Mandarin dragonet and diamond goby?

[wyssj]

Can you house both a dragonet and a diamond goby in the same tank? I ask because I am planning on purchasing a dragonet once my tank is well established with pods. I currently have a really good population but my tank is only 2 months old and I will be waiting probably for 6 more months at least. Oh, and I have a 29g Biocube reef with mods in the back of the tank to give me a fuge.

I would like the diamond goby in order to stir the sand. I am getting a slight diatom bloom and the nassarius snails just are cutting it since all they do is come out at feeding time then go back under, they don't stir that much. The other alternative  I though about was a cucumber. I am not sure if that is a good idea for a 29g though?

And all water parameters are just fine.

Thanks

[micki]

Yes, I did it with ni problems at all.

[Blown76mav]

I wouldn't put a Mandrin in a 29g no matter how long its been running.  A Mandrin will burn through your pod population within a few weeks to the point of extinction of the pods. And since they don't really eat anything else it to will eventually die.   A Mandrin shouldn't be housed in anything less than 150g in my opinion.  With that said its your tank and you can do what ya want.

[referinohio]

I wouldn't put a Mandrin in a 29g no matter how long its been running.  A Mandrin will burn through your pod population within a few weeks to the point of extinction of the pods. And since they don't really eat anything else it to will eventually die.   A Mandrin shouldn't be housed in anything less than 150g in my opinion.  With that said its your tank and you can do what ya want.

+1.
I've read 100 gallons min. Waiting till my 125 is set up to get one.

[jeblin]

ORA is still raising/selling captive bred mandarins that they train to eat frozen/dry foods --> http://www.orafarm.com/products/fish/dragonets/blue-mandarin.html

Melev has had some luck training some in his tanks as well --> http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

The biggest thing, in a small tank, is to get them eating something other than the pod population. I had one for awhile, but I was continuously supplementing my pod population with commercially available pods (Reef Mariculture, Sachs Aqua farms, jholback from CORA, etc).

Good luck!

Jerry