Mandarin Goby Question

[Chef]

I recently bought 2 mandarin goby and I'm having trouble getting to eat. I understand that the eat amphibpods and copods exclusively but I was told that they would also eat dried micro crabs and mysis shrimp. However I have found that they neither eat the micro crabs nor the mysis shrimp. Does anyone have any experience with these finicky guys?
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[myjohnson]

Yeah. Many are known to die bc they cant switch over.<br />
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Do you have a lot of pods and what's size tank?

[Suelovesfish]

I have never been able to Keep Mandarin's long term back in the day I had salt aquariums.

[Sea-agg09]

What else is in the tank? They are really slow feeders, so other fish/inverts will eat before they know what happened. Even my pipefish are monsters compared to them. Try feeding your other fish first then spot feeding them. Use a sirenge or turkey baster to get the food down to them quickly. There are other options, but that is the easiest.
As for prepared food, soak cyclopeze for a while to make it "not so dry". Soaking it is a great way to add vitamins. I will traditionally mix either selcon or vitamin C with garlic. Garlic is a natural anti parasitic, but also a major flavor enhancer. Once they are eating any sort of prepared food, you can usually get them to switch over to others by making the food taste the same (garlic). I'm not sure if they will switch over to mysis shrimp, as that is really big and their mouth is really small. I would try either the H2ocean's mini-mysis or a frozen baby brine shrimp. I know hikari makes the bbs.

[myjohnson]

I always make sure they eat at the store before buying one.

Or only buy one from sellers on here that have gotten theirs to eat.

[cichlidomaha]

They are very picky feeders as mentioned, I have kept them before try feeding them either Live brine shrimp or frozen brine it is smaller than myisis or other types of food. If their is alot of agressive feeders in the tank that can present a problem for them. They are best kept in a tank with similar feeders. Sea horses, small gobie type fish and inverts.

My two cents.

Tom

[semper]

You might want to try reef caviar, that's what mine liked to eat other than the Copepods in my system. You constantly see them pick them off the rocks

[clayt101]

I don't keep SW, but those are my favorite fish. I have heard of people feeding them row (fish eggs from a sushi place). Good luck.

[Chef]

I just picked up some live copods from city pets and man that stuff is expensive $22 for a little bottle. Now only if I can get them to propagate in the nano tank without a fuge

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[Tetranerd]

You really need (imo), is a large volume of water and a huge volume of live rock that is really seasoned. No other copepod predators such as wrasses that will decrease or decimate the live copepod population. A nano usually cannot sustaine a healthy population. I would buy live brine from city pets (if they still sell them). Feed a little every day, and keep the rest in a cup in the fridge. Change the water in the cup daily and try to remove the dead ones. They should hunt down the live ones. If not theu may have been caught with cyanide. That will make most fish stop eating after a while. Its a hard fish to keep, and even harder in a small tank. Best of luck.

[alexrex20]

This is a good reason why people need to research any fish they plan on keeping. Mandarins are one of the hardest fish to keep, but unfortunately are still often seen in the hobby.

[Sea-agg09]

I would buy live brine. Feed a little every day, and keep the rest in a cup in the fridge. Change the water in the cup daily and try to remove the dead ones. They should hunt down the live ones. If not theu may have been caught with cyanide. That will make most fish stop eating after a while. Its a hard fish to keep, and even harder in a small tank. Best of luck.

Rather than all that, just get a 2.5 gallon tank, put saltwater in it, and use a sponge filter to keep a constant supply of brine shrimp. This is what most seahorse keepers do. Depending on the size of the fish, they may not take adult brine. Hatching bbs would be the other option for live food. Ask the LFS what they were feeding it, and try to go with that.

This is a good reason why people need to research any fish they plan on keeping. Mandarins are one of the hardest fish to keep, but unfortunately are still often seen in the hobby.

I agree with the research. Mandarins are not impossible to keep, and have a place in the hobby. They are no more difficult to keep than large angelfish, tangs, anthias, and even some wrasses. The difference between these fish is they usually carry a much higher price, so are not impulse purchased. The mandarin is unfortunately the right size and price for most new hobbyists, and will physically fit in smaller tanks, though it shouldn't always be in them. It should be the role of the LFS to not sell them to ppl who know what they are getting into. Getting captive bred specimens is by far the best option in any situation.

[cliner]

I had success with two different mandarins. Both took to Ocean Nutrition sinking pelllets. I think it was formula two, it had garlic. Both took to it in less than a week. First time was accidental, second time was purposely. These fish are difficult to keep long term, as previously stated. They really need a mature tank with lots of LR for pod populations to remain healthy. Just my .02. I haven't had one for year and a half now, I can't stand to see them go to that great 'Reef in the Sky'

[electricblue]

so did you have any luck getting either of your mandarins to eat? &nbsp;I was close to buying one at fish land that was already eating frozen bbs but i ended getting a bicolor blenny, however today i was a little to happy to find one at petco and being at the last minute i just took him not noticing his belly was sunken and he doesn't seem to want the frozen bbs i fed him.

[Sea-agg09]

Get some live brine first. My next try would be frozen cyclopeze. Feed your other fish their normal food first, then try working on the mandarin.