Mandarin Goby

[jsdratm]

Would I be able to add a mandarin goby to my display tank? I have a 20 gallon refugium that is already swarming with cope/amphipods. The 75 gallon display tank has been going for about 2.5 months.

[fufi5]

I would wait until the 6 month mark (more stable) IMO. Add more pods to the display tank for more population.

[sing4lts]

more pods. these things will starve to death.

[dc]

I would wait also. Try to find one that eats prepared food when you go looking.

[Sk8r]

Getting one that eats prepared is the thing.

If you get one earlier, your pod population will struggle, unless you are willing to spend 60.00 a month on mailorder pods until the population suffices.

[Jim_Leyland]

if you get one from Liveaquaria they eat prepared foods and they are pretty cheap also.. ill be getting one from there in a few weeks

[tkeracer619]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8281069#post8281069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jim_Leyland
if you get one from Liveaquaria they eat prepared foods and they are pretty cheap also.. ill be getting one from there in a few weeks


I do not see any proof to hold that statement true. I would have to ask how you know they will eat prepared foods from live aquaria. They are no different than any other manderin. They require live food, if you get one to eat pellets or other prepared food you are lucky.

Jim_Leyland is your tank also 2 months old. I wish this was a more expensive fish....... it has the highest starvation death rate you know. Becuase they are cheep people don't care and just throw them in without paying attention to thier needs. They have needs more so than an average fish. A manderin will starve to death in a 2 month old tank. Read more. It has been tried, over, and over, and over, and over.


2 months is not enough time. Give it atleast a few more. jsdratm thanks for asking if your setup was ready. your future manderin thanks you.

[RobsReefs]

they need live food. ther to slow to eat floating food it will pass them byas they look.

[usmcsgt]

I agree wait till the six month at least if not longer, I waited and I have pair of manderins swimming around my tank.

[Jim_Leyland]

I know they eat prepared food because i have been researching them and i have talked to the people from liveaquaria and that's how i know that they eat prepared food.. so before you go saying that i don't know what im talking about you should do a little bit of research your self.. and just because my tank is only 3 months old does NOT mean that it WILL starve to death!!!!! also there is a LFS down the road from me whos mandarin eats brine and mysis shrimp so its NOT impossible to find them!! thank you and have a nice day :D

[Angel*Fish]

Just to explain - it's common to have a huge copepod bloom at this early stage like you are having, but this will subside as the tiny invert populations wax & wane & finally settle to an equilibrium - this is the reason for waiting 6 mo. even though it seems like you've got plenty already - waiting a year would be even nicer. Remember to make sure your pods have plenty to eat and don't do things like add pod predators to your tank (eg 6-line wrasse)

[Angel*Fish]

Just my $.02 - but it seems to me that having a fish in your tank that you don't have to feed is worth waiting for your tank to stabilize. Plus you know it's probably the only fish in the tank eating how nature intended...

FWIW - I have 4 cats... the one with the healthiest looking coat is the one which catches and eats mice & birds (blech!)

[AslanTheKing]

Agreed. Just because your tank is 3 months old doesn't mean it will necessarily starve to death. That being said, from my own research, you are blessed if you can find one that will eat prepared. Celebrate your find! Likewise, remember that while it is "possible" to find a mandarin that eats something other than pods, it is not necessarily "probable" or "likely". It's possible that folks truly are trying to help by warning you about the reality that, depending on the fish, you could be in for a long, tough losing battle.

Before you take any lfs employees word for it, I'd make them show me that it eats prepared. Should you find that it doesn't, invest in Arctic pods from PA, add a fuge, and stock like crazy on Ocean pods and Tiger pods.

I'm preparing for a mandarin that I'll buy probably around my birthday, late March 2007. My tank will be right at 8 months old then. I've seeded my rock with two bottles of Tiger Pods. I will add two more bottles around Christmas. I'll add two more to the tank two weeks prior to introducing the mandarin.

My only thought is to be careful. They are beautiful creatures that far too many folks don't take seriously enough when it comes to their diet. That's probably what prompted the warnings. Nonetheless, there are ways to do what you want, but, barring a rare mandarin, it won't be easy, nor is it recommended.

Peace

KEvin

[Angel*Fish]

Too bad you're not here in Houston - Today at the LFS they were showing me the blackcap basslets were eating when the cutest little one and a half inch spotted mandarin stepped up and gobbled a live brine

IME, BTW the spotted mandarins are more likely to accept other foods than the green/red/blue ones

[IPowderBlueTang]

In this great hobby you need to have a little patience and alot of research. I to saw my pod population explode at the beggining and level off!

[tkeracer619]

I was just offering my suggestion. Take it how you want, I don't care. A 3 month old tank is very young regardless of how established you want it to be. Rushing will do you no good.

Research, are you kidding me.


Anyways it's not worth it to argue, hopefully the author of this thread takes the rest of the advice you choose to ignore into consideration.

[tygger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8286778#post8286778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
Just to explain - it's common to have a huge copepod bloom at this early stage like you are having, but this will subside as the tiny invert populations wax & wane & finally settle to an equilibrium - this is the reason for waiting 6 mo. even though it seems like you've got plenty already - waiting a year would be even nicer. Remember to make sure your pods have plenty to eat and don't do things like add pod predators to your tank (eg 6-line wrasse)

Besides the 6-line, what else eats pods? I swore I saw my clown and damsel go after amphipods.

[Angel*Fish]

In the process of cleaning a place to lay eggs I imagine they would eat some pods - but clowns won't go all over the tank systematically wiping them out like certain wrasses.

There are a lot of animals that may not predate on copepods but which compete with them for food so try to make sure they get enough to eat. Especially to be sure that some food gets to the refugium.

Generally planktonic feeders like Geniacanthus angels, damsels, flasher wrasses are the safest. I don't worry about the grazers like dwarf angels and tangs as they are not hunting out the pods so much as grazing the rock for algae or other foods in general. The lined wrasses are the worst that come to mind of the fish that we normally consider reef safe.

I know hawkfish hunt for small crustaceans - I'd think that would include copepods. (?)

[Trigeek]

I'm about 4 1/2 weeks into my new 90g. I moved liverock I've had in a 55g since 1996 and added a new sandbed. I have a virtual pod explosion right now. They are so thick on the glass that it's tough to see through them and they lietrally cover the sand!! This is due to the early small algae outbreaks (diatoms and green algae) in the early stages of a newer tank. Granted, I'm sure I had a bunch of pods in the transferred LR, but I don't believe the population will stay at this level. If it does, I may be able to have a mandarin farm!! I agree with what others are saying. I would wait a bit. I plan on getting one, too, but I'm waiting until things level off a bit with time.

Tygger; My maroon clown is eating the pods off the glass like crazy!! He's also hosting my Tunze!!!

[grouper25]

mY MANDARIN (BLUE) IS THRIVING ALONE IN A 10 GALLON(UNTIL MY 220 REEF IS UP) WITH LIVE SAND AND ROCK AND EATS LIVE bRINE SHRIMP LIKE A TIGER.

[Jim_Leyland]

and what advice would this be? im not ignoring anything.. just stating a fact that some DO eat other things than pods.. that's all im saying.. you can raise one with a small pod population as long as you know it eats prepared foods...takes the rest of the advice you choose to ignore into consideration.

[dc]

How about we keep this at an even keel here ok?


I've noticed from when I got my mandarin to now, there seems to be a lot more eating prepared foods. My female has always eaten anything from the time I dropped her in my tank. My male had to be trained. Along with melev's diner, I also put in frozen brine with live fresh hatched brine. I invested several hundred dollars to set up a refugium, seed it with pods, waited a year, everything that was necessary. While it still takes an effort to keep them healthy, I just don't think they are nearly as hard as they used to be.

[dc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8287227#post8287227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tygger
Besides the 6-line, what else eats pods? I swore I saw my clown and damsel go after amphipods.

I think any fish will eat isopods, and amphipods if they see them. I've seen several of my fish eat off the glass. Copepods, however are so small, I've never figured out how the fish can even see them.

[tkeracer619]

the advice that 90% of the people on this board are trying to give.

Wait a few months. But since you probably just ignored the comment again.................. WAIT A FEW MONTHS.

Ok, suppose you get the rare prepared food manderin. Are you going to tell it when it can an can not eat. Regardless if it will eat what you give it, it will also eat pods. All day long. So if you plan on sitting next to your tank and feeding this fish all day then sure, you can. I doubt you will and the manderin will go on eating pods other than the 15 minutes you take to feed it.

Anyways we know your point, we know the majority point, and we know that you choose to ignore it.

You do what you want but all you are doing is beating a dead horse and adding bad info that a new beginner might treat as law.

I just got off the phone with a liveaquaria sales person. I asked "do your manderins eat prepared food" , she said that "some manderins will eat prepared foods but we cannot guarantee it as it is not the norm, you will have a better success rate if your tank has a mature pod population"

I told her that there was someone online saying that they have been telling him this. She was unsure that any of their sales people would say something like that knowing very well the fate that the fish would succumb to.

[tkeracer619]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8288443#post8288443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dc
How about we keep this at an even keel here ok?


I've noticed from when I got my mandarin to now, there seems to be a lot more eating prepared foods. My female has always eaten anything from the time I dropped her in my tank. My male had to be trained. Along with melev's diner, I also put in frozen brine with live fresh hatched brine. I invested several hundred dollars to set up a refugium, seed it with pods, waited a year, everything that was necessary. While it still takes an effort to keep them healthy, I just don't think they are nearly as hard as they used to be.

I also have a qt setup now for 2 months. 8 more to go. Some people put a lot into keeping this fish some don't. Thanks