My sumpless 77 gal has two mandarins, both males. Thought the second was female when I purchased it 2 years after adding the first, but was wrong, dumb mistake. In any case, I can't catch either of them and they're both healthy. There's an obvious size difference (new one much smaller) and other than a few daily chase episodes they stay out of each other's way. I've seen the older one take bits of granular food that settles on the sandbed, cyclopeeze granules and formula pellets. Haven't seen the smaller one take dry food yet, but he's been in there for at least a year, growing & staying plump so obviously finding enough to eat in the system. I'll add that I probably keep what might be considered a higher nutrient system and since I have no sump I keep a clump of chaeto floating near the surface of the display tank. I have a fair bit of sand on the bottom and allow the back glass to become overgrown with not only coralline, but also hair algae. They both graze these areas regularly and I can see them pecking away, so I know there's live food to be had there. These relatively unclean areas appear to help keep the pod population where it needs to be to sustain both fish without a problem.
As far as tank mates go, I don't see an issue with aggression based on what you have in there now, maybe the goby if it's fairly similar in shape & colour to the mandarin, but unlikely. I have Yellow Tang, breeding Maroon Clownfish pair in BTA, Singapore Angel, Yellowtail Damsel and there are no issues with aggression. Also used to have a Lawnmower and like the others, basically ignored the Mandarins. Last week the smaller Mandarin did get a little too close to the Maroon Clownfish egg clutch and the female simply gave him a good push to get him out of there, no harm done. Mandarins are reported to have a distasteful slime coat that repels most any fish that gets too close and tries to do a number on them.
Provided you have plenty of rock, a good sandbed you should be ok for a Mandarin. I'd think twice about a Copperband though, they don't have a good reputation in captivity, most of them starve. I made that mistake as a newb and won't take the chance to watch another one of these beautiful fish starve to death. If you do get one that's taking prepared or thawed frozen food, be prepared to be tied to your system with daily, multiple feedings to keep it healthy.
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