Mandarin goby care

[Anak’s Reef]

It depends in my opinion. I have a tiny mandarin in my 20 g. For about 2 months now. Our pod population has just kept on growing and growing. Even without phytoplankton, we started adding phytoplankton though now just so the pods don’t starve. Of course it’s different for all of us, but my entire back wall is filled with tiny dots of copepods. And my mandarin is still a baby and she is less than an inch. If you get a baby, you might be able to keep her with tons of pods and no aggressive tank mates. My clowns nipped at her the first time, but now they always wait for her underneath the ledge she sleeps on, she also sleeps under a monticap. When I added my royal gramma, I was worried, but the royal gramma literally follows her around watching her eat and when my cleaner shrimp comes over, my gramma rolls out of his cave and makes a wall in between my shrimp and my mandarin. Depends on you, personally I wouldn’t reLly put them in a 14 gallon unless you can find one even tinier than mine. Then when it gets bigger, your pod population will decrease and you have to move it to a different tank with even more copepods. Maybe a 40 would work better. Good luck! Also I agree with Paul, keeping a mandarin in a 14 wouldn’t work that well

 

[Eleni18]

OK....I have two mandarins in a 150 gallon tank with lots of live rock. For me, they are the easiest fish to care for and apart from being fascinatingly beautiful, they are also very peaceful and sweet. It is true the eat all day long and have little interest for anything else. Nobody bothers them, even my black and white damsel bullies totally accept them. They eat tons and move about a lot- I would never keep an adult mandarin in anything less than 40-50 gallons. Apart from the space, you would run out of copepods very fast and daily dosing is not an option. If you really want a mandarin and I understand why, I would set up the 40 gallon with lots of mature live rock. They are really worth the effort, amazing fish, but it would be cruel to keep them in a cramped space or starve them to death. That is unfortunately how most of them end.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

OK....I have two mandarins in a 150 gallon tank with lots of live rock. For me, they are the easiest fish to care for and apart from being fascinatingly beautiful, they are also very peaceful and sweet. It is true the eat all day long and have little interest for anything else. Nobody bothers them, even my black and white damsel bullies totally accept them. They eat tons and move about a lot- I would never keep an adult mandarin in anything less than 40-50 gallons. Apart from the space, you would run out of copepods very fast and daily dosing is not an option. If you really want a mandarin and I understand why, I would set up the 40 gallon with lots of mature live rock. They are really worth the effort, amazing fish, but it would be cruel to keep them in a cramped space or starve them to death. That is unfortunately how most of them end.

I completely agree. Unless you pick up a mandarin as tiny as mine, don’t ever put an adult in a 14 gallon. If you want to pick a small mandarin up, you can keep it in your 14, but as it gets older you should move it to your 40.

 

[40g Nano]

Ok I’ll try to find the tiniest one I can and if it outgrows the 14 I’ll transfer it

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Ok I’ll try to find the tiniest one I can and if it outgrows the 14 I’ll transfer it

Here’s a picture of mine

 

[40g Nano]

What tank is it in

 

[sas226]

Ok I’ll try to find the tiniest one I can and if it outgrows the 14 I’ll transfer it

I have to ask, are you just looking for someone to say it's okay? Almost every comment has said it's a bad idea that will almost certainly result in the death of the fish and then you say this. I get it, they are amazing fish, but not worth having them for a bit and them dying. Even if you're okay with this somehow (not saying you are). It's money thrown away, and the pod cost will also be money thrown away. You understand it'll be very costly to even attempt it right? Even then it's a setup for failure.

 

[40g Nano]

There is another goby called a red ruby
Are they better?

 

[40g Nano]

I mean hardier

and would pod cost decrease is I cultivated my own

 

[sas226]

I mean hardier

and would pod cost decrease is I cultivated my own

It'll still cost a lot to do that. I think you severely underestimate the amount of pods one of these little buggers eats. Just don't want you to have a bad experience.

 

[40g Nano]

I see what you mean

 

[40g Nano]

How long do you think these would last?

 

[BigRed78]

If you do go the cultivating pod route you are going to have to cultivate pods and phyto unless you want to spend some serious cash. If you do go this route I would suggest cultivating them for Atleast a few months to make sure you can handle the maintenance. It is a major pita.

 

[40g Nano]

I did do brine shrimp for a few months for fish fry

I am going to wait a few months if I decide to get the mandarin anyway so I guess I’ll try that out

 

[MichaelReefer]

I also agree, your tank is too small and new for one.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

There is another goby called a red ruby
Are they better?

Yes, they are mostly on the floor, they eat meaty food like mysis and brine and prepared and frozen, but they do eat copepods too. The reason I don’t have one in my tank ahah.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

I have to ask, are you just looking for someone to say it's okay? Almost every comment has said it's a bad idea that will almost certainly result in the death of the fish and then you say this. I get it, they are amazing fish, but not worth having them for a bit and them dying. Even if you're okay with this somehow (not saying you are). It's money thrown away, and the pod cost will also be money thrown away. You understand it'll be very costly to even attempt it right? Even then it's a setup for failure.

It’s not setup for failure. But if you don’t really dedicate the money to your fish, and slack off on getting copepods, it’s just going to kill your fish. it’s money being thrown away, but if you really love your fish, you wouldn’t say that. it’s not money being thrown away Because it’s for the purpose of keeping a fish alive, I mean, fish are living animals. When fish die in tanks whether it’s from owner faults or them falling ill, or if they are already really old, we all feel a bit of guilt. That’s why I try to keep my fish in the very best conditions. Even if pods cost a lot, if you really want this fish and really dedicate to this fish, you would either not get it, or use the money to keep it alive and healthy for as long as you possibly can. If your fish dies after a really long time, yes, it would be a waste of money, but not only is it a waste of money, it makes you feel better and less guilty. Thinking that your fish lived a long time because you spent the money and gave it love and cared for it.

 

[sas226]

It’s not setup for failure. But if you don’t really dedicate the money to your fish, and slack off on getting copepods, it’s just going to kill your fish. it’s money being thrown away, but if you really love your fish, you wouldn’t say that. it’s not money being thrown away Because it’s for the purpose of keeping a fish alive, I mean, fish are living animals. When fish die in tanks whether it’s from owner faults or them falling ill, or if they are already really old, we all feel a bit of guilt. That’s why I try to keep my fish in the very best conditions. Even if pods cost a lot, if you really want this fish and really dedicate to this fish, you would either not get it, or use the money to keep it alive and healthy for as long as you possibly can. If your fish dies after a really long time, yes, it would be a waste of money, but not only is it a waste of money, it makes you feel better and less guilty. Thinking that your fish lived a long time because you spent the money and gave it love and cared for it.

I agree with everything you said. Which is why I would argue against OP's idea of putting one in a 14g, that's all I was getting at. Sorry if I wasn't more clear about that.

 

[40g Nano]

So this fish requires time money and dedication

 

[Funston07]

So this fish requires time money and dedication

It requires a much larger and matured tank to easily keep it.