New occupants

[Nate G]

I got a new fish and a new piece of coral. The fish is a Mandarin Goby, but I cannot remember the name of the new coral frag. Any ideas?
It's the coral above the Goby

 

[domination2580]

Congrats on the spotted mandarin or the psychedelic mandarin...whichever you prefer. Make sure you have plenty of pods

 

[Nate G]

Plenty of pods?

 

[domination2580]

Copepods....or amphipods...they are the only thing they eat...unless it's trained to eat frozen

 

[Nate G]

My guy at the LFS said they will eat off the live rock. I was on liveaquaria and it mentioned the same, but they will also eat brine shrimp. Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate it.

I keep calling the Mandarin a Goby. Can anyone identify the coral in this photo?

 

[sawdonkey]

My guy at the LFS said they will eat off the live rock. I was on liveaquaria and it mentioned the same, but they will also eat brine shrimp. Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate it.

I keep calling the Mandarin a Goby. Can anyone identify the coral in this photo?

It's a mandarin goby. I'm no expert, but by "eating off of the live rock" that person probably meant eating pods off of the live rock. You need pods for these guys as I've heard the have a tendency to starve without them.

Also, that looks like a ricordia or a Yuma.

 

[Tahoe61]

My guy at the LFS said they will eat off the live rock. I was on liveaquaria and it mentioned the same, but they will also eat brine shrimp. Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate it.

I keep calling the Mandarin a Goby. Can anyone identify the coral in this photo?

The guy at the LFS gave you horrible advice and direction, wow. Stir clear of that guy for future guidance, he is just trying to make a buck.

Brine unless gut loaded is like us eating a potato chip diet, it will eventually lead to our demise.

Mandarins eat hundreds of zooplankton a day, you need to provide those. Your best bet is to research training the fish to eat at a feeding station. There is a wealth of information on the forums regarding the topic. Just because you see the fish picking on the rock does not mean the fish is getting adequate food.

Good Luck.

 

[Rybren]

Nate,

The fish is a Synchiropus picturatus aka Spotted Mandarinfish or Psychedelic Mandarinfish. It is a type of Dragonet and is not a Goby.
Dragonets eat copepods and other small crustaceans all day long and is likely going to starve to death in your 30G tank unless you start adding pods and other suitable live foods. You don't have a sump, so your tank's ability to keep a self sustaining pod population is somewhat limited.

Many LFS sell bottles of live pods that you can add to the tank. You can also start hatching brine shrimp and then feed them to the tank as soon as they are hatched. Another helper is to add small piles of rock rubble in the tank to provide a place for the pods to breed.

Good luck and next time, please research your fish before buying it. It will help you and your fish in the long run.

 

[Nate G]

Thanks Rybren. You're right; I should have done more research on the Mandarin. My problem is, I don't know what I want until I get to the store. Typically, I will ask the LFS and then go to liveaquaria to make sure everyone is compatible and requires the same water parameters. Thanks for the help!

 

[Rybren]

That method sometimes works, but more often than not, it doesn't. A good LFS will talk to you about your tank and setup before you purchase and won't sell to you if your setup isn't suitable for the fish or coral that you're looking at. Unfortunately, many LFS are just looking for a sale.

I'm lucky, all of the LFS that I dealt with when I started were good ones and refused to sell me fish that were unsuitable for my tank.

 

[Nate G]

The one I have been going to has been the same store since the beginning and I am in there at least once a week. Thankfully they have pumped my brakes when I got a little too anxious.