Help Mandarín Goby

[poncho.m.0909]

Hello, recently purchased mandarin goby, I have a 32 gal aquarium that is over a year old. I have been trying to feed mandarin Dr G’s Rotifers Max, but it will not eat it. Is it possible to get the mandarin to eat that food or is there a better alternative? My fear is that the mandarin will run out of copepods in the tank and not have other Foods. Any help appreciated, Thank you.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by poncho.m.0909

Hello, recently purchased mandarin goby, I have a 32 gal aquarium that is over a year old. I have been trying to feed mandarin Dr G’s Rotifers Max, but it will not eat it. Is it possible to get the mandarin to eat that food or is there a better alternative? My fear is that the mandarin will run out of copepods in the tank and not have other Foods. Any help appreciated, Thank you.

There are other copepod foods that you should try(i.e. Apex-Pods by Reef Nutrition, AlgaeBarn Poseidon's Feast, etc) over the rotifers as copepods are more meaty. You can also offer live newly hatched brine shrimp as they are very nutritious within the first 6 hours or so of hatching.
The key is having these live and available or keeping them cultured in your sump or refugium.
Hope this helps.

[poncho.m.0909]

Thank you, will attempt the baby brine shrimp approach.

[Colin_T]

Mandarin fish are notoriously hard to get feeding in captivity. They do best in tanks with lots of live rock and macro algae, and an air operated sponge filter so you don't suck up too much of their food.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by poncho.m.0909

Thank you, will attempt the baby brine shrimp approach.

I suggest you don't get locked into just one food type as there may be times when that one is not available so feeding more than one on a regular basis gets the fish used to eating different foods so missing one type won't really effect the fish should it not be available.

[JScottS]

I had a mandarin dragonet (despite the popular name, it is not, in fact, a goby) who lived for three years in my tank. Copepods are the best food for Mandarins. Even with tons of live rock, 32 gallons is probably not big enough to sustain a breeding population of copepods, so they must be supplemented. I prefer the copepods from Algae Barn (and if you order the right pack on Amazon, it also includes a bottle of phytoplankton, which your mandarin will eat).

With a Mandarin in a 32 gallon tank, you probably will not be able to rely on the copepod breeding population in the tank, so you have to supplement copepods. As you are doing the copepods, start introducing other food they like (see recommendations above), and they will begin to eat this so that they are not entirely dependent on copepods and having to restock copepods in your tank regularly.

I would recommend start with copepods, then slowly introduce other foods they like, and eventually they may become less dependent on copepods, so his life won't depend on just one food source.