Spotted mandarin care

[Treezer8]

So my next and final fish for my 75gal is going to be a Spotted mandarin goby

From all the reading I've done, and people I've talked to, I can tell that they aren't an easy fish to keep, so I'll start off with my questions.

1. Will it get along with my other fish in my 75? (Small yellow tank, 2 clowns, diamond watchmen goby, royal gamma basslet) this WILL be the last and final fish. I don't want more than that in my tank.

2. Does it matter the sex? Does one do better in tanks than the other? Or show less aggression?

3. The diet is one of the hardest things to figure out with these guys, so this is what I'm going to need help with the most. I know that they eat those pods, but over a very long time they can be trained to eat other things like mysis and brine. How exactly do I get a good supply of pods for it to eat?

4. I'm going to be adding a sump to my aquarium by the end of january, It will have one part with live rock, one with a protein skimmer, and I was wondering if there was any type of algae or something that I could also include that can help the mandarins diet.

5. I have about 80-90lbs of live rock already in the tank. I'm planning on adding around 10-20 more pounds just to add some hiding spots for the mandarin, because right now my tank has a lot of open spaces

6. I've read that they ARE reef safe, and I'm pretty sure they are, but I was just going to ask before I put it in my tank with hundreds of dollars of coral.


Thanks so much to those of you that have a mandarin, and are willing to help me out! I've been wanting one of these for a long time and I want to give it the best home possible.

 

[chichimom79]

1. Should get along fine.
2. They aren't aggressive at all and are actually one of the shyest fish I have kept. I rarely spot mine out of the rock work. Shouldn't be an issue.
3.The best thing to do is watch the mandarin eat at the store before you bring it home. They will usually adapt to smaller foods like Nutrimar Ova better than larger mysis and such. Make sure you have enough live rock to support pod breeding and provide areas that fish can not access for the pods to repopulate as they are eaten. Mandarins can decimate the tank of pods quicker than you might think.
A lot of people quarantine their mandarin to make it easier to train on frozen foods. I have found some great threads on this and other sites about getting mandarins eating.
4. Add your sump, some chaeto and get those pods populating before adding your mandarin IMO
5. More live rock or dry rock would be beneficial
6. They are completely reef safe and will not harm your corals.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Mine gets along great with all my fish no one bothers him or ever felt the need to show him who is boss they are very gentle and non threatening.

I dosed my tank with bottles of live pods several times over about a year in preparation of my mandarin.

You can buy pods pretty inexpensive online and my LFS carries them in the refridgerated section also but they want like 19.99 for a bottle.

Mine has never once touched a coral or any inverts they are reef safe.

I would love to see mine eat mysis with everyone else but it will literally hit it in the face and he doesnt flinch at it. I have only known them to eat pods off the rocks and glass although I am sure someone somewhere might have gotten them to eat frozen.

 

[Redfoot]

Mine gets along great with all my fish no one bothers him or ever felt the need to show him who is boss they are very gentle and non threatening.

I dosed my tank with bottles of live pods several times over about a year in preparation of my mandarin.

You can buy pods pretty inexpensive online and my LFS carries them in the refridgerated section also but they want like 19.99 for a bottle.

Mine has never once touched a coral or any inverts they are reef safe.

I would love to see mine eat mysis with everyone else but it will literally hit it in the face and he doesnt flinch at it. I have only known them to eat pods off the rocks and glass although I am sure someone somewhere might have gotten them to eat frozen.

do you just add bought pods now? or was it just before you got your mardarin?

Isn't there an issue with introducing a disease when adding pods?

 

[Treezer8]

Thanks guys! keep it coming!