Saving Mandarin Goby

[Goby13]

I picked up an orange manadrin from my LFS today, he was traded in and is pretty skinny. They didn't have the time/resources to bring him back to health so I decided to take the challenge.

He eats frozen/live brine shrimp, but I know this is not the ideal source of nutrition.

I want to start breeding pods for him, has anyone had success with this that could share some tricks?

After doing some research it looks like I should be using Tisbe biminiensis for my pods.

Here are some tank specs:
75G reef (not drilled)
Tank has been up and running for 1 1/2 years.
Canister filter, 2x powerheads
Elive LED lights
I currently have about 60# of live rock

Current fish:
Coral Beauty
Firefish goby
Bangaii cardinals
Oranage mandarin goby

 

[MondoBongo]

poor guy is very skinny.

i would advise getting some nutramar ova and some cyclop-eeze ASAP as well, to see if you can help speed up the weight gain process.

also making a feeder and hatching some live baby brine shrimp can be advantageous. within the first 24 hours they're the most nutritious when their yolk sac is still attached.

as far as hatching pods, i've had limited success with my cultures. the biggest down side is that they typically take 10 - 14 days to get to a number large enough to harvest and dose. so it's not a great short term solution.

you can dose bottles of pods direct to the tank in the interim to assist, but this quickly gets pricey. the fact that he is eating frozen can work in your favor though.

with my cultures, which i think i will be redoing soon with better seed stock, i used the large plastic pretzel bins from costco. but you can use an old aquarium, or even a bucket from home depot. they eat phyto, so it is also helpful to start your own cultures of them. i used old 2L soda bottles for my phyto cultures. i have 4 that i rotate, so i always have one bottle ready to pour in to my pod cultures to feed them. usually once a week. your LFS should sell bottles of phyto you can use as a starter culture.

you say your tank is not drilled, but is it running a sump?

i would also make sure you're doing multiple small daily feedings of frozen, maybe as much as 3 - 4 times a day to help get that weight on quick. you can tone it down once he is fattened up.

also, live black worms! your LFS should sell them. they don't live long in saltwater, but i typically turn off all my flow, locate my mandy, and then squirt a bunch near her. she chows down on them like crazy. they're a good supplemental source of protein as well.

 

[rhdoug]

put a small glass jar laying sideways on the sand or rock if you can find a flat spot for it. Squirt food in there with a turkey baster. You may need to "lead" him there with food initially. Search for "mandarin diner".

 

[davocean]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253223

 

[eyesinthedrk]

Your tank is likely loaded with pods already. This should be enough to keep him going while you set up sustainability. I would build a few pod nurseries in your DT , sooner rather than later.

 

[lostintheocean]

sad, he is very skinny.... you can put things like a lufa in you sump and they will soon become full of pods a large ball of cheato. If no sump you can put a lufa or cheato in your display and put a small container over it to keep the fish out so the pods multiply.

When i do not clean my glass for several days and the algae start to grow there are pods all over the glass, maybe let it go for a few days and see if this brings some out for the mandrin to eat

 

[MondoBongo]

how's the poor guy doing?