gerona: My Saltwater Marine Aquarium 1:
"1 mandarin goby {US $25}"
Let me post another comment that I thought would be good for most people who are interested in keeping Mandarine Gobies!..
I saw that Air Milkay had this on his list of fish he had, and this comment is for people with newer tanks... or may not know much about the Mandarines
First off, Mandarines are very, VERY delicate fish. They are extremely difficult to keep happy in a tank without the right environment.
One of the most difficult things that makes them so hard to keep is their diet. They won't eat the fish food that you would buy! - if they do it's only a small amount but will never eat it as a staple! They will only eat the little inverts that are found living on 'live' rock and the such.
Because they only eat the little critters that live on the 'live' rock, Mandarines need to be in a tank with at least 60 lbs of 'live' rock each for an ample supply of food!!
Once you get enough 'live' rock it may take a little bit of time a month or a few for the live rock to be adequately cured and enough of a population of the little inverts to develop before getting a Mandarine Goby would be something you could consider - but not until that point... just work towards creating the right conditions first!
Because of these facts about the Mandarine's diet requirements and the fact that they are quite delicate animals, they don't make good fish to get within the first couple months of starting your saltwater aquarium, at least.
If you don't want to learn a tough lesson that will literally cost you $25 or whatever the price of a Mandarine Goby is in your area, you shouldn't get one until you have the environment and conditions they need - as described briefly above!
(Note: There are other factors to consider in getting a Mandarine Goby, but I have just explained some of the biggest issues that should deter you from making the wrong decision and what you really need to successfully keep a Mandarine - there are still some other details you need to check first: such as compatibility, water quality, tank size, etc... but this is not an ultimately inclusive list)
A Mandarine Goby should really only be introduced when your tank has matured!
And there is a huge difference between being cycled and matured... but that's a different post for a different time!...
So the next post will be about cycling and maturing your tank... which might even take a few posts to describe each and the difference!
Talk to you soon...
- Jay
2 comments:
i think with mandarin goby if it is the lone pod micro eater in a 55 gallons with minimum 55 lbs of live rocks, it will do. mine looks healthy and i've seen it gulped some food nuggets, leftover marine foods like brine shrimps as well lying in the rocks and sand or pebbles
Your Mandarine is likely to do well within that environment....
About the 60 lb rule, that is general rule of thumb, which tends to take into consideration that some of the other fish in the tank will snag some of the little critters on the live rock in a fairly populated aquarium.
Throughout this blog I will post and mention about different 'rules' or good general guidelines... which does not mean that they are set-in-stone have-to-follow-to-the-bone or you're doomed to failure... no they are just good guiding principles that allow for the best error - in case something should go wrong... and it's always good to err on the side of caution if you are not sure, and are trying to figure things out.
However, if you are more advanced and have a better understanding about certain things some of the general rules may seem a little to cautionary, or not offer what you need... but as always it is better to be safe than sorry, which is why these sort of 'rules' have been established in the hobby... they are there to help you from spending huge sums of money on your aquarium unnecesarily - but if you have more than enough money to experiment (knowing you may have to replace everything in your tank), than certainly feel free to break all the rules and do whatever you want!!
It's ultimately your aquarium and not mine, I can't tell you what you have to do or should do... all I am doing is giving you the best advice for your best success and the happiness of your aquaria!
Regards,
Jay
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