Need advice on Mandrin goby

[reborn258]

I ended up purchasing a mandrin goby and was told that it would feed on frozen brine. So, I tried it and there was no success. Then I tried live brine and it didn't go for it or the brine justed ended up swiming around and getting eaten by my clowns. My tank is only 3 1/2 weeks old. I know I was told they need to be in an older established reef tank. I made the mistake I don't think I have enough copepods to keep my mandrin satisfied. I don't want him to starve, so please give me some advice. My LFS won't take him back and I want to make the effort to keep him happy. :help:

 

[pontius]

you need to take it back or find somewhere that will. if the lfs won't take it back, you need to take your business elsewhere. I haven't seen a fish store yet that wouldn't take a fish back.
my tank is a good bit bigger than yours, has 140 pounds of live rock and 50 pounds of live sand, and had been set up for 6+ months, and my mandarin withered away and died. if you choose to keep it, it's as good as dead. sorry.

 

[loopy]

there are several people here with mandarin goby's and not enough live rock, me included. Give him time and keep offering him the mysis. Lizzard and TeresaQ will hopefully see this and post, they will help you. Ignore the statement about him withering away....keep trying. Good luck.

 

[loopy]

btw, I have one lfs that will take fish back and another that will not...plenty will, plenty won't. Frustrating when they won't, but I can see there point, they are afraid people are returning sick fish for the most part. Again, good luck!

 

[lion_crazz]

Or you could keep the mandarin and buy a few packages of pods for a small price to bulk up the pod population in your tank. I know a few places that sell them very cheaply online.
Email me for the link. Ry84@MSN.com

 

[tank1483]

Mandarins are one of the toughest fish to care for. They need so much live rock to feed off of. Need a larger tank or some sort of pod breeding ground for food. Although there are the cases where mandarins will accept other foods( brine shimp, etc), fo rthe most part they are just a pod eater. IMO dont get them unless you have sufficeint amount of food.

 

[pontius]

Originally posted by Loopy
there are several people here with mandarin goby's and not enough live rock, me included. Give him time and keep offering him the mysis. Lizzard and TeresaQ will hopefully see this and post, they will help you. Ignore the statement about him withering away....keep trying. Good luck.
You're giving bad advice. re-read his post. the tank has been up for 3.5 WEEKS. it is not a mature tank, not a big tank, and probably not enough to sustain this fish (they quickly eat through they're food source, if the source isn't big enough). advising him to keep the fish is negligent.

 

[lion_crazz]

Yes, that is bad advice. Either take him back or buy a large enough amount of pods to put in the tank for them to begin to reproduce. You will need to get live rock very soon, but unless you can find cured rock, you will need to take another 4-6 weeks to cure it. My best immediate solution if you cannot return the fish is to buy live pods for it.

 

[reborn258]

I'm sorry major typo I meant that my tank has been up for 3 1/2 months. Sorry for the mix up.

 

[reborn258]

I have 42 pounds of live rock and my cycle ended 2.5 months ago. My tank has been up and running since with no casualties and in very stable condition.

 

[krustytheclownfish]

How long have you had the fish? If it was the lfs who told you that it would eat frozen brine shrimp, then it's their responsibility to take it back since it doesn't IMHO. I would go back to the store and 1) talk to whoever you have to to get them to take it back, even for store credit or something or 2) make it very clear that you're done doing business there and that you'll advise others against it also. Complain, complain, complain...unfortunately that's how things get done. I don't know how else the fish will survive in your tank...sorry. You could also see if another hobbyist wants it.

 

[1journeyman]

Your tank has only been cycling since you put the live rock and shrimp in it back in March... That's back at the three or 4 week mark.
As for the original post, I'd suggest taking it back. If the LFS told you it was eating and it isn't then it is their mistake. Raise enough heck and yell and scream enough and they WILL take it back.
I would also find another store and tell them exactly why...
The "old guard" on the boards are here to help. 9 times out of 10 if you go against their advice 2 things are going to happen. 1. Something is going to die
2. You are going to end up doing it their way after #1
Read and listen my friend. Trust me, the hobby will be much more fun for you with some patience and humility.
Good luck!!! Let us know how it turns out

 

[reborn258]

I've had him for two days so far. Tomorrow make three days.

 

[murph145]

i have a 100g tank with over 100lbs of live rock been up for over 2 years.... i got a mandarin goby like 6-8 months ago... i thought i was gonna kill him also....
what u need to do is get a seperate holding container that you can put him in to seperate him from the rest of the crowd.... that way u can feed him seperately some frozen mysid or enriched brine shrimp.... there he will eat it... and learn that frozen food is indeed food.... you'll probably have to feed him seperately for a while until your tank becomes matured and you have enough natural prey for him to surviuve on....
the other fish in your tank are much more aggressive when it comes to feeding time.... mine now knows where to go in the tank when its feeding time so that the other fish cant take food from him... usually behind rocks where the frozen food falls and he picks it and eats it.... he has done very well now and is a fun and colorful fish to have in your tank....
im surprized your LFS wont take him back! i took a fox face back to a LFS that i didnt even buy it from and they took him right away and even gave me a disc on a new fish i purchased
anyways without having a fully matured tank with lots of LR and pods he will slowly starve to death.... 2 choices return or seperate and feed for the mean time...
heres a pic of mine

 

[maeistero]

murph is the pro of this thread, i must agree with his approach. mandarins are very difficult to acclimate fully. 3months is ok if you know what you're doing, but certainly not on your first tank. virtually every one dies that comes out of my lfs, and most die before being bought. it's a dang us capitalist profit thing. that's why you see them at *****, but no real salt enthusiast would buy from there.

 

[1journeyman]

See my above post on this thread... from his other posts, it seems his tank has only been cycling for 3 weeks.
I'm not sure where the 3 1/2 months thing came from...

 

[teresaq]

Hi, i have mine trained to eat from a syringe. I suck up either live brine with zoe, or frozen mysis with zoe, and shoot it in very small amounts right infront of her face, and she gobbles them up. I also bought live pods on line to beef upmy refuge,. she is doing great.