Mandrin Goby question? Compatible?

[TonyOrlando]

I currently have a yellow watchman goby and a diamond goby. They get along great, ive had them for about 5 months now. I wanted to add a mandrin goby. Would this be ok to add one now and be compatible with my other 2 gobies. Also, my tank will be going on 9 months. Would it be fine to add a mandrin goby at this time or should i wait? Thanks all!!!

[seapug]

I have a wheeler's watchman and a pair of mandarins and have no trouble. In general, Mandarins mind their own business and the gobies find their "spots" and stay there. As far as the maturity of your tank goes, it's probably got a good pod population if you have plenty of rock, but I'd still try to find a mandarin that will eat mysis. My tank has billions of pods & mysis in it but they only come out at night when my mandarins sleep, so I pretty much rely on frozen PE Mysis as their staple diet.

[TonyOrlando]

thanks, but how will i know if it eats mysis until i feed it?

[jeeperrs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10058970#post10058970 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seapug
My tank has billions of pods & mysis in it but they only come out at night when my mandarins sleep, so I pretty much rely on frozen PE Mysis as their staple diet.

Mandarins in the wild are a nocturnal fish. There was a video around RC that shows a photographer documenting the madarins in the wild. At night is when they come out to eat, swim, and mate. I bet your mandarin is eating a lot while you are sleeping ha-ha.

[snorvich]

You should not purchase a mandarin assuming it will eat mysis or any other prepared food. Some do but most do not. But even the ones that do, do not get enough nutrition from food other than copepods. In any case, they do not and cannot compete for food with other tank inhabitants. Live Rock and a refugium in a 50 gallon or larger tank should work well as long as the tank is not a new one. Yeah, I know there are stories about the exceptions but if you want to insure the health of your fish, the recommendations above work well.

[FishboyBT]

They should be fine

[FishboyBT]

Find one that eats prepared foods or skip it. Makes them less copetitive.