Mandarin Goby-Anyone have one?

reeferious · #1 02-23-2009, 03:27 AM

have a pair of mandarins in tank that eat pods all day and slurp up blood worms but won't touch mysis. not sure why but these fat and sassy fish have been with me for last 2 years. never tried training them to go on frozen diet but these guys just took to bloodworms like natural born worm hunters..

karazy · #2 02-23-2009, 03:45 AM

try feeding sushi roe

TheRealBigAL · #3 02-23-2009, 05:05 AM

I have a 50 gallon display with a striped male and female dragonet. At one time I had 4 dragonets in the tank. My striped Male&Female and 2 other spotted females that I got from the the LFS because they were so skinny and I couldn't leave them

. Once they had gotten nice and fat I found good homes for them (thanks seahorsefanatic). My secret is my 4.7 gallon hang on back refugium that is filled with cheato. I added about 4 bottles of tigger pods when I first put it on my tank(about 5 months ago). Now it grosses me out how many pods I have

. When I trim the cheato pods are literally running up the scissors and onto my hands. IMO The #1secret to having Dragonets is pods and lots of em!!!!!!! Now my dragonets eat anything Mysis, Brine, even pellets but I have to turn off all of the flow in my tank and allow the food to fall to the sand bed. It took about 6 months for them to adjust to non live food.

Rbacchiega · #4 02-23-2009, 05:18 AM

I've got a male in a 90 gallon who chows down on frozen mysis and other prepaired foods. Every month or so I also add some pods to the tank because between the Mandarin and the Copper Banded Butterfly the pod population diminishes quickly

Rbacchiega · #5 02-23-2009, 05:45 AM

I'd imagine you could find it at T&T (on 36th st and 16th Ave NE)

Argentiner · #6 02-23-2009, 05:56 AM

where can you get pods in Calgary? I tried at Riverfront but they were sold out and the price was out of my range to consistently buy bottles from them.

Rbacchiega · #7 02-23-2009, 05:59 AM

Red Coral has them on a fairly regular basis...

Whatigot · #8 02-23-2009, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealBigAL

I have a 50 gallon display with a striped male and female dragonet. At one time I had 4 dragonets in the tank. My striped Male&Female and 2 other spotted females that I got from the the LFS because they were so skinny and I couldn't leave them

. Once they had gotten nice and fat I found good homes for them (thanks seahorsefanatic). My secret is my 4.7 gallon hang on back refugium that is filled with cheato. I added about 4 bottles of tigger pods when I first put it on my tank(about 5 months ago). Now it grosses me out how many pods I have

. When I trim the cheato pods are literally running up the scissors and onto my hands. IMO The #1secret to having Dragonets is pods and lots of em!!!!!!! Now my dragonets eat anything Mysis, Brine, even pellets but I have to turn off all of the flow in my tank and allow the food to fall to the sand bed. It took about 6 months for them to adjust to non live food.

Hey Al, remember when you were putting in like 2 bottles of tigger pods a week before you got your fuge?...

I have seen all of Als mandarins, they are really fat and healthy and I would definitely consider him a good resource for how to keep them successfully.
2 very happy, healthy ones in a 50 gallon tank that is not a species tank is a great accomplishment IMO.

my2rotties · #9 02-23-2009, 04:17 PM

I have had my Mandarin since Nov/07. He was one of the first fish I had bought for the 44g that came with my house. I knew nothing of fish and loved this little guy. I was very lucky he ate mysis and such back then since I had no live rock in the tank that was set up in the house. When I learned more about how tanks should be set up I bought some wonderful old live rock from a Canreef person. It was FULL of pods and my little goby is now in the 260g and is fat and healthy to this day. I have billions in my fuge now in the cheato and swap live rock back and forth to my display to keep the pods bountiful.

I was very fortunate that the LFS I bought him from had him of frozen foods since I would have lost him for sure. When you see some good old live rock come up for sale on Canreef buy some, it is so beneficial in the end. When I bring rocks back and forth to my display, the little pail has dozens of pods on the bottom.

naesco · #10 02-23-2009, 04:45 PM

There are two requirements.
Like many difficult fish mandarins require a seasoned tank. Has your tank going for at least 6 months?
The reason for the larger tank requirement is that your mandarin will spend the whole day doing nothing but searching for and eating the pods. A smaller tank cannot replenish the pods and the mandarin starves to death.
If you do not meet the above requirements pass on the fish until your tank is large enough and old enough to ensure success please.