thinking about getting a green mandrin goby

[dilan]

Hello their I have always been wanting a green mandrin for as long as i can remember. I have a 55gal live rock tank and thinking about adding coral i also have a 180 gal with live rock in the 55gal i am housing a shrimp, a flasher wrasse, a 6 line wrasse, 2 clowns, and 2 firefish gobies. I was wondering if i could keep a mandrin goby happy in a 55gal. I have copepods already but don,t have a fuge. i have plenty of flow and i could always buy pods and populate my tank and my 180gal has a overpopulation of pods wich when i think i am low i just put some of that water into mine and wallah i have copepods. I want the mandrin to be semi easy to sestain because i am only 13 years but my dad is a advanced aquarist and he could help me take care of the mandrin goby. could you tell me if the mandrin eats anything else besides copepods. The 2 firefish i need help feeding them they eat but i sometimes think they don't eat enough.

 

[mr. limpid]

First off I'll tell you that a 55 is two small to house a mandarin they will hunt down all the pods in that system quickly and transferring them from your 180 will be a lot of work and often. Also the six line, shrimp and gobies are all hunting pods too and are in competition for the mandarins main food source. Personal if I were you and you have as many pods in your 180 as you say you do, I would add the mandarin to the 180. You must not have much competition for pods in that tank.

 

[dilan]

Are you sure because on live aquaria they said 30gal would sistain it if not do you have any ideas of fish for my reef tank really need help stocking it. I am always stumped on the fish that i want. The full grown size cannot be more then 5in and how many do you think i can fit in a 55gal. and what inverts do you think would be good.

 

[saxman]

Mandarins feed on pods and other benthic/demersal microfauna, and small to medium tanks can't support the sheer numbers of them needed to feed one.
Being able to keep a mandy alive in smaller setups comes down to one thing: the fish in question must, Must, MUST eat prepared foods. This means you must find one that eats (you're best off shopping for the fish at the LFS so you can witness this). Sure, ORA has CB fish, but from everything I hear, they don't always eat, or they go off their feed as often as not. Mandarins can be weaned onto prepared foods, but it's not easy, nor is it always successful.
That being said, I kept a mandy for close to 9 years in a 55 gal tank, but again, it was because it ate prepared foods from the start, and the tank was well-established (a couple of years) before I got the fish. In fact, there was also a leopard wrasse in residence, but it was also a great feeder.
On the other side of the coin, my wife Renee (Cranberry here on SWF) kept a mandy in a 44 gal SPS corner reef, but again, the tank was well-established, the mandy was the only fish in the tank, and she never fed it. She had it for several years. Since there was absolutely no other predation of the microfauna in her tank by fish, she was able to pul it off nicely.
FWIW, mandarins seem to eat live blackworms well, but they must be fed out sparingly as they die quickly in SW. This is a good food to get them eating, IME, but they need more variety for longterm success.
I hope that kinda demystifies the mandarin-tanksize thing. Sorry for the long post...

 

[saban2013]

I agree with the other replies. The Green Mandarin, as with most dragonets of this type, are very difficult to feed prepared foods. Your 180 would fair much better, even then you need to have a constant source of replenishment. These fish never stop feeding and can quickly deplete even the most established colony of copepods. If you do decide to try one in your 55 gallon, be sure you request your dealer feed prepared foods to your potential addition in your presence. Far too many dealer say their specimens eat prepared foods, when if fact, they do not.

 

[jay0705]

I have to agree. Lots of LR and time. Let the tank age. Iam doing the same. I've not gotten fish BC of there fondness for pods. U can keep other fish w Mandy's but they can not compete w them for pods. W your fire fish. They r generally easy to feed. My purple fire eats mysis shrimp that my clowns think r too big. If your having issues feeding them , try frozen mysis,brine,and a carnivore prep.

 

[dilan]

thx i think now i should be able to keep one because now i have a loty of live rock and pods but don't know if he will get along with 6 line kind of a bully but ever since i put a foxface in he's been behaving

 

[jay0705]

My fox keeps the peace too. My mandarin is the only fish he doesn't scare lol. However your 6 line eats alot of pods too so u could still have an issue keeping a mandarin.

 

[florida joe]

IMO it’s not the tank size but the amount of hiding places and food you present to the pods. Pods actually reproduce rather quickly. My mandarin takes blood worms and the occasional brine shrimp. I believe that a major reason for the death of a mandarin shortly after introduction to our tanks is simply that the fish was already malnourished when we brought it home. IMO the chain of custody from capture to retail store presents very little food availability, that being said when buying one look for the fattest fish that is actively looking for food. BTW Roy’s which is a major supplier of live pods had an issue with its pod tanks and the system went down. Pods from Roy’s are very difficult to find now as they struggle to get the system up and running again

 

[dilan]

thanks i do have alot of hiding places do you know how to reproduce ods quickely i have alot swimming and on my glass but i don't know if firefish eat them i have 2 and they take other food but don't know about pods how do u know if you have enough and look for the fattest but i thought look for a tiny b ut fat so that it won't eat alot

 

[jay0705]

They all eat alot. There constantly hunting pods. Algen carries warm water pods in the bottle. These will reproduce. Unlike the cold water pods.if u want a Mandy. I d supplement your tank pods w these also a refurium will help

 

[geridoc]

Culturing pods is not difficult - just Google it and you will see that all that is required is an air stone, a small container (5 or 10 gal tank works fine), and microvegetation for food. I have had a mandy in my 30 gallon breeder system for almost 2 years now. It was ORA-bred, took brine shrimp at the lfs, but refused to eat when I got it home. Eventually, I got it to take frozen prawn eggs, and that is what it subsists on. I do have an algae turf scrubber, and every week before I scrape the algae off I shake the screen in the sump next to the return pump. This (IMHO) dislodges the pods from the algae mat, so I think I am constantly replenishing the free-swimming pod population. Of course, that is theory since I never see pods in the tank. I think the mandy eats them too quickly.

 

[jay0705]

I've heard of feeding them prawn eggs. Where do u get them? That's something I'd like to try.

 

[geridoc]

[list type=decimal]

[/list type=decimal]
I've heard of feeding them prawn eggs. Where do u get them? That's something I'd like to try.
They are sold under the "Nutramar" brand, and of the 4 major lfs near me, only one carries it. It isn't easy to use - I have to turn off all of the pumps, and after all the water currents end I deposit a small pile of eggs near the mandy using a long pipette. Recently my relatively new clarkii clownfish has discovered this treat, and in his eagerness he scatters the eggs around. It is funny to watch the mandy during this - he just keeps eating, one mouthful every 10 seconds, and he totally disregards anything else going on in the tank. There is a method in which you can put the eggs into a baby food jar lying on its side so only the mandarin can get it, but I found that this only provided a meeting place for all of my hermit crabs.

 

[jay0705]

Ah lol ok thank you

 

[gazz]

I've had mine in a 40 gallon for about 2 years, one main thing thing to consider is other tank mates, all need to be peaceful to get the best out of your Mandy. Also if your going to lfs there's no reason why u can't ask to see him fed first. However if the body is concaved I wouldn't bother. Now feeding at first mine would only eat Copepods (brine,mysis live or frozen would hit him in the face!) till I tried garlic brine, he loved it so I then started mixing normal and garlic till he took normal then mixed with mysis. Now he'll take a bit out of anything just to try it! He's not a fan of razor clam spits it back out lol.

 

[dilan]

I have 2 firefish 1 flasher wrasse 6 line wrasse 1 foxfacespot very small but the biggest in my tank 1 pj cardinal cleaner shrimp1 blenny i don't know if the 6 line would bothwer it and if so what else can i put that is small but reef compatible peaceful and will get along with everything and not to big max 3-4 in

 

[dilan]

please respond need some advice

 

[jay0705]

What advice. U need? Your fish list is ok w a Mandy. I have the same fish minus the wrasse

 

[dilan]

Oh thx than