Mandarin Goby/ scooter blenny questions

[James M]

Hello . I know it’s one of those threads about a mandarin goby but I had questions I couldn’t find online.
I have a nuvo 20 and would like to get a fuge started about 3 months prior to getting the mandarin. Would I be able to sustain one while the population grows over the course of 3 months ? Of course I would be buying pods here and there to give the population a boost. As of now I have a ton of pods because the only fish I have is the blenny. In the future I plan on getting 1 clown after the goby and that’s it . Would my plan work out? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Edit: would a scooter be easier ?

 

[N00B1]

From my experience I would suggest to get a good culture going before adding a mandarin. I had one in a 20 gallon with a new 1 month old fuge and was adding algae barn tisbee pods about weekly. He was able to clean them out every time. Eventually he ate all the pods it seemed and one late order from algae barn and he was gone. So I basically tried to do what you want but they just consume to many pods for me to keep up with. Ill be getting another one eventually but he will be going in to my 60 gallon with a 10 gallon fuge.

 

[James M]

Are scooters blenny a little bit easier or do they consume the same amount?

 

[N00B1]

Also beware about getting one that eats frozen. The one I got from the LFS was eating frozen mysis (I watched him feed) however when he was placed in my tank he wouldn't touch the stuff. That's the reason I thought I could do what you are wanting to do because I was planning on supplement mysis for pods.

 

[N00B1]

My scooter blenny eats frozen mysis and pellets but he's always scooting around for pods. I always make sure when I feed pellets that a few pellets get to the sand near him.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I cannot find Paul B's thread on the feeder he uses, and I now use for my breeding pair, but the thread below shows the video of his feeder design and how it works. I follow the same method, and it works great. My brine shrimp hatchery sits under my tank on a shelf near the sump.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-get-a-tank-mandarin-ready.266304/#post-3182482

 

[James M]

I stop going to a certain lfs because they tried to convince me that a mandarin would stay alive on only frozen mysis. Showed me that they are just trying to make money.
So should I go with a scooter ?

 

[davocean]

Your 60g w/ fuge may allow for one, but no way a 20g is going to sustain a mandarin long term w/ just a HO fuge, not unless you actually cultured pods and dosed new pods constantly.

You need enough established LR and surface area to provide pods, bare min is usually about 50g per mandarin and IMO even that is on the low side.

 

[James M]

Your 60g w/ fuge may allow for one, but no way a 20g is going to sustain a mandarin long term w/ just a HO fuge, not unless you actually cultured pods and dosed new pods constantly.

You need enough established LR and surface area to provide pods, bare min is usually about 50g per mandarin and IMO even that is on the low side.

I don’t have a 60gal. It’s not a HOB fuge. I do plan on buying pods as I stated in the first post of the thread and that’s why I’m asking questions instead of just buying it .

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I stop going to a certain lfs because they tried to convince me that a mandarin would stay alive on only frozen mysis. Showed me that they are just trying to make money.
So should I go with a scooter ?

While they require training and conversion, mandarins can be kept on frozen/prepared foods like mysis. I have a breeding pair that do not touch the overwhelming pod population in my tank because they are lazy and eat pellet/frozen/anything I put in the tank.

Biota breeds mandarins that eat @Reef Nutrition TDO pellets (almost exclusively) and rarely peck around for pods. So if you could get one of those it would do well eating in a smaller aquarium, but they do like to scoot around a bit.

 

[davocean]

I don’t have a 60gal. It’s not a HOB fuge. I do plan on buying pods as I stated in the first post of the thread and that’s why I’m asking questions instead of just buying it .

Oops that was noob1 w/ the 60g, and that would be fine.
I understand people buy pods to establish in tank, and while it sounds like a lot, if you understand the metabolism of mandarin and that they eat 1-3 pods per minute, constantly, you may realize they can wipe out your pod population pretty fast if those pods are not provided w/ a safe area to reproduce, and macro to sustain them.

I know people think training a mandarin to eat frozen solves this, but again, if they are not eating the equivalent to 1-3 pods per minute, constantly all day, they are not getting what they really need for long term success.

The issue we have is it just may take a long time for the mandarin to starve out, and in that period those people seem to preach to others their "success" and then we have a whole group of people continuing that cycle of misinformation.

 

[davocean]

While they require training and conversion, mandarins can be kept on frozen/prepared foods like mysis. I have a breeding pair that do not touch the overwhelming pod population in my tank because they are lazy and eat pellet/frozen/anything I put in the tank.

Biota breeds mandarins that eat @Reef Nutrition TDO pellets (almost exclusively) and rarely peck around for pods. So if you could get one of those it would do well eating in a smaller aquarium, but they do like to scoot around a bit.

This is the claim, but from my reading on other sites over a period of time I have seen many people not having success w/ these guys, many do not eat well and are short lived.

I'm all for captive bred animals, and would be all for this if I thought it really solved issues for those w/ small tanks wanting to keep mandarins, but it does not seem to really work for most.

 

[James M]

Okay so what about a scooter blenny?

 

[davocean]

I've never had one or paid attention to them in particular myself, I "Think" they are not as problematic in this area or don't have same metabolism needs as mandarins, but it's not a comment based on actual experience or research for me like mandarins.
I certainly don't see the countless threads asking why their scooter blenny's are dying like I do mandarins

 

[James M]

Should I do the Refugium start up 3 months before plan ?

 

[davocean]

I'd say do refugium whenever you are ready, it benefits in other ways and to other fish as well.
It's not like you'd suffer from doing too soon or anything.

 

[James M]

Thank you all for the help !!!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I wouldn’t put those two in a small tank together.

 

[James M]

I wouldn’t put those two in a small tank together.

I’m only getting 1 scooter blenny.

 

[steveaus10]

I have 2 scooter and 2 mandarins in my 150 they all are fine and have seen them eat about anything put in tank as well as pods tank and fuge been running about 5 years these fish have only been in there about 2 months will see how it goes had a scooter prior to these for about 3 years he disapeared? So far so good I supplement pods with live brine also keeping a close eye on them