Tempted to get a Mandarin Goby

[n72]

I've been tempted to purchase a Mandarin Goby and want to know if anyone has had success with them. I was told by the LFS owner that they will only eat one type of food, some sort of sand dwelling creature. It will be going into my 24g nano with two clowns and some snails.

Thanks

[moneytimetycoon]

I have no experience, but from researching I ended up not getting one. They eat copopods and can be trained to eat flake, pellet or frozen food. The key to having pods id having a nice place for them to multiply like a fuge or very porous rock for them to hide out in. Keep searching the LFS to find one that is already eating artificial food and save yourself the headache and watch them feed it before you take it home.

[scottio]

If you have a lot of like rock going into your nano, you should be ok with a mandarin. I have had one for over 3 years now and he is doing great. With that said, I have had it in a 90 and 125 gallon tank with lots of live rock, which is the breading groud for 'pods. If you don't think you are going to have a lot of live rock in your nano to support a mandrin, you can buy live 'pods from several different places online or maybe at your LFS.

[julie180]

Lots of rock does not necessary mean you will have lots of pods. Its not quite that simple.

Mandarins are notorious for starving in captivity. If you can find one in a store that is already eating frozen food, you are going to be much better off.

You can also buy pods at the LFS and see how they do in your tank. If they thrive, they look like ants crawling over the rock after the lights go out.

[Octoshark]

Buying pods from your LFS may become expensive, especially compared to the savings by culturing your own. Any hobbyist with some reef experience and a little extra space should be able to successfully culture pods (and the phytoplankton needed to culture the pods).

[Adam76]

I think It will be hard to keep in a 24g nano.

[BeanMachine]

Way too small.

[Octoshark]

Tank size should be 30-50 gallons (with 30 being small)

[drparker]

I would not try it in a nano. I waited until my 75g was 2yrs old with a 20g fuge. I think I'm pushing it at that.

[SNAKEMANVET]

I agree with julie180,see if you can find one that is eating frozen foods.Buying pods can get expensive.I had one in a 120 with over 160 lbs of live rock,and it only lasted about 4 months.

[Octoshark]

I guess it varies depending upon who you talk to:

LiveAquaria: 30 gallons

BlueZooAquatics: 75 gallons

SaltWaterFish: 10 gallons

[julie180]

I should have been a little more specific about buying pods...

What I meant is buy a bottle of something like tigger pods and see if they thrive. I personally can't seem to get good pod growth in my system.

I would never try to "feed" a fish on store bought pods. The ones I have seen for sale are way to small to feed anyone.

[L98-Z]

I had one in my 180 which had no problems at all, now I've downgraded to a 75 and I was a bit scared. He's been happily eating brine and mysis though. He even comes out when I get in front of the aquarium since he knows I may have food.

[Little Lucy 27]

I just got my first Mandarin after much research and debate in my own head..(the voices were maddening,lol) I have a 75 and it has not been set up all that long by some folks standards...but...each system is unique...I agree about the finding one eating prepared foods and Melev's Reef has a great little ditty about his mandarins and he has several in the same tank. They do starve often in captivity (not Melev's) . I feel the key (what I did) was to observe the Mandarins...as many as you can observe in the tanks at the LFS. I picked one that was active and not sunken bellied...he is eating and not losing weight. My tank though is over run with copepods and amphipods...if you have a friend who has a large established system you could do what I do in my own sump...I put those body scrubbers you get at the dollar store in my sump/fuge and then every so often I shake it out in the tank...amazing the bugs...they are all over my hands and you can clearly see some of them let loose....I assume others are too small to see with the naked eye. I have to say that unless you can come up with a way to replenish such a small environment frequently with pods you are, sadly, destined for failure.Good luck!!
By the way, I am in no way an expert(or even close) on anything ;-)

[jason2459]

I've got a pair of madarins in my 55 that are thriving and fat. I do have a 5g HOB refugium and my tank is absolutely teaming with pods of all types. Seems all the fish like to snack on one type or another too. I've even seen my blenny snatch up an isopod here and there. I also feed pretty heavy and have a UGF where the pods seem to love to breed as well.

[drparker]

Originally Posted by julie180

I should have been a little more specific about buying pods...

What I meant is buy a bottle of something like tigger pods and see if they thrive. I personally can't seem to get good pod growth in my system.

I would never try to "feed" a fish on store bought pods. The ones I have seen for sale are way to small to feed anyone.

The ones you can't see or barely see are the ones mine goes for, Yes you can use store bought pods to seed a fuge or culture. Your 24 is not big enough on it's own to sustain enough pods for a mandarin, you'll need a large fuge or to culture pods yourself. It will consume what's in your 24 in no time.

From what I've read tiger pods don't breed in our fuges, I've added plenty and never seen them breed myself.

[Octoshark]

Originally Posted by drparker

From what I've read tiger pods don't breed in our fuges, I've added plenty and never seen them breed myself.

True. Tigger pods are a more temperate species and do not breed well in higher reef temperatures.

[GreshamH]

Originally Posted by Octoshark

True. Tigger pods are a more temperate species and do not breed well in higher reef temperatures.

Not true. Tigger-Pods are bred at 75-85 ( above 85 at times) and in fact we've had our highest yields in the 80's. The miss conception usually can be traced back to a single research paper stating there is a male:female shift from 50:50 to 51:49. In the scheme of things that is nothing.

They do not live in the ocean. They live in tide pools that can have a daily sustained temp well into the 90's. The warmer the pool, the more you usually see

The largest problems reefers have with them is the lack of feed and predation. They don't make a good display tank critter but thrive in refugia if fed or enough food is present. The people that feed phyto tend to have much better success then those that don't.

[w16227]

Originally Posted by n72

I've been tempted to purchase a Mandarin Goby and want to know if anyone has had success with them. I was told by the LFS owner that they will only eat one type of food, some sort of sand dwelling creature. It will be going into my 24g nano with two clowns and some snails.

Thanks

Short answer - No. The tank is too small to provide the food necessary for the animal to survive long term.

Longer answer -

Even if you have enough pods (reef bugs mostly visible at night) to see- they will be depleted in a 24g and the animal will starve.

Most should not be kept in tanks under 75g with a good amount of live rock. anything smaller should have a fuge. Even above a 75 - a fuge is a good idea as this gives protected areas for the pods to grow and multiply.

For your tank - an active fuge would be a requirement.

Even then - supplemental feedings may be necessary. External pod growth - or brine shrimp cultivation may be required. Oh - and even brine shrimp alone are not enough - they need to be "enriched" with selcon before feeding or they are the equivalent of fish potato chips==== taste great, but no real nutritional benefit.

[Sk8r]

A mandy can eat 300.00 worth of pods faster than you'd believe: been there, got the tee shirt. Set that nano up as a fuge (pod breeding area) for a 55 and you have a good dragonet rig that will also keep other fish handily, but you cannot let a mandy loose in your pod breeding area or you will have one fat mandy and a pod population being hunted to extinction. I have a 30 g fuge for a 54g tank and do fine with both a mandy and a scooter; but I would not recommend going any less than that.

[n72]

Thank you all for the info. Little Lucy 27, I think I hear the same voices.

Guess I will have to put the Mandarin on hold until my 90 is up and running for awhile. I plan to have a 30g sump with a fuge, so hopefully it'll all work out.

[Crustman]

I got lucky and my Mandarin chases after and eats PE mysis but he had pods and other foods long before he accepted the mysis. Tank has been setup over 4 years. I bought it stocked

[chubby190]

My wife bought one for our tank without knowing in advance that it was a special needs fish. We feed mycis shrimp to the tank daily, and he's been happy as the proverbial clam since day one. I should note that I'm a reef idiot--I have no idea what i'm doing but somehow everything is fine.

I think you'd be fine with a little foresight.

-but what do I know? lol

[scomar31]

I want a mandarin too but I hear so many negative things about them that I am undecided. Let us know what you do and if you get one how it works out.

[reefscape15]

too small.