Mandarin Goby Question

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright, so I plan on getting a mandarin goby soon. My question is...how would you quarantine a fish that only eats copepods?

 

[TJL]

Hey Josh, IMHO Dragonettes as long as they are healthy and come from a system not showing any sign of parasites can/should go directly into a capable Display tank. I put these into a small group of fishes that are fairly parasite resistant and fair better w/o std quarantine procedures. Fairy, Flasher, Cleaner and Leopard Wrasses and Jawfishes also included in this group (but should come from quality importers who have already put them through QT)

Todd

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright...In that case I will hopefully get one from BRA soon. As long as you have a stable Copepod population, are you good? Or should I also be feeding it brine shrimp?

 

[returnofsid]

It should be QTd and while in QT, trained to eat prepared foods.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

It should be QTd and while in QT, trained to eat prepared foods.

I have read that training them to eat prepared foods isn't always possible...nor is it good for them. Thats just what I read however...

 

[Chichas01]

It's possible and probaby most benneficial. You want them eating frozen foods, preferrably whole organisms. I've got mine trained to eat mysis, pacific krill (tiny frozen krill you can get at Barrier Reef) and prawn roe.

 

[JasonD]

You will have a better chance of training the fish in quarantine. I used frozen baby brine shrimp (with spirulina) to get it started. I would feed small amounts several times a day. It took a few weeks of training. It would be very diffcult to train the fish, if it had any competition.

 

[jrgilles]

I'm currently babysitting a spotted mandrin that is trained to eat all kinds of frozen food. If I put another mandrin in, could the trained spotted mandrin train the new one?

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

 

[NWDiver]

@mcdonaldjosh Lee has a really good sticky about QT procedures and food for pod eating fish. The bottom line is that even if you have enough pods for the fish to eat, there is not enough variety to give them good nutrition unless it is a very large tank. He feels that it is paramount that the fish be taught to eat prepared food.

@Rob I have read in several places that mandys will learn to eat by watching other "trained" mandys. I'm pretty sure that I read that on Melevs reef page, and Matt Wittenrich (very smart guy and awesome breeder) has quite a lot of info as well.
Breeding the Green Mandarin - Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
Also marinebreeder.org has a ton of info on how to care for these fish, and train them to eat.

 

[jrgilles]

Awesome, thanks. I think I'll try it out. Make this mandarin I'm renting space to earn his keep

 

[leebca]

The concept that it isn't 'good' for the wild marine fish being trained to eat prepared foods, I find to be humorous.

If you are sincere about wanting to keep a Mandarin and to have it thrive (not such survive -- Thrive or Survive?) then training to eat prepared foods is essential.

Please read the post this link takes you to, Mcdonaldjosh7: Food Presentation.

The current average Mandarin lifespan after capture in the wild is less than 20% in 6 months in captivity, and about 15% after a year. They die usually of starvation.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

The concept that it isn't 'good' for the wild marine fish being trained to eat prepared foods, I find to be humorous.

If you are sincere about wanting to keep a Mandarin and to have it thrive (not such survive -- Thrive or Survive?) then training to eat prepared foods is essential.

Please read the post this link takes you to, Mcdonaldjosh7: Food Presentation.

The current average Mandarin lifespan after capture in the wild is less than 20% in 6 months in captivity, and about 15% after a year. They die usually of starvation.

I have read that Mandarins are most likely one of the most abused fished in the marine hobby, given their special food needs and there cheap price, combined with their astounding colors.

 

[cobyb]

that make a lot of sense, they are a cool looking fish, i lost one a while ago. he got stuck between the glass and a piece of live rock. now im not sure if he was desprately looking for food, or just one of those things that happen. but i have been nervious to get another one. in my sump i see hundreds of the pods, but i hate loosing a fish

 

[leebca]

They are so abused because they are so easily caught. They don't put up much a fight in the wild. Spectacularly marked/colored and ease of catch keep them coming through the system in alarming numbers.