My new Mandarin...

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 4, 2017

Hey everyone! So I finally got the one fish that I really got into saltwater fish over. A spotted mandarin goby. I was always afraid of them as I've seen a lot of people struggle. But, I have an extremely healthy pod population and always have. But moreso now thanks to Algae Barn's contest and adding a half gallon of pods to the system. I also have a refugium for their safe haven to allow the population to greatly increase. It wasn't on my agenda today, I just happened to see this beautiful fish and decided it was time. He was active, fat n happy, and a personality on top of it all. I got him acclimated this afternoon and settled into the DT. He's been swimming around in his little personal bubble today nipping at the rocks and sand so that makes me feel good that he's already nibbling away in his new home. Don't tell my other fish how much I'm liking this little guy. Lol
I will get a better pic here tomorrow, but he/she (unsure and once I know, would like to add another for a mated pair). It's a 90display up for a year and 5 months, with a 14 gal fuge loaded with pods n snacks so I'm feeling very confident.

Maritimer · Mar 4, 2017

Nice photo - cute fish!

Their diet's a bit more flexible than the blue/green mandarin, from what I understand - I know mine likes flatworms and things just as much as she likes 'pods. Makes them a terrific guardian for corals . . .

~Bruce

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 4, 2017

Thanks!
Good to know. I asked the store owner and he said he has not seen them personally eat frozen yet so it was at least good to know what I was getting myself into. He's made his home right in my zoa garden, or the start of what I hope to be a zoa garden at least.

laga77 · Mar 5, 2017

I have 4 pairs of Mandarins including a pair of Spotted. All Mandarins need a varied diet not just pods. In the wild, they eat small crabs, worms, and mollusks along with small crustaceans (pods). I feed mine live Black Worms and White Worms, along with Nutramar Ova, mysis, and fish eggs from LRS. I have also seen them eat the blender mush I feed my fish. Do not feed pellets as they contain very little nutritional value and ingredients not meant for reef fish consumption. BBS is another good addition to their diet. If you stop the flow in the tank while feeding they will eat the BBS right out of the water column. BTW they are Dragonets, not Gobies. https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/fish-index/mandarin-dragonet-synchiropus-splendidus/

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 5, 2017

laga77 said:
I have 4 pairs of Mandarins including a pair of Spotted. All Mandarins need a varied diet not just pods. In the wild, they eat small crabs, worms, and mollusks along with small crustaceans (pods). I feed mine live Black Worms and White Worms, along with Nutramar Ova, mysis, and fish eggs from LRS. I have also seen them eat the blender mush I feed my fish. Do not feed pellets as they contain very little nutritional value and ingredients not meant for reef fish consumption. BBS is another good addition to their diet. If you stop the flow in the tank while feeding they will eat the BBS right out of the water column. BTW they are Dragonets, not Gobies. https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/fish-index/mandarin-dragonet-synchiropus-splendidus/

Appreciate the insight. Will read up some more today as part of my fishy homework. Thx!

Reef Nutrition · Mar 9, 2017

laga77 said:
I have 4 pairs of Mandarins including a pair of Spotted. All Mandarins need a varied diet not just pods. In the wild, they eat small crabs, worms, and mollusks along with small crustaceans (pods). I feed mine live Black Worms and White Worms, along with Nutramar Ova, mysis, and fish eggs from LRS. I have also seen them eat the blender mush I feed my fish. Do not feed pellets as they contain very little nutritional value and ingredients not meant for reef fish consumption. BBS is another good addition to their diet. If you stop the flow in the tank while feeding they will eat the BBS right out of the water column. BTW they are Dragonets, not Gobies. https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/fish-index/mandarin-dragonet-synchiropus-splendidus/

Interesting comment about pellets. Our TDO and Otohime that we offer were specifically designed and formulated for good feed conversion and fast growth for a vast number of fish species, both freshwater and saltwater. They are being used as a weaning diet and maintenance diet by food fish hatcheries as well as ornamental hatcheries all over the world. We even have coral growers using it. The granules and pellets have ingredients that may not be exactly the same as what the fish would consume in the natural environment, but the nutritional components are digestible and can be biochemically incorporated into the fish. We have marine ornamental breeders that swear by it, feeding it to fish that, in some cases, haven't even gone through metamorphosis!

Pelleted feeds have come a long way, so please don't be so quick to discount them.

Chad

Sandroni · Mar 9, 2017

Pretty mandarin

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 9, 2017

Thx! He's steady picking at the rock and sand around the whole tank. Very happy he's looking at home.

laga77 · Mar 9, 2017

Reef Nutrition said:
Interesting comment about pellets. Our TDO and Otohime that we offer were specifically designed and formulated for good feed conversion and fast growth for a vast number of fish species, both freshwater and saltwater. They are being used as a weaning diet and maintenance diet by food fish hatcheries as well as ornamental hatcheries all over the world. We even have coral growers using it. The granules and pellets have ingredients that may not be exactly the same as what the fish would consume in the natural environment, but the nutritional components are digestible and can be biochemically incorporated into the fish. We have marine ornamental breeders that swear by it, feeding it to fish that, in some cases, haven't even gone through metamorphosis!

Pelleted feeds have come a long way, so please don't be so quick to discount them.

Chad

I have used your Oyster feast and ROE in the past and found them to be good products... If I was in the business of growing fish, I would use dry foods also. They are relatively cheap and get the job done. However, I want my fish to stay with me for more than a year or two. In the last 5 years since switching to a fresh, frozen, and live diet, the only fish I have lost has been to mechanical failure. Not disease or parasites. Reef fish are unique in that they evolved over millions of years in a somewhat isolated ecosystem. Sea grass is the only plant on the reef, and that only grows in the shallows. Otherwise there are no plants on the reef and in reef fish diets. Almost all dry food has plant matter in it along with preservatives, and that is why I do not feed it.

Reef Nutrition · Mar 9, 2017

laga77 said:
I have used your Oyster feast and ROE in the past and found them to be good products... If I was in the business of growing fish, I would use dry foods also. They are relatively cheap and get the job done. However, I want my fish to stay with me for more than a year or two. In the last 5 years since switching to a fresh, frozen, and live diet, the only fish I have lost has been to mechanical failure. Not disease or parasites. Reef fish are unique in that they evolved over millions of years in a somewhat isolated ecosystem. Sea grass is the only plant on the reef, and that only grows in the shallows. Otherwise there are no plants on the reef and in reef fish diets. Almost all dry food has plant matter in it along with preservatives, and that is why I do not feed it.

I agree that marine fish would never come in contact with potato starch and wheat flour, for example. But it's not like they are being fed potatoes and wheat, just components of those things. When carbohydrates/sugars/proteins are in short supply, we can rely on terrestrial sources. With all that being said, there are so many other options relating to nutrition that we can now afford to be picky and offer only natural feeds. Although, along the line of natural food sources; a mandarin would never come into contact with blackworms. Don't they live in a terrestrial environment?

Thanks for saying nice things about our products.

I appreciate this discussion. Thanks!

Chad

laga77 · Mar 9, 2017

Algae is not a plant. Black worms are the closest thing I can feed the Mandarins as I can get. If someone could show me how to get or culture marine worms I would do so tomorrow. If you ever package frozen marine worms for sale, call me, I will buy a bunch from you.

Reef Nutrition · Mar 9, 2017

laga77 said:
Algae is not a plant. Black worms are the closest thing I can feed the Mandarins as I can get. If someone could show me how to get or culture marine worms I would do so tomorrow. If you ever package frozen marine worms for sale, call me, I will buy a bunch from you.

Did I say algae was a plant? I don't recall that. I agree; it is not a plant.

We might have a source of aquacultured black worms; I'll keep you posted.

Chad

Tsev03 · Mar 9, 2017

One question, did u not quarantine the mandarin? I'm asking because I have one in my qt and really want to move it to the display. I have a lot more pods in my display tank.

4FordFamily · Mar 9, 2017

I always loved my target mandarins!

Carolinablur3 · Mar 9, 2017

Tsev03 said:
One question, did u not quarantine the mandarin? I'm asking because I have one in my qt and really want to move it to the display. I have a lot more pods in my display tank.

Mine went straight into the DT.

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 9, 2017

Straight to display as well. I read up a bit on them before and saw they were less prone to disease. Not impossible for them to get, just less likely. I couldn't pass it up and my qt isn't set up at the moment.

Tsev03 · Mar 9, 2017

I think I'll move mine this weekend. Looking forward to having it in my display but it's going to be hard. I had to pack my qt with lots of rock so she would have pods. Really hoping my male will except her.

ReeferMaddness843 · Mar 9, 2017

Congrats on making the new addition and best wishes on them becoming a pair!

JaimeAdams · Mar 9, 2017

I just grabbed the mandarin from work. He is super fat and healthy and has been in that system long term with a pod infestation. No recently added livestock so into DT he is going.