Mandarin Goby???

[Bdimas]

Hi,

I have heard that Mandarin Gobies eat Copeods, my question is how many pounds of live rock do you need to support thier diet?
Also how important are copeods to a reef tank. Oh, and will Mandarin gobies eat anything else, such as live Brine.

Thanks, Bryan

[despot101]

Here's a great little article on mandarin's.
http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=3

[chigars4]

You need about 100lbs of LR to support 1 Mandarin. Copepods are the main food. You should keep a hangon refugium or similar refuge to give the pods a place to grow and reproduce wo getting eaten, or the Mandarin may eat itself out of food. I seed my tank regularly to ensure the Mandarin has sufficient food. Any other pod eaters, like Scooter Blennies, will deplete the pod population much more quickly. If you add another pod eater, you'll need more LR to support the Mandarin.
Not many Mandarin's will eat other foods like brine, and that is usually not enough to sustain it. Also, they are so slow that the other fish will compete and eat brine faster so that you end up having to add even more brine until you screw up you system.

[Bdimas]

Dang, well i guess my 37lbs of live rock won't do the trick. What are the advantages that copepods have in a reef tank?

[Purple Haze]

Hm, I thought a Mandarin was a Dragonette, not a Goby.

[Bdimas]

Excuse me. Thats what they are referd to at a lfs.

[ReefRian]

copods are good for your reef since they will feed many different types of organisims and will help keep your system more healthy. They will sorta help sift your live sand if you have it and I think they eat detritus, though I'm not sure.

Rian

[Bdimas]

Thanks for all the info. Do Scooter Blennies also require the same amount of live rock to support their diet without depleting the pods?

[ReefRian]

yes, I believe so. I know they don't have the best track record in aquariums, so if you can provide tons of food from the live rock then they will have a better chance of surviving

Rian

[Scuba Dog]

Pods are quite bennifical, as fish food....as detrivores, and corals also feed on them...to keep a manderin, yeah the bigger the tank the better the more rock the better, but a refugium is absolutly necessary for the smaller tanks such as 75s and 150s....

[iSpeakWhale]

Bdimas,

If you're worried about not having enough food for Mandarin then look for one that eats frozen food. Have your LFS feed them and see if any eats brine or mysid.

[Paul79936]

Forget that. They all will eat frozen food once they are starving, but by then it is usually too late for them to pull through.

[Bdimas]

Thanks folks. I'm gonna have to skip out on a Mandarin or a Scooter, since I only have a 37 lbs of lr. Sucks because I really like both fish.

[xsquyz]

why do we need a specific amount of live rocks for the mandarin to survive??

[obarrera]

Originally posted by xsquyz
why do we need a specific amount of live rocks for the mandarin to survive?? The more live rock the more pods.

[scribmo]

Chigars4,
what do you mean by "seeding" your tank in order to support a Mandarin. ARe you successfully keeping a mandarin in your 35g? I have a 46g with a hangon fuge and oodles of pods of various sizes. I know have 70 lbs of lr too. I'm wondering if my system could support a mandarin. Thanks.

[Conano]

i have a 29 gallon tank, with 35lbs of live rock in the tank, and another 15lbs of live rock in refigium/sump. I keep a manderin. he's been part of my tank about 3 months now. i wouldnt reccomend this unless your tank is well established with a heavy pod population, and you have aback up plan for keeping the fish alive incase he eats the pods outta house nad home.

I made a deal with my LFS that if i couldnt keep him alive and i started to worrie that he would starve to death, if the lfs would keep him for alittle while till i get things redone to allow the manderin to have more food. but i have no fear of that, with my new diy refigium/sump.

[ReefRian]

Conano - I would recommend against giving him to the lfs if you fear he is not getting enough food, unless you have the most amazing lfs that has heavy pod populations in their display tanks, because he's likely to starve faster there. Plus introducting him back into their water may give him parasites he doesn't yet have.

If you really fear he is starving, I would suggest looking for someone who is selling live mysid shrimp or amphipods and ordering a few orders to throw into your fuge. Unless you did purchase a lot of pod population starter kits you probably don't have as much of an established tank as you think for a mandarin. Unless your mandarin eats food you put into the tank, i.e. frozen, flake, then you should be fine.

have a 65 with anywhere from 50 to 80 lbs of live rock over a 2 year period. My mandarin has grown quite a bit in the year I've had him, he's like a sausage, but he eats the frozen food we feed the rest of the tank.

Rian

[Conano]

Unlike most LFS, i Trust Pat down at Pet Express. Prolly 60% of what i hve learned about this hobby i learned from him explaining step by step. Although the water quality is better in my tank, his stock tanks are not that bad, and usually dont go above 20ppm in nitrates, and he tries to keep that low. but it's to be expected with the bioload he has in the tanks. specialy on tuesdays when he gets his new livestock in. He has a manderin in one of his Coral stock tanks thats FAT.

[MarineTeng]

well basically u need a massive amount of pods, and they live in live rock, u don't need a specific amount, (like me i'm going to try with about 50lbs once my pods get way up,) i also am getting cheato which is a great place for them to live in my refugium, so that'll help alot, i'm going to wait for at least another 6 months for more pods, and i think pods eat phytoplankton, or so i've heard

[OceanRidge]

ive had a goby in my 29 gallon tank for a month and hes been fine. I only have 25lbs of fiji rock and hes plump and healthy. He does tend to enjoy eating the mysids shrimp that i feed my corals.