What’s the smallest sized fish purchased?

[Sir Chris]

Hello all!!
So I’ve been looking for a green or spotted mandarin for about 2 months. After I noticed my pod population scare me one night.
I have been through red bugs, so my mind went straight to the worst things.
I’ve been waiting for that fish to just get me and when I came across a near baby specimen I was broken. Dad before he wasn’t at the LFS ask he was new. I had to purchase him at all costs and was not in good shape like most mandi’s are but took him anyways cause he was still active hunting.
QT isn’t possible really and they don’t have scales and secret a noxious slime so I drip acclimated him and transferred his water about 10 times to remove anything in his slime coat or see anything on his flesh.
Day 3 now and he’s more active. Keeps getting out of his pen that’s in the tank for me to monitor and is hovering mid water bs skimming the bottom.
At this time I’m very happy with this risky purchase, but I’m not in the clear yet.
I breed so have rotifers and the likes but can’t find if they will chase mid water. He won’t take frozen yet.

So what’s the smallest fish that your we’re willing to risk it on?



EDIT: clam was to show the pods crawling on its snot as it was eating phyto

 

[NinnJinn]

I would have to say my blue Mandarin roughly 1/2 inch. She is happy as can be and pecking the Rocks every time I see her and she's starting to get fat.

And two clownfish roughly the same size maybe a smidge smaller. They didn't survive but we're under warranty so I got my money back.

 

[KorD]

Smallest fist I had was a 1/4 inch Geometric Pygmy Perchlet. It was an amazing little fish, but only lasted a few months

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Smallest was a blue hippo tang about the size of a nickel. I fed it every hour and it grew quickly. Had it six years.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have a yellow and green clown goby, both are really small

 

[DogsRule]

From the top down pic, your Mandi looks very thin & pinched. I'm not sure trying to keep it confined is serving any benefit & I'd just let it have the entire tank to hunt for food. I've had a spotted Mandi for about 3 years & can only say they are very slow deliberate feeders. I have been lucky ( read a lot of target feeding for weeks) to get my Mandi to eat small frozen foods, but it has always been from the sand bed. If it spots a piece of food in the water column, then by the time it has hunted it, another fish has already grabbed the food. Try target feeding foods such as fish eggs (probably too large right now), shrimp eggs, cyclopods & see if you can use those to supplement the live pods in your tank. HTH & best of luck- they are beautiful fish

 

[Chad3407]

I bought a panda goby years ago from liveaquria that was smaller than a grain of rice. Brine shrimp are bigger than that fish was. Needless to say it lasted about 2 seconds in the tank.