Mandarin goby's in an 18H

[VNVixen]

I have a question about mandarin goby's. I have an 18H gallon reef tank. The tank has been set up since November. I added 15 lbs of live rock in December. About 2 weeks ago, I added scavengers (snails and hermit crabs) and some mushrooms, sinularia, green star polyps, and calerpa. This is my first reef tank, but I have kept freshwater for over 14 years, so I have had to work out some things, like how much iodine and kalkwasser to put in, but now everything seems stable.
I understand that mandarin goby starve easy. So I did research and found out that their diet is mainly amphipods and as they get older brine shrimp. I have been told that it is ideal to purchase tank raised ones so that they are less likely to starve. So my intention is to purchase a male and female and feed them "Rodipods" http://www.reefaholics.org/Dwayne/Roti-pods/default.htm and brine shrimp and keep them in my 18gallon. I have had a 50/50 response with this. Some people cringe, and some people say I am on the right track.
I need some expert advice. The reason I set up this tank was to keep mandarin's. I just don't want to harm them. Thank you for your time.

[RazerCorals]

Like I said before I wouldn't keep 1 mandarin in anything smaller than a 55. Let alone keep 2 in an 18. There is an article in RC about it. I can't find it right now.

[RazerCorals]

Fishes to Stay Away From

All angelfish, all butterflyfish, Pipefish, Seahorses, Long-nosed
Filefish, Blue Ribbon Eels, Stonefish, and Moorish Idols. Mandarin
fish should also be avoided in non-reef tanks (they are hard to feed).

-From RC

[RazerCorals]

<Poor choice, needs 150 gallons mature tank with plenty of LR and pod production, most die sadly.>

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandcompfaqs.htm

http://www.geocities.com/stylatin/mandarins.htm

http://www.practical-pet-care.com/fish_forum.php?381

[Thorkot]

I had 2 Madarins in a 55gal reef tank with about 80lb of live rock. The tank was about 2 years old when I introduced them and they lived until I got rid of the tank, which was about 2 years. Hopefully the little guys are still living a good life. My tank had an abundance of pods and they grew to full size in this tank. I'm not saying that it will work for everybody (obviously it won't due to all of the articles) but it will work with the right care and some dedication. They are beautiful fish and are a lot of fun to watch.

[VNVixen]

Thank you for your imput. My point is this. The main reason that people say these guys are hard to keep is because they starve, and the food they eat is on live rock and they eat up before it can replenish itself. If I am the food sorce, and I make sure that there is ample "pods" in the tank, shouldn't they live??? I wrote Dr. Foster $ Smith. I will paste what they wrote, and see what everyone thinks.


Dear Heather,

Thank you for your inquiry.

Mandarin Gobies can be one of the hardest fish to care for in an aquarium. They will eat on a lot of the things in the rocks, so a well established reef tank should be able to support them. Since your tank is 18 gallons we could only recommend keeping one goby in this tank. The Mandarin is rather aggressive to fish of its own kind so unless you are able to find a mated pair you will have some difficulties keeping a pair of gobies in your tank. The minimum tank size that we recommend for the goby is a 30-gallon well established tank. You may be able to keep one goby in this 18-gallon tank, but two could be pushing the limit as far as the amount of food they would need to survive in the tank. At this time the gobies that we have are wild caught, and not tank raised. Therefore, with the fish that we have you would want to make sure there is plenty of shrimp, or other foods in your tank for the gobies to feed on to thrive in your tank. Other than this we could only recommend having one goby in this tank to make sure there is enough food to feed on.

If we can be of additional assistance, please contact our Live Aquaria Department at 1-800-334-3699 or via email. If you should need assistance while on our web site please feel free to contact our Live Help. Our Live Help is available Monday through Friday 7 A.M. 7 P.M. CST.

Sincerely,
Drs. Foster & Smith



tell me what you guys think!!! the tank will be ready in about another 2 weeks. I had a problem with my CA being to low, and I started dosing kalk just 2 days ago. I want to make sure everything is stable before I add anything. I really want a mandarin, but I don't want to kill anything either.

[phistio]

IMO, i think you'd be fine havine ONE dragonete in your tank...

i'm encouraged that you've done your homework!!! and i'd definitely say you're on the right track! if you had to choose between a male and a female i'd say pick the male...

roti-pods will be an awesome source of balanced nutrition.

good luck!!! :D

[reefrunner]

Roti-Pods...interesting product. It is a combination of live phyto and live zoo plankton. Plankton can range in size, I would make certain that the copepods provided in the mix are not the larval copepods, which I suspect they are, madarins are micro predators, but I think they like full sized pods :) I would also be concerned that the addition of the product migh cause some algae concerns. I'm sure anyone can here that uses live phyto can tell you if you add too much....you get lots of unwanted algae. Another option, and one I have considered, is patience. I have seen time and time again on these boards, tales of mandarins that will eat prepared foods. If your LFS keeps a continual stock of them, go by once a week or twice a week at feeding time and watch the mandarins. You should eventually run across one that eats the prepared foods. I personally disagree with Dr Foster and Smiths, I do not think an 18 gallon tank can support a mandarin goby...unless it has a decent refugium or you are providing a constant source of live pods. If you do go forward and try the Roti-Pods...please keep us informed as to how it goes, I am interested to say the least.

[killroysrevenge]

I agree with reefrunner. I am not against you keeping one. I would definately make sure that you saw the fish eat prepared food atleast a couple of days in a row.

[VNVixen]

8)

Thank you for your opinions. I think I am going to wait another month, until march, so I can continue building up my reef a bit more. In the meanwhile, I am going to continue looking for tank bred/raised mandarins, and follow reefrunner and killroysrevenge, and make sure I see them eat. I think that it may be worth the wait. I am going to purchase some of the "pods" too! I will keep everyone informed on how they work out. Does anyone know of another product like it out there? I went looking for amphipods and could only find this! Thanx again

[killroysrevenge]

My memory is like a mirror, stuff just bounces off of it. I know that there are pod breeding kits that you can buy. You could probably breed and raise enough to feed a mandarain. I think it would probably be alot of trouble. They are beautiful fish!!!

[phistio]

the cool thing about roti-pods, is that no light is required to keep them breeding...

but many mail-order places have pod kits...

[PeacockBass]

My memory is like a mirror, stuff just bounces off of it. I know that there are pod breeding kits that you can buy. You could probably breed and raise enough to feed a mandarain. I think it would probably be alot of trouble. They are beautiful fish!!!

LOL...

i found this post ot have ALOT of good info.. thanks all for the helping hand for this woman.

[RazerCorals]

I am still against the madarin in the 18.

[on_fire_8]

I kept a mandarin in my old 75 gallon reef. He did fine for about 6 months. He would even eat brine. However once he rid my tank of pods the brine didnt have enough nutritional value and he died anyway, and my tank had been setup for over a year when I added him.

[killroysrevenge]

Sorry for your loss on_fire_8. They are very cool fish.

[VNVixen]

:(
Me too! I am sorry for your loss.

On a lighter note, today was payday, and I have some pods on the way. I will keep you posted!!!

:D

[Fugly]

I think you should definitly go for the one. If you are sure your up to taking premium care of it. I have seen @ the LFS 1 mandarin and 3 sea horses in a 10 gal tank and last time I checked they had been living fine.

[killroysrevenge]

Fugly your LFS has a great :idea: idea :idea: . The only competition would be over who could swim the slowest. LOL. There would be little comp for food in that setup. My Fiance wants a hexagon sea horse tank and wants me to teach her the ins and outs. It would be more fun with a mandarain.

[VNVixen]

That's my idea. No competition for food!!! I'm glad some people see it my way. I am still waiting for the pods. :wink:

[Thorkot]

I totally agree. It sounds like you are taking the steps needed to care for this fish, which is great. Keep up the good work. :)

[RazerCorals]

Make sure you get a healthy one. And you've seen it eat and swim. Also try to get it from a reef tank, not a FO tank. It should be much healthier then.

[VNVixen]

PLEASE!!!! Everyone go to the "I need help" forum!!!!!!!! Please read my entry. I am on aim. THX

[dan_orr]

HI, I have a mandarin goby that I have kept successfuly for about a year now in a ten gallon reef setup. You should be fine. My only sujestion is that you wean your fish over to frozen brine slowly. First by supply live brine which your fish should happily chase, then some dead but fresh brine, and finnaly frozen. Good Luck!

[HoopsGuru]

Frozen brine has almost no nutritional value in it. If you are feeding solely this without at least enriching it with Selcon or Zoe, then your mandarin is in for a tough future. This is also the reason why seahorses (except pixies) cannot survive on a diet of brine shrimp only...even if it is enriched.

Since it is obvious that nothing will sway your opinion on getting the mandarin, I can only say good luck to the little guy.

[RazerCorals]

BTW you know mandarins like to hide in the rock work a lot. They like the back of the tank. The 2 days I had mine it stayed in the back, then ran into the bubble coral like my 2 lawnmowers. Gosh some fish are dumb.

[deathsauce]

i feed my mandarin a variety of frozen food: mysis shrimp, baby brine, emerald marine cousine, krill, plankton, and zooplankton. and he seems to be doing pretty well, being nice and round.