What are the logistics of me getting a Green Mandarin Goby?

C

cvcdrk

Reefing newb
I have done a decent amount of research about them.

It's really the main fish I want in my tank. It is a currently-cycling 29g reef-to-be.
I realize I won't be able to get one for at least 6 months probably more. I know the tank has to be well-established.

I figure if I start adding copepods now I will be able to establish a population. I realize that in a 29g I will probably have to add more all the time for him...

I could also try to get him to eat pellet food and see how it works out...but no big deal if he doesn't eat regular food.

I know this is a big endeavor...but assuming I keep a nice reef going for awhile I would really like to try. Once the tank is cycled I will be getting one small black edge occelleris clown. That will ideally be the only other fish in this tank.

What sort of things should I be concerned about?
 
In a tank that size, I wouldn't get one unless it is eating frozen food. There would be no way to keep up with its demand for live pods. They eat thousands of them. Ones that eat frozen are pretty easy to find though. And if they eat well, they are not hard fish to keep. Make sure you buy one from the LFS and that you watch it eat frozen food before you buy it. Make the LFS staff feed it in front of you.

It's not "no big deal" if he doesn't eat regular food. In a 29 gallon, it will starve if it relies on frozen food alone. Ones that eat only live food shouldn't be in tanks that are 90 gallons or smaller and shouldn't be in tanks without large refugiums, IMO.
 
So how likely is it that petco, where I saw a young one today, would have one that eats frozen food?
Or should I try ordering it online and talking with the people?

My LFS is gone. Petco is the only saltwater supply around as of today. :-(
 
Well, I don't know. Some Petcos are bad, some are good. It all depends on the knowledge of the employees, which varies from store to store. Before I took down my tank a couple weeks ago, I had about half a dozen Petco fish in it that I had for 10+ years. If there is one at Petco, just ask to see it eat. If it eats readily, then I'd say give it a shot! (Honestly, I'd rather a fish like that at Petco go to someone on forums that cares to ask questions than your random Petco buyer that thinks it just looks pretty and doesn't know squat about its care).
 
You couldn't possibly breed enough from those bottles. And those bottles are expensive. I'm talking adding a new bottle every few days would be necessary.
 
Bifferwine said:
Well, I don't know. Some Petcos are bad, some are good. It all depends on the knowledge of the employees, which varies from store to store. Before I took down my tank a couple weeks ago, I had about half a dozen Petco fish in it that I had for 10+ years. If there is one at Petco, just ask to see it eat. If it eats readily, then I'd say give it a shot! (Honestly, I'd rather a fish like that at Petco go to someone on forums that cares to ask questions than your random Petco buyer that thinks it just looks pretty and doesn't know squat about its care).
Click to expand...


This is also what I felt when I saw it today, honestly. I stopped in to grab some purple coraline algae dosing liquid and was just browsing and I was surprised they had fish that is this difficult to keep. They seem to do a pretty good job. I would rate the staff as fairly knowledgeable...although one dude told me I should try to cycle my tank with a fish and it wouldn't work if I didn't but all the rest have been very helpful and knowledgeable imo.

I thought, though, that some random person could buy one. I've seen young kids buying saltwater fish there with their parents who don't really seem to "get it" at all. One lady said something about a 40 gallon tank to her daughter...then didn't mention it when the petco guy came over and she bought a Niger Trigger.

Anyway, I will try to be sure to watch it eat before I commit...but I also have months to prepare for that.
I would want to dose with copepods anyway. Even if that wasn't his primary diet and he ate some frozen foods I would still want him to have at least some copepods to chow down on. You know? It's his natural diet.
 
It is, but you run the risk of him liking the pods "too much" and then turning down frozen food. Whenever possible, it's best to get fish completely off of live foods and onto prepared foods. There are many people who have had predators like lion fish that eat frozen food with no issues, then they add a live fish in "for fun" and because they think its their natural food source, only to find that the lion fish then doesn't want to go back to frozen.
 
Yeah I don't want that to happen!

Why aren't captive-bred mandarins readily available online? They're popular and everything I've read has made it seem like they breed easily in aquariums....They could just breed them in aquariums and all they would ever know would be frozen foods.
 
Reefs2go is one of our sponsors here at livingreefs :D So I would say they have credibility :D You can always reach them here if you have problems.
 
So what would be the best thing to feed them if I get one that eats prepared/frozen foods? What's the best most nutritional kind they can get?
 
Some LFSs will order from ORA as well. My favorite LFS is putting in an ORA order in a few weeks and is going to try to get a red male mandarin for me on that order. If you have an LFS other than petco, you could ask them to order an ORA one for you
 
Make sure you get one that eats frozen! I have one in a ten gallon. Most people won't keep one in such a small tank but mine is very fat and happy. Mine was at my lfs for a month eating frozen before I bought him. IMO I wouldn't put them in a big tank bc it would be super hard to train them to eat frozen in a large tank and it would be difficult to spot feed them in a large area. I just read an article today about keeping mandarins in 25-30g tanks. You just have to be very dedicated about making sure they are fed well enough.
 

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