Adding Manderin goby to 4 year old tank

[kpatrick]

My wife is wanting to add a Manderin Goby to the tank but I know they starve to death in most tanks. My tank is a 125g that has been set up for 4 years now. About a 1.5 years ago I removed the crushed coral and added a 2" to 3" sand bed. Do you think there are enough pods in my tank to keep the maderin alive?? I dont want to risk it if everyone agrees it will die.

 

[wax32]

Approximately how much LR is in the tank? Unless you have too little LR you should be fine. 100 pounds or so should be golden. Do you see a lot of pods when you look in the tank at night with a flashlight?

 

[kpatrick]

I have well over 100lbs of rock. I would say closer to 150lbs but dont know for sure since I bought all of it at different times
I havent looked in the tank with a flashlight lately so I will give it a try tonight

 

[wax32]

Unless your tank is totally backwards you should have TONS of pods with that much LR.

 

[avbryce1]

I think a mandarin would be fine in your tank

 

[kpatrick]

Anyone have better luck with the madarin or the psychedelic? or are they both pretty much the same except for color pattern?

 

[wax32]

Same diff.

 

[kpatrick]

I decided to give it a try. Went to the LFS and got a manderin. I picked the one that looked nice and chunky and healthy. One week later he is doing great. I never see him stop moving. He is always moving through the live rock picking at things.
The LFS had a mated pair of manderins which I have never seen but I stayed away as I think one may be fine but I didnt want to see 2 of them fighting over copods and possibly starving.

 

[rcdiver]

If you use copper in your water, you may risk not having enough in the tank for him.. I have a 120 and have had my eye on one for a while, but my shop keeps talking me out of it, because I use copper in my water.

 

[ophiura]

Ya know, kpatrick -
After a lot of recent threads on some fish that have resulted in some head into brick wall banging frustration, I would just like to commend you for a really exceptional approach to adding a potentially "difficult to keep" fish. I really would. :yes:
1) Clearly you've done research to indicate they are difficult, and in that research you probably came across indications that you had a suitable tank (age, size, LR)
2) You still asked the question about whether people thought it would be OK.
3) I feel pretty sure that if people said "no, I don't think it is a good idea" that you would have decided against it.
This is quite a relief to see. You earned any merit badge there is for "responsible marine hobbyists"

Best of luck!

 

[kpatrick]

Ophiura,
Thanks for the compliment!!!!
I am still not 100% sure I made the right choice but I do try my best to do all my homework and get different opinions before buying something. I hate to see things suffer and die. The manderin is something I have wanted since day one and finally after about 4 years of waiting I have one and its doing great.
I do plan on upgrading my sump to add a refugium section to increase the pod population very soon. h* :joy: h*

 

[mudplayerx]

You mandarin will be fine. I have a psychedelic mandarin in a 55 gallon tank with only 60 pounds of live rock. He was actually ematiated when I bought him a few months ago... now he is plump and happy.
A good way to keep your pod population healthy is to add some macroalgae like grape caulerpa to your display tank or your fuge.

 

[golfish]

One thing you can do to increase the pod pop is setup small piles of rubble rock. These kind of act like small refugiumssafe places for the pods...
I don't see a prob with what you already have but you never know with these fish..

 

[gafish]

Originally Posted by wax32
Approximately how much LR is in the tank? Unless you have too little LR you should be fine. 100 pounds or so should be golden. Do you see a lot of pods when you look in the tank at night with a flashlight?
What am I looking for with the flashlight (pods?) I dont know what this is, can somebody explaine please. I'm not trying to put a Dragonette in my tank, I just want to know about pods.... :notsure:

 

[jacknjill]

Originally Posted by rcdiver
If you use copper in your water, you may risk not having enough in the tank for him.. I have a 120 and have had my eye on one for a while, but my shop keeps talking me out of it, because I use copper in my water.

you shouldnt have any copper in your tank. what kind of tank do yuo have? a reef? FO? FOWLR? how did you get copper in your tank?

 

[beachbumtx]

Originally Posted by GAfish
What am I looking for with the flashlight (pods?) I dont know what this is, can somebody explaine please. I'm not trying to put a Dragonette in my tank, I just want to know about pods.... :notsure:
pods are tiny crustaceans. There are Amphipod and copepods that are good. There are also isopods that may be parasitic, so they are bad.
Amphipods look like fleas, but larger. Copepods are tiny and often look like a dot crawling on the sand and glass. Look at night when lights are off with a flash like. Look at the edge of the sand bed and glass. Also look on the rocks, but it may be harder to see.