mandarin goby compatibility

[Tennyson]

can two mandarin gobies be kept in one 46 gal tank if they are opposite genders and enough food is given. Will they form pairs?

[ahullsb]

Do you have a refugium? I think one mandarin without a refugium is pushing it in a 46. I don't think I would do two.

[snorvich]

If you have a largish refugium feeding the tank, and both the tank and refugium are well established, you can probably make this work. Otherwise, you may not be able to keep ONE.

[petoonia]

Personally I wouldnt do it.

If you have a really established set up with alot of live rock, and a large refugium, that has a lot of life thriving in it then there is a chance that it might work. On the other hand with all of those things there is a greater chance one (or both) of the mandarins will starve to death. If you really want a mandarin I would just get one, only after your tank is established for a long time, and your certain your pod population can support a mandarin.

I have one mandarin in my 75g, and I wouldnt add a second one.

[Sk8r]

If you have a 20g fuge, possible.

But to avoid them killing each other, they need to be small, of their kind, and they need to go in at the same time, as a set. Otherwise, one will kill the other, especially if they view food as short

[Zaita]

Originally posted by Tennyson
can two mandarin gobies be kept in one 46 gal tank if they are opposite genders and enough food is given. Will they form pairs?

I have answered your other post about your Scooter Dragonet dieing in your tank. Scooter Blennys (Dragonets) and Mandarin Dragonets are advanced fish they require specialist care and foods.

Yes, you can keep a pair of mandarins in a 46g tank. They would need to be added together AND You will need to be able to supply a LARGE amount of food to them from a refugium approx 20g of larger that has been established for a min of about 6mnths. You could alternatively purchase copepods to add to this refugium to bring this time down.

Please carefully research the food and habitat requirements of the Dragonet family before attempting this. Most Dragonets that enter captivity starve to death.

[icedragln]

Hi!

I have a 46 gallon bow reef and thats the home of my happy mandarin. I dont think I would ever get another, even with 75 lbs of live rock he picked my pod supply clean. Fortunately I bought one that was raised to eat cyclops and mysis by a great saltwater store. He now eats the Marine S pellet food in addition to the frozen mysis. And even still, I wouldnt add another. Mandarins are notorious for being finicky eaters and are killed off by inexperienced and ill informed purchasers.

Believe me, my mandarin eating pellets is rare. Before you get one ask to see it eat in person. If they wont feed it on the spot ask their schedule so you can be present tomorrow. Dont buy a future problem.

Isn't it better to have one thrive than two that suffer?

[cl2ysta1]

we have a 180 reef with hundreds of lbs of live rock that is all about 10 years old and very mature. we have one dragonet and one bicolor pseudochromis. between the two i think we are maxed out on enough food for both. b/c neither will eat prepared food.

[hybridgenius]

You dont have to add them at the SAME TIME. As long as its a female and male you should be ok. Make sure like mentioned above, you have enough food.

[Tennyson]

OK, I think I'll just get one for my tank. If there aren't enough copepods in the tank, would adding live brine shrimp be a good idea?

[cardiffgiant]

I have 1 in a 55 gal, 75 lbs of rock, and a fuge that's about 7-8 gal. My display was established for over a year, and my fuge 6 months before I added a mandarin. He has some competition for food from a 2 spot goby and a 4 line wrasse (sometimes called a 12 line). I've had him for 5 months, which hardly makes me an expert, but I'll share my experience FWIW.

He decimated the pod population within the first month. Fortunately, he began eating frozen brine and mysis, and then eventually started eating formula 1 small pellet. Now he regularly takes food from my baster, and then robs a few bites from my sun coral.

I've read that they eat every few seconds, and that 1-2 "normal" feedings a day won't sustain them. So, I use an autofeeder to drop a small amount of the pellet 4 times a day. He seems to be pretty well conditioned too the times of day that the food drops.

Even though I've got a lot of rock and a fuge, and he eats pellet and frozen, he still isn't exactly "fat." He isn't skinny, and seems very active and healthy, but he just isn't chubby like the ones that I've seen in larger systems.

Overall, I'd say that I'm lucky that he isn't a picky eater, otherwise I would be in trouble.

[cardiffgiant]

If you are going to get one, try to be very selective. Ask the LFS if the mandarin is eating prepared foods, then see if they will hold it for a week or two so that you can monitor its health before bringing it home.

[Zaita]

Originally posted by Tennyson
OK, I think I'll just get one for my tank. If there aren't enough copepods in the tank, would adding live brine shrimp be a good idea?

No. Your Scooter Blenny (same as a Mandarin) has just died, which indicates a lack of copepods in your tank (which is still too new). I would highly recommend AGAINST buying a mandarin for the next 9-12mnths to give your tank a chance to get a sufficient sustainable food supply. If you do not your fish will continually starve to death. It would also be a good idea to purchase copepods to seed your tank properly.

Brine Shrimp is only worth-while if fed to the fish within 4hrs of hatching (unless you gutload). But you would need very large quantities and feeding multiple times a day to sustain the fish.

Originally posted by cardiffgiant
Even though I've got a lot of rock and a fuge, and he eats pellet and frozen, he still isn't exactly "fat." He isn't skinny, and seems very active and healthy, but he just isn't chubby like the ones that I've seen in larger systems.

This is a little concerning, how long have you had the fish? A mandarin should be "chubby" as this is their "healthy" form if you wish. Any signs that your mandarin is not chubby or gaining weight then I would be concerned that you do not have enough food for it and it will eventually starve to death. Even if the mandarin doesn't change weight please consider mal-nutrition.

Originally posted by hybridgenius
You dont have to add them at the SAME TIME. As long as its a female and male you should be ok. Make sure like mentioned above, you have enough food.

For 1% of the time you maybe able to add them seperately. But Mandarins become quite territorial, even in 200g+ systems and for the best chance of survival for both they should be added at the same time.

[teog]

I wouldnt do it. I would only add a mandrin goby if you have over 75lb - 100 lb of well established LR in your total system. Established to me would be over 1 yr.

I purchased a male and female mandrin two years ago and introduced them at the same time in my 180g. The female for about 2 weeks would chase the male around and act aggressive towards him.

Its great now to watch them hop from rock to rock looking for copods.

I have about 250lb of mature LR that has been in my possion for over 5yrs in reef tanks. Even now I wont purchase any other fish that will compete for food with my mandrins.

Unfortunetly to many dragonet gobies are purchased only to starve to death