"Timothy Tom" wrote in message
om...
My 4 year old 150 gallon reef tank has evolved to currently hold SPS,
LPS, Fish, invertebrates, clams. It has approximately 170 lbs of live
sand, and about 350lbs of live rock. The majority of the fish
population is at least 2 years old, and the LPS, and SPS have been
doing well. My nitrates are persistent but low at about 5 PPM, and
phosphates stay at about .05. My question is regarding mandarin
gobies. Despite multiple attempts over the past year, I have not been
able to keep one alive. I add one, and will see it for a couple of
days, and then I will see it no more. When the reef tank was about 1
1/2 years old I was able to add a mandarin goby which survived for
about a year, but since then no success. I recall reading from one
source that Mandarin gobies are indeed very difficult to keep, but
frequently you are told that they should do fine if they have adequate
LR in the aquarium. Have others had long-term success with Mandarins.
They are indeed unusual and beautiful fish, and I would love to be
able to keep one happy and healthy.


In a tank that size and one up that long, it's almost impossible to wipe out
the pod population unless you have several other fish such as small wrasses
feeding on them. You might not have anything wrong on your end. It's more
than likely the fish you are choosing. I have been in the retail end of the
aquarium trade for over a decade, and I see mandarins come in all the time
too skinny to make it. If they have been starved long enough in the
*collection, wholesale, retail chain* long enough, they rarely make it.
Even as little time as two weeks without proper food, their digestive tract
can start to degenerate, so that even with proper food supplies once you get
them home, they can't digest the food they eat. If you want to try again,
make sure you pick one with fat, almost swollen sides, not one that is even
a little bit skinny. They aren't that delicate if you choose a healthy fish
to begin with and have the proper food.