Mandarin Goby?????????

[lerch]

I have just added a Mandarin Goby and for the most part he has just sat on the bottom. All of the levels in my tank are fine and I think I have more than an ample supply of copepods for him to eat. Is he just scared and becoming accustomed to his new enviorment or is he destined to die. I truly love the fish and really hope he survives because he is truly a beautiful species.

 

[kelly]

Lerch,
If you acclimated it properly, it should do ok. Sometimes when introduced to a new tank, they are extremely shy and will hide for a while. I would have to say that is was probably stressed out a little. It should be ok this afternoon. A couple reasons for the stress other than being a bag and transported home could be the temperature and salinity difference between his old home and the new one.
Some would say it is destined to die, but that would be from starving to death. You will need a good copepod supply to keep them alive. They are my most favorite fish also, but I currently do not have enough copepods to keep one fed.
Kelly

 

[garyfla]

Hi
When we put Mandarins in our 350 gallon
reef.He hid immediately and we thought we had lost himIt took about a week and we caught sight of him.Now he is always in view
Never swims ,just hops around and stays mostly in the bottom third of the tank he has
been in the tank for over a year now and
last August we added the other type and so
far no real aggression.When they meet they
just turn around and go the other way.At
first there were flaring displays
The whole secret to Mandarins seems to be the copepods.Give him time to adjust they seem to be very shy especially at first
Gary

 

[sduerk]

what exactly are copepods? I would also (possibly) like to have mandarin someday.

 

[garyfla]

Hi
Copepods is a generic name for a large
group of shelled animals.If you have LR
you will have copepods They're very small
so it's difficult to arrive at numbers
Look very closely at an established tank
They're most obvious where the sand an glass
meet.Knowing if you have a sustainable colony
large enough for predation.Mandarins don;t seem to recognise other foods so the y starve.In lage reef tanks this is easy but it
is possible to buy cultures so you could supplement But IMO Mandarins should only be
attempted in well established tanks without other
species that are copepod predators.
Gary

 

[dad]

just to give my 2cents: Mandarins should only be introduced to very established tanks(as stated above).

 

[wicked_clown]

Ive had a mandarin for almost 7 months and he does fine with brineshrimp ...I always see him picking through the sand and live rock. It did take time to get him to eat the brine.

 

[kimmisue]

Wicked_Clown you are one of the few who can say that.
PLEASE EVERYONE WHO READS THIS ....That is not the NORM.
It is wonderful that your fish is eating prepared foods rather then live. I've had mine close to a year and he still doesn't accept anything other then the live food he hunts.
Lerch,
I hope yours is moving around more now..if acclimated correctly he should be fine.
They are fun to watch hunt..which mine does non- stop.
Kim

 

[von_rahvin]

my mandarin was starving in a neighbors tank and a rescued him my reef has been set up for a while so he is plumping up nicely. is there anything i can do to et him better faster ? or is time the only thing that can heal him? well that and a lot of copepods?

 

[kimmisue]

zoe ??? it is a vitamin for fish...also vita chem....for marine fish
Glad to hear you saved him , is he still hunting? If so mine which his sides were all but touching when I got him didn't need anything else..JUST FOOD.
Kim

 

[kris walker]

For those interested, and for completion, I just want to add that "Scooter Blennies", which are really in the same family as Mandarins (dragons), are also normally very, very picky about foods, typically only eating copepods.
sam

 

[von_rahvin]

they are both dragonettes. my scooters though love to eat brine. wonder why mandarins are so picky

 

[jakob4001]

our madarin has been known to eat the frozen brine shrimp while hunting;but luckily the larger tank has high population of copepods;so "captured" some & transferrred to the mandarin tank just in case he ate all the ones up in his tank

 

[tangster]

I have had my mandarin for about 2 yrs and he loves brine shrimp.
I agree this might not be the case for everyone.
"Everyone in this hobby will will have their own individual experience, that is what makes this hobby exciting"

 

[thefishpimp]

Ive got a mangerin goby... ive had him for 3 years and he's been eating blood worms VERY WELL, When i set up my tank i added everything all at once (live rock, Angelfish, Tangs, etc..) and everything has done just great. partly to the fact of my filter system and my secrets to RAPIDLY establishing a new aquarium and monitering the water conditions.

 

[salth2o]

Thats funny, when I got my Manderine Goby he hid for almost a month! Actually, my kids call him/her 'peek a boo' Cause thats all they do. The goby has been in my tank a good 7 months. eats brine occasionly, but hunts most of the time.
I remember most people on this board were saying he would be dead in a month...guess what - he's still kicking!
good luck