Mandarin Goby & Copepods

[Change5188]

Good day. If I wanted to house a Mandarin Goby in a 40g breeder, and I did not want to have a pod hotel. How often should I replenish pods? I also have other fish as well, so it would not just be the Mandarin eating the pods. Thanks!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

What other fish do you have? Wrasses will eat lots of pods and not leave any for the mandarin.
40g breeder is a large enough tank. I would suggest seeding your tank with a few bottles or bags of live copepods (do it at night when the room is dark and tank lights are off), then start a pod culture in a bucket or fuge. That will be necessary for success in a smaller tank like the 40g unless you are willing to buy buckets of pods every few days.

 

[Change5188]

What other fish do you have? Wrasses will eat lots of pods and not leave any for the mandarin.
40g breeder is a large enough tank. I would suggest seeding your tank with a few bottles or bags of live copepods (do it at night when the room is dark and tank lights are off), then start a pod culture in a bucket or fuge. That will be necessary for success in a smaller tank like the 40g unless you are willing to buy buckets of pods every few days.

I just have the Yellow Coris Wrasse and 2 Clowns right now. But that is what I was worried about, having to buy them every week or something lol. I am going to set up a refugium so that could possibly work. Thanks for the advice though!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

if you get a wild caught mandarin that eats only pods, you would need to replenish it daily. its unbelievable how much that things eats in a day. I tried to keep one in my 32, I had 4 x 5 gallon tanks raising copepds, so I was on a schedule to harvest once a week, but even adding pods once a week wasnt enough to satisfy that fish. It was a hard lesson for me and i had to give up that fish. If you really want one, I suggest finding a captive bred one that eats prepared food, then you'll have an easier time.

 

[Change5188]

if you get a wild caught mandarin that eats only pods, you would need to replenish it daily. its unbelievable how much that things eats in a day. I tried to keep one in my 32, I had 4 x 5 gallon tanks raising copepds, so I was on a schedule to harvest once a week, but even adding pods once a week wasnt enough to satisfy that fish. It was a hard lesson for me and i had to give up that fish. If you really want one, I suggest finding a captive bred one that eats prepared food, then you'll have an easier time.

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm just going to hold off as I'd rather not buy a ton of pods all the time. Or worry about him having enough food on a daily basis.

 

[MaxTremors]

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm just going to hold off as I'd rather not buy a ton of pods all the time. Or worry about him having enough food on a daily basis.

You could go with a scooter dragonet, they generally readily eat prepared foods and are really similar to mandarins in terms of behavior, they’re not quite as shy and slow/deliberate as mandarins, but they’re otherwise pretty similar. Or a target/psychedelic mandarin, in general (though not always) they’re more likely to take prepared foods. If you look locally, you can always ask to see if (and have them show you) they’re eating pellets/frozen.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

If its the dragonet species that you like, I would suggest the ruby red dragonets. They are smaller, therefore eat less pods than a large mandarin would, and you may be able to keep it with the coris wrasse if you set up a good pod population and a fuge.

 

[Ghost25]

Mine eats frozen bloodworms.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Mine eats frozen bloodworms.

Thats one of the most ideal situations with mandarins. Congrats.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Not what you want to hear but in a 40b, unless you have a lot of rocks and no wrasse, or a refugium with a healthy seed supply, I wouldn't get a Mandarin. Some never take to prepared foods. They hunt nonstop.

I've had a Mandarin in a 90g qt w 55g water for weeks and dosing a bottle of pods a week into a pod hotel of sorts, he still went healthy to super skinny without a constant supply.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Not what you want to hear but in a 40b, unless you have a lot of rocks and no wrasse, or a refugium with a healthy seed supply, I wouldn't get a Mandarin. Some never take to prepared foods. They hunt nonstop.

I've had a Mandarin in a 90g qt w 55g water for weeks and dosing a bottle of pods a week into a pod hotel of sorts, he still went healthy to super skinny without a constant supply.

Agreed its very possible. I would 100% suggest getting a ruby red dragonet if your really need to have a mandarin: they stay small, so eat less pods. But with the wrasse I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

I culture pod's for sale and for my mandarins but if I had to do it all over again I would of paid the extra to have captive breed mandarins. They are 24/7 hunters and go through copepod populations quickly

 

[Hermie]

I culture pod's for sale and for my mandarins but if I had to do it all over again I would of paid the extra to have captive breed mandarins. They are 24/7 hunters and go through copepod populations quickly

You can also get them smaller when captive bred since they were just born.

 

[jrill]

Get one from biota. They eat pellets and frozen.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

You can also get them smaller when captive bred since they were just born.

I got an ORA mandarin and it was said to eat frozen and pellets but it was way too small to fit anything other than pods in its mouth

 

[Yates273]

I have had my mandarin in my 40 breeder for about a year and a half now amd he’s been eating everything. He mainly eats white worms that I culture but I was lucky enough to get him to eat frozen mysis and also blood worms. But like I said the tanks main diet is white worms. You can do it just takes time and patience.

 

[Hermie]

I got an ORA mandarin and it was said to eat frozen and pellets but it was way too small to fit anything other than pods in its mouth

Then you have to find smaller foods because they exist

 

[NashobaTek]

I got an ORA mandarin and it was said to eat frozen and pellets but it was way too small to fit anything other than pods in its mouth

Make a target feeder for mandrins and hatch fresh brine shrimp babies every day for it. Just shoot the brine shrimp babies down the pipe and into the feeder.

But pods are still the best food for mandrins.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Make a target feeder for mandrins and hatch fresh brine shrimp babies every day for it. Just shoot the brine shrimp babies down the pipe and into the feeder.

But pods are still the best food for mandrins.

Sorry i also forgot to mention that i HAD a mandarin. She didn't live long, I wasn't able to meet the amount of pods she needed. Real shame, I really liked her, one day I will try again in a bigger tank.

 

[dhnguyen]

Mandarins can also be trained to take frozen food as long as you have enough of a pod population to sustain it during the training period.




I'm doing it with my mandarin pair right now. I noticed the male started eating frozen blood worms last week.