it eats are generically called pods. This includes amphipods and copepods as well as many different types of planktonic crustaceans. Having various shrimp and crabs in the tank that breed regularly will also serve as a food source. They will even eat fish fry if they are present in the tank.

 

I agree with Tim, but I will qualify his comment with the comment that you have to have one eating prepared or frozen foods. If you do, you could have it in a fish bowl... unfortunately, many of them are not easily trained to eat that type of food so if yours is not already eating, you may struggle to get it to eat. The presence of live rock and a refugium is helpful in providing natural food for your mandarin, but since it's constantly on the prowl for food, it will quickly decimate the population in a tank the size of yours, no matter the amount of live rock you have (well, that is unless you have the rock jammed in there so that there's basically no swimming room!).

 

So, they should have asked you more questions about your tank before selling you this fish, but there's a chance that it's also eating prepared foods, so offer it some and see what happens. You can also try cyclopeeze as a prepared food. It's small and it's easily distinguishable. It will also drift in the water column so will resemble live foods.