Tuesday
May132008
Photo - Beautiful Mandarin Goby
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:09AM
While I had my reef tank going, this was probably my favorite of all saltwater aquarium fish, the Mandarin Goby, or Mandarinfish. The tragedy of this is that they rarely survive any length of time in home aquariums, usually starving to death a few weeks after purchase.
by Luc Viatour
These fish are cheap and plentiful in aquarium stores, but almost never feed off of prepared foods. Instead they typically feed off of "naturally" reproducing copepods and amphipods (or 'pods') which are essentially very small underwater insects. In order to survive off these pods, the tank needs to be sufficiently large to support a stable pod population. So despite the fish only being 3 inches long, it actually requires a pod-filled habitat of 120 gallons, or larger, just to ensure a steady food supply. Of course most people don't have a tank that large, and will typically overlook their care requirements in order to have one of these, even if it's only for a couple weeks before they starve.
by Luc Viatour
by Luc Viatour
These fish are cheap and plentiful in aquarium stores, but almost never feed off of prepared foods. Instead they typically feed off of "naturally" reproducing copepods and amphipods (or 'pods') which are essentially very small underwater insects. In order to survive off these pods, the tank needs to be sufficiently large to support a stable pod population. So despite the fish only being 3 inches long, it actually requires a pod-filled habitat of 120 gallons, or larger, just to ensure a steady food supply. Of course most people don't have a tank that large, and will typically overlook their care requirements in order to have one of these, even if it's only for a couple weeks before they starve.
by Luc Viatour
Reader Comments (7)
I actually experienced this very same tragedy - mine died yesterday, even though i put tigger pods in every day, for 5 months. i feel awful, and i should never have had it in the first place. i would never suggest someone getting one - in the end you feel terrible watching it starve - still haunts me.
It's fairly easy to train these fish to eat frozen enriched brine shrimp and/or frozen enriched mysis, thus eliminating the need to keep them alive solely on a diet of copepods. There are more than a few people who have now successfully bred and raised the fry of these dragonettes (as they are not actually gobies) to adult size off frozen foods alone, and most of these captive-bred fish will readily take to pelleted foods as well. I suggest taking a look at the Marine Ornamental Fish and Invertebrate Breeders forum (www.marinebreeder.org)
If one takes the time to properly train these fish, it is not difficult to keep them in a nano tank. Copepods are no longer a requirement to keep these fish.
I thought I was the only one. Poor little fishies sure are beautiful. I resolved my grief by turning it into a short story. Still hurts, though!
http://mondaymorningreview.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/the-parable-of-the-mandarin-goby/
kris was right on Dec11, 2008! Mandarins will eat pellets, as I have two, male and female in a 90 gallon tank!
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what type of pellets you using please and thanks
They don't feed on pellets. They only feed on naturally occurring amphipods which won't be present at a stable level in anything less than a 180 gal tank. So if you have a tank smaller than 180 gal, this fish will refuse all food and starve.