manderin goby starving

fish are life · 02/28/2006, 01:38 AM

i have had my tank set up with live rock for about 7 months now and i introduced a manderin goby about 3 weeks ago that had eatin all the copopods in my friends tank. now i have no copopods and he is starving because he ate them all. he is still swimming about but is freekishly skinny. is this common or do i just have a really hungry fish? and what els can i feed him?

zimmy1979 · 02/28/2006, 01:52 AM

A mandarin goby is a very difficult fish to keep. You need a large tank with plenty of live rock or a fuge with plenty of pods. They usually do not eat any prepared food and will only eat live food. You should sell it to an LFS or someone that has a fuge and a big tank.

Airman · 02/28/2006, 01:52 AM

Take a look at your tank at night to see if you have some copepods.

The_Reef _Man · 02/28/2006, 01:54 AM

I would say your scenario is pretty common. Mandarins need a large tank with large quantities of live rock to sustain the pods. A refugium is also extremely beneficial.

fish are life · 02/28/2006, 01:55 AM

before i got him i always saw them around the ground at night and not i never see them, i have a 60 G tank with around 100 lbs or LR. i work at a tropical fish store and the guy that sold it to me got rid of him because he ate all the pods in his 110 G that has around 200 lbs of LR. i seriously just think he has a hole in him stomach

fish are life · 02/28/2006, 01:56 AM

also how do i build a fuge and sump, because i am buying a 110G and have a extra 15 and 20 G tank. so i think is would be benificial to have them.

Alaskan Reefer · 02/28/2006, 02:04 AM

Mandarins are hard to keep for just this reason. You could buy pods to sustain him (available online), but the only real cure is to get a MASSIVE fuge since your display is only 60 gallons -- I'm talking about a 100 gallon rubbermaid tub, or even larger. Most successful mandarin keepers have HUGE tanks to support the mass of pods needed. A small percentage will take to other food, but they're rare -- most people who sucessfully keep mandarins wait to find one that eats something other than pods, and that wait can be years depending on how often the LFS turns their stock... Sorry, it's just reality on this type of fish.

fish are life · 02/28/2006, 02:07 AM

ya i have a friend who owns a store that sells copopods, and even with my 110 and probably 200 lbs of LR will i still need such a bug fuge?

Alaskan Reefer · 02/28/2006, 02:48 AM

I think you do -- and I too wish they were easier to keep, I'd have at least one in my tank...

LOTUS50GOD · 02/28/2006, 05:17 AM

It truely is best to find one that is willing to take prepared foods... I had a pair that lived for several years in my 260, but I also have a 100 gallon fuge.

raynist · 02/28/2006, 09:16 AM

Did you try live brine? I was able to sustain mine in a 40g breeder on live brine until I got my 180g setup. I have not had to feed him in 4 months since settin up the 180g.

--Ray

smleee · 02/28/2006, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fish are life
i have a 60 G tank with around 100 lbs or LR. i work at a tropical fish store and the guy that sold it to me got rid of him because he ate all the pods in his 110 G that has around 200 lbs of LR.

And you still decided to get him?

It sounds like he is very skinny, short term you should buy some pods and live brine to see if he takes them. Long term, massive fuge as said before, or give him to someone with a large established display.

eee

fish are life · 02/28/2006, 10:25 AM

ya i am heading over to the store today to buy the pods. thanks alot everyone

marinelife · 02/28/2006, 10:28 AM

if you feed your tank DTs this help the pods population, 100 pounds of rock should be plenty, my guess is he had problems when you got him

mikexreefer · 03/01/2006, 01:04 AM

Try feeding him bloodworms. I had the same problem. Turn off your powerheads and let the bloodworms fall to the bottom of the tank.

OnTheReef · 03/01/2006, 01:19 AM

marinelife is right on track, DTs will really boost the copepod population in your tank. I keep live rocks with caulerpa and sea lettuce in my fuge, which I spike with about 5mls of DTs every other day. The pods grow like mad and help keep up the population in the main tank. On the sump, keep in mind that to be safe in a power outage, you want to run it about half full, so my 30 gallon fuge on my 30 gallon tank only has about 15 gallons of water in it. This setup is enough to keep a blenny well-fed, but I have no experience with mandarin gobies.

fish are life · 03/01/2006, 01:24 AM

well the bad news is that my friends store is out of buisness, so instead i went to my work and picked up a brine shrimp hatchery. also i was encouraged when i saw my goby eat a few frozen brine shrimp. tomarrow i will pick up some blood worms.

And will he eat small ghost shrimp?

JeffCA · 03/01/2006, 02:13 AM

Yeah definately do the bloodworms. Buy the Hikura brand, the worms in there are very skinny and he can slurp them up like spagetti noodles. Turn off the pumps and shoot some worms near him.

gflat65 · 03/01/2006, 07:29 AM

Try soaking in Selcon, too. I've been one that has always had luck with mandarins. I had a 40H for five years (first tank) and the mandarin was the fourth fish purchased. Didn't die until a rock crab cut him in half him... It took frozen, though. I had a six line that competed for food and almost killed him within the first two years. The wrasse went to another home and the mandarin got fat again. Fast forward a few years and I got a spotted (had it for about three years now). This one eats flatworms, too. I nuked the pods with a redbug treatment and was naturally fearful for the mandarin, but had no issues. It found something else to eat. Now my pods are back, but never saw any change in the fat rolls on the mandarin. Once you get a fuge set up, try some phyto, too. After the RB treatment, I dose phyto pretty heavily and the population came back quickly. I'm running a 14 gallon fuge with a 10 gallon sump on a 125... These results are not the norm, but if you find a healthy fish, they can be replicated. Do you have anything that could be competing for food (wrasses, esp.)?

In th emeantime, find some cheato to drop in a lower flow area of the tank and buy some pods (Florida Pets sells them and are good people to deal with). Try to dump them in the cheato for some protection from predation. That should help short term.

fish are life · 03/01/2006, 10:34 AM

with the blood worms can i just feed my whole tank that but a little more so alot falls to the ground? and there is no place here in tucson where i can find phyto all i have is zooplankton, will that work? and should i soak all the food in fish garlic? i do it to the fish at my work and they absolutely love it.

marinelife · 03/01/2006, 11:09 AM

so you guys are feeding your ocean going animals a none ocean going creature??

fish are life · 03/01/2006, 11:25 AM

well at this point i dont have another option.

alten78 · 03/01/2006, 11:43 AM

as gflat mentioned earlier, maybe you have other fish that are out competeing the mandarin for food? What other fish do you have in there?

02/28/2006, 01:38 AM	#1
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	manderin goby starving i have had my tank set up with live rock for about 7 months now and i introduced a manderin goby about 3 weeks ago that had eatin all the copopods in my friends tank. now i have no copopods and he is starving because he ate them all. he is still swimming about but is freekishly skinny. is this common or do i just have a really hungry fish? and what els can i feed him?

02/28/2006, 01:52 AM	#3
Airman Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 643	Take a look at your tank at night to see if you have some copepods. __________________ What is man, that thou art mindful of him?...:) Current Tank Info: 55 Gal, DSB, protein skimmer, UV light, Sump/Refugium

02/28/2006, 02:04 AM	#7
Alaskan Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Eagle River, Alaska Posts: 2,360	Mandarins are hard to keep for just this reason. You could buy pods to sustain him (available online), but the only real cure is to get a MASSIVE fuge since your display is only 60 gallons -- I'm talking about a 100 gallon rubbermaid tub, or even larger. Most successful mandarin keepers have HUGE tanks to support the mass of pods needed. A small percentage will take to other food, but they're rare -- most people who sucessfully keep mandarins wait to find one that eats something other than pods, and that wait can be years depending on how often the LFS turns their stock... Sorry, it's just reality on this type of fish. __________________ Unattended children will be given double shot espresso and a free puppy. Current Tank Info: 125g FOWLR -- Conversion Back To SPS In Progress

02/28/2006, 02:48 AM	#9
Alaskan Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Eagle River, Alaska Posts: 2,360	I think you do -- and I too wish they were easier to keep, I'd have at least one in my tank... __________________ Unattended children will be given double shot espresso and a free puppy. Current Tank Info: 125g FOWLR -- Conversion Back To SPS In Progress

02/28/2006, 05:17 AM	#10
LOTUS50GOD Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 3,210	It truely is best to find one that is willing to take prepared foods... I had a pair that lived for several years in my 260, but I also have a 100 gallon fuge. __________________ Vertex Alpha 300 Skimmer, AI SOL Blue, Neptune Apex Controlled 360 gallon Reef Current Tank Info: born 6/26/2008- 340 reef + 100 fuge, 300lbs of figi LR

02/28/2006, 01:52 AM	#2
zimmy1979 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: City of Angels Posts: 405	A mandarin goby is a very difficult fish to keep. You need a large tank with plenty of live rock or a fuge with plenty of pods. They usually do not eat any prepared food and will only eat live food. You should sell it to an LFS or someone that has a fuge and a big tank.

02/28/2006, 01:54 AM	#4
The_Reef _Man Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 45	I would say your scenario is pretty common. Mandarins need a large tank with large quantities of live rock to sustain the pods. A refugium is also extremely beneficial.

02/28/2006, 01:55 AM	#5
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	before i got him i always saw them around the ground at night and not i never see them, i have a 60 G tank with around 100 lbs or LR. i work at a tropical fish store and the guy that sold it to me got rid of him because he ate all the pods in his 110 G that has around 200 lbs of LR. i seriously just think he has a hole in him stomach

02/28/2006, 01:56 AM	#6
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	also how do i build a fuge and sump, because i am buying a 110G and have a extra 15 and 20 G tank. so i think is would be benificial to have them.

02/28/2006, 02:07 AM	#8
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	ya i have a friend who owns a store that sells copopods, and even with my 110 and probably 200 lbs of LR will i still need such a bug fuge?

02/28/2006, 09:16 AM	#11
raynist Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,921	Did you try live brine? I was able to sustain mine in a 40g breeder on live brine until I got my 180g setup. I have not had to feed him in 4 months since settin up the 180g. --Ray

02/28/2006, 10:25 AM	#13
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	ya i am heading over to the store today to buy the pods. thanks alot everyone

02/28/2006, 10:28 AM	#14
marinelife Registered Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Union, Ohio, USA Posts: 6,590	if you feed your tank DTs this help the pods population, 100 pounds of rock should be plenty, my guess is he had problems when you got him __________________ I'm a SaltGeek are You? All LED since 2010. Current Tank Info: 375 Gallon Reef with siporax, all LED lighting, and Red Dragon 3 and Abyzz A200 on 2 closed loops.

03/01/2006, 01:04 AM	#15
mikexreefer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 40	Try feeding him bloodworms. I had the same problem. Turn off your powerheads and let the bloodworms fall to the bottom of the tank.

03/01/2006, 01:19 AM	#16
OnTheReef Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 340	marinelife is right on track, DTs will really boost the copepod population in your tank. I keep live rocks with caulerpa and sea lettuce in my fuge, which I spike with about 5mls of DTs every other day. The pods grow like mad and help keep up the population in the main tank. On the sump, keep in mind that to be safe in a power outage, you want to run it about half full, so my 30 gallon fuge on my 30 gallon tank only has about 15 gallons of water in it. This setup is enough to keep a blenny well-fed, but I have no experience with mandarin gobies. __________________ 100 gallon reef tank, 40 gallon sump/fuge combo with RDSB 2x ASM G2 with gate valve mod TLF phos reactor w/Rowaphos, Seachem Nitrate sponge 4x55w 50/50 actinic PC Current USA 0 amm, 0 nitrite, 0 n Current Tank Info: 50 & 100 gallon reef tanks

03/01/2006, 01:24 AM	#17
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	well the bad news is that my friends store is out of buisness, so instead i went to my work and picked up a brine shrimp hatchery. also i was encouraged when i saw my goby eat a few frozen brine shrimp. tomarrow i will pick up some blood worms. And will he eat small ghost shrimp?

03/01/2006, 02:13 AM	#18
JeffCA Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Elk Grove, CA Posts: 66	Yeah definately do the bloodworms. Buy the Hikura brand, the worms in there are very skinny and he can slurp them up like spagetti noodles. Turn off the pumps and shoot some worms near him. __________________ Jeff Current Tank Info: 46 gal Acrylic Bowfront

03/01/2006, 07:29 AM	#19
gflat65 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Montgomery, Al Posts: 8,720	Try soaking in Selcon, too. I've been one that has always had luck with mandarins. I had a 40H for five years (first tank) and the mandarin was the fourth fish purchased. Didn't die until a rock crab cut him in half him... It took frozen, though. I had a six line that competed for food and almost killed him within the first two years. The wrasse went to another home and the mandarin got fat again. Fast forward a few years and I got a spotted (had it for about three years now). This one eats flatworms, too. I nuked the pods with a redbug treatment and was naturally fearful for the mandarin, but had no issues. It found something else to eat. Now my pods are back, but never saw any change in the fat rolls on the mandarin. Once you get a fuge set up, try some phyto, too. After the RB treatment, I dose phyto pretty heavily and the population came back quickly. I'm running a 14 gallon fuge with a 10 gallon sump on a 125... These results are not the norm, but if you find a healthy fish, they can be replicated. Do you have anything that could be competing for food (wrasses, esp.)? In th emeantime, find some cheato to drop in a lower flow area of the tank and buy some pods (Florida Pets sells them and are good people to deal with). Try to dump them in the cheato for some protection from predation. That should help short term. __________________ Was it for this my life I sought... Maybe so Maybe not.

03/01/2006, 10:34 AM	#20
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	with the blood worms can i just feed my whole tank that but a little more so alot falls to the ground? and there is no place here in tucson where i can find phyto all i have is zooplankton, will that work? and should i soak all the food in fish garlic? i do it to the fish at my work and they absolutely love it.

03/01/2006, 11:09 AM	#21
marinelife Registered Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Union, Ohio, USA Posts: 6,590	so you guys are feeding your ocean going animals a none ocean going creature?? __________________ I'm a SaltGeek are You? All LED since 2010. Current Tank Info: 375 Gallon Reef with siporax, all LED lighting, and Red Dragon 3 and Abyzz A200 on 2 closed loops.

03/01/2006, 11:25 AM	#22
fish are life Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: tucson AZ Posts: 171	well at this point i dont have another option.

03/01/2006, 11:43 AM	#23
alten78 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sheffield Lake, OH Posts: 1,231	as gflat mentioned earlier, maybe you have other fish that are out competeing the mandarin for food? What other fish do you have in there? __________________ When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find a person where life gave them vodka and have a party. ~ Ron White Current Tank Info: 120g SPS dominated