Mandarin goby question.

[Byrd]

Looking for reefers with experience in keeping a mandarin goby fat and happy without supplementing them with frozen or adding pods monthly. I have a 280g display with twin 30g sumps. One sump has a 20g fuge with 2 8x8x4 marinepure blocks and the other is nothing but a cheato ball. The display is estimated to have 200lbs of homemade live rock that is very porous and lots of cover for pods. Right now i have tons of pods when you scan the sand, overflow boxes, and sumps. Not sure what kind they are but some are tiny red ones and some are slightly larger and white. So my question is, could i support a mandarin goby without supplementing pods and if so, how many do you think could be supported safely.

 

[Doctorgori]

You said 280 gallons? I have 2 red draggonets in a 210, seems to be plenty to eat ... I’m gonna say 2-3 for sure ...maybe 4-6 ... I’ve noticed macro algae helps with the food chain

 

[OrionN]

Sure you can have a pair of Mandarin. No problem.
If you want just 1 get a male, otherwise get a pair. Their courtship and spawn is fun to see.
Male display all the time in the late afternoon to attract the Female

My female here is full of eggs. She will spawn that evening.

 

[Byrd]

Yes its a 280. I was hoping yall was going to say i could support them no problem because ive wanted some for a long time. Could i do a pair of mandarin and a pair of ruby reds?

 

[OrionN]

You likely can but I never mixed species. @Paul B mixed species in his much smaller aquarium.

 

[Doctorgori]

I kept 2 mandarins each in thier own 10g w/lots of macro algae’s so I’m gonna say I’d give em about 1 sq ft ea ... dumb metric, yeah, but for our purposes here just for guesstimates ...
mixing? I dunno, the dragonnettes seem less territorial/aggressive towards each other
edit; add ... to give you an idea: I put my two mandrins in a 150g, now there’s 1

 

[Byrd]

I kept 2 mandarins each in thier own 10g w/lots of macro algae’s so I’m gonna say I’d give em about 1 sq ft ea ... dumb metric, yeah, but for our purposes here just for guesstimates ...
mixing? I dunno, the dragonnettes seem less territorial/aggressive towards each other
edit; add ... to give you an idea: I put my two mandrins in a 150g, now there’s 1

I think i read an old post of yours when i was doing some searching. The one you lost was one that wasnt typically healthy from day one, am i correct? And i think you said you lost 2 during QT also....? Ive read that they can be difficult to establish them.

 

[OrionN]

I kept 2 mandarins each in thier own 10g w/lots of macro algae’s so I’m gonna say I’d give em about 1 sq ft ea ... dumb metric, yeah, but for our purposes here just for guesstimates ...
mixing? I dunno, the dragonnettes seem less territorial/aggressive towards each other
edit; add ... to give you an idea: I put my two mandrins in a 150g, now there’s 1

I am not sure what you are saying there. Mandarin are very territorial. Male will not tolerate another male. Female will not tolerate another female or a smaller male. 1 sf for each fish is not appropriate they will starve in small area like that, does not matter how much pod there are initially.

I think i read an old post of yours when i was doing some searching. The one you lost was one that wasnt typically healthy from day one, am i correct? And i think you said you lost 2 during QT also....? Ive read that they can be difficult to establish them.

If you give them food they are very hardy. Hardly ever get any disease. My female were emaciated with bone bare with algae on the gill plate on the L side. It took 2 years for the fish to recover from the bare bone with algae but she eventually recovered completely. In the picture above the female regain her weight and spawned but still have algae growing on her bone, you can see the tuff of algae in the picture.

 

[Waters]

Do the captive bred varieties readily eat non-live foods like the vendors claim?