will my tank suport a mandarin goby

i was thinking the red scooter was a digger

 

Scooter is not a digger. It's dragonet, similar to mandarin but more acceptable to prepared food.

 

I second Clown Gobies, mine has the most personality of my entire tank, he lives up to his name, Pee-Wee (after pee-wee herman)... This is him on the orange monti:

 

you could try a wrasse! a tiny type though

 

Once again I think I have to disagree with most of the thinking about Mandrins........LOL, it must be Deja vu! because I just posted this the other day on this thread....

But here it is again, with a few additions

The days of needing a tank full of Pods to keep a Mandarin are way over. They can be trained to eat frozen foods and live very long and healthy lives doing just that. No don't get me wrong, its not a real easy thing to do but it can and has been done many times.

You can find tons of information on MOFIB about training them to eat frozen, Matt Pederson has been extremely successful in doing this. Here is a link with his explanation on how he does it. In reading this you will also find out that he keep them in small tanks or Bio cubes all the time.

I have a Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) who has been eating Frozen mysis, brine shrimp and even crab pellets for 2 years now, healthiest little fish you have ever seen. He gets fed once a day every day. Here is a link to one of my post on 3reef with a picture of it back in August of 2008. I also have a Red Mandarin (Pterosynchiropus splendidus var.) that I have just started training and she seems to be catching on really well.

So basically I guess what I am really trying to say is its worth a try, if you secede then you will have a what I consider one of the most beautiful fishes available. And if you don't well chances are someone else would have most likely bought the same fish and it would have died anyways because most most people haven't a clue whats required and I have yet to meet anyone that works at a LFS that is willing to loose a sale telling someone.

Oh and by the way, a Red scooter Blenny or Red Scooter Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus), check it out and see what they eat.... PODS too, although I honestly think that they seem to take to eating just about anything easier than a Mandarin they still require and eat pods....


If you not up to trying this I would go with a Yellow Clown Goby, Blue spotted Yellow watchman goby, Catalina Goby, Any of the Pseudochromis & Dottybacks Most wrasses will grow to be much to large for your tank where as most of the fishes listed above will remain about 2 to 3 inches excet for a few....

 

Gazog, I completely agree with you. I think anyone willing to take the time could be successful training a mandarin to take prepared food... though my mandarin is not interested in the slightest, and since there are plenty of pods in my tank, I just make sure that it looks healthy, and does.

However, I still think it is still a good idea to caution those new to the hobby that these fish require excellent care and need special attention that most fish don't. We can at least be thankful that they have made it this far and are doing their research/ homework.

 

yea i think i will will not get a mandarin untill i get my big tank up and running so thats a few years out but im thinking about getting the yellow clown goby thanks so much for the advice it makes me glad i dident go to the lfs and get talked into getting a mandarin only to watch it die

 

I agree but leaving it one sided or just saying "NO" makes for some very uniformed people. Which is why I said "Now don't get me wrong, its not a real easy thing to do but it can and has been done many times."

I just raises my hackles when I see someone ask a question and all the answers they get basically are "NO" or "To keep a mandarin, you need a constant supply of pods. Pods from live rocks without fuge will not support because it will deplete quickly." Which is in reality not completley true, and without letting them know that there are other options.

Where would this hobby be is all we ever did was tell someone who really does not know any better "NO"..... maybe now after they get a bit of time under their belt they might just try one and hopefully they will be successful.

 

like a flasher wrasse.

Longfin flasher wrasses are one of my favorites, but ina big tank like mine, it would get lost.

 

Honestly, I love this hobby but theres no fish worth having to "train" to eat a certain food. Maybe if you don't work and are home and bored alot. But there is too much other maintenence and stuff involved in this hobby to be worried about some little fish eating. That being said here is a pic of my mandarin who eats anything that fits in his tiny little mouth.