Mandarin Goby

[ReefRiley]

Hey I would like to know everyones experience with mandarin gobys. I'd like to know anything and everything about them. So I'll Start by telling you that I will be getting it from a fellow reefer who has had it for 4 months and got it to eat spiralina brine. I have a 40 gallon reef with about 50-60 pounds of live rock and a 40 gallon sump with a rifugium probably 5 gallons but it's stocked with feathered caulerpa my tank has been set up For about a year but I had a 20 gallon set up for 3 years and everything was put in the 40. So it has lots of little bugs. And stable water conditions. Thanks,
~Riley:wave:

 

[FOSELONE]

Lots of little bugs & stable water conditions should be enough

 

[Tangwich]

sounds to me like you have the proper environment for the little guy or gal to thrive in. Which species of mandarin is it?

 

[ReefRiley]

Synchiropus splendidus "Blue Mandarin Dragonet"

 

[james-lee]

I have one and I must say its the most fun fish to watch of all my inhabitants!

 

[Drew Shark]

I have about the same size tank(mine is slightly larger), how many copepods do I need to have a Mandarin thrive? Any formula to figure out how many?

 

[ReefRiley]

I heard they eat 100's a day

 

[Puffalicious]

I heard they eat 100's a day

that's if they don't eat anything else I think...

I had one that was eating mysis and pellets and it was a great addition to the tank

 

[ReefRiley]

Yeah. Well he eats spiralina brine so I guess that's good

 

[BeanMachine]

Since yours is eating spriluna, you should be OK. Normally, I would say that a 40 gallon is too small for a mandarin that eats strictly pods.

They can quickly eat all the pods and the breeding population doesn't have time to recover and the mandarin slowly starves.

 

[ReefRiley]

Oh yeah that makes since. Will it eat the pods that eat polyps and zoos?

 

[Bubbaboy]

My experience was awesome with them!, that is untill I got a purple lobster... he was returned unfortunately. The mandarins laid on my sand one night, and my lobster being nocturnal had the chance for some dinner and pounced on the opportunity. But otherwise they did good for 2 months and I added 1 bottle of pods a month just to be safe.

 

[ReefRiley]

That's awesome! And sad but cool that they laid eggs!

 

[gumbii]

i had a female mandarin goby that lived in my tank for a year and a half... she ate good and everything... i had tons of pods but died when all my macro algaes died off... i upgraded skimmer and it killeded my algaes...

 

[ReefRiley]

No bueno! Haha but that's what I thought about doing. But I have a nano skinner that is a piece of **** so I need a new one, I want a cone skimmer I heard there way better! Do u know anyone selling one?

 

[ReefRiley]

Does anyone know who's selling a skimmer?