mandarin help

[snick1734]

I got a mandarin last week. Was eating Frozen Mysis at LFS and was there for 3 weeks. Nice and fat. Has not eaten anything I have offered since came home. I was assuming she (I think it is a female) has been eating PODS as we always saw them moving around it main display. Even took some Cheato and put it in a corner of tank that is loaded with Pods. All day yesterday looked great. This morning NOT so great. SHe looks very thin and appears slimy. I am trying to catch her to put her in my sump where there is unlimited pod population in there and it would be easier to watch her and target feed her. Any other suggestions or thoughts????
Thanks Nicole

 

[nickyblase]

so she started to look really skinny in only a week? That sounds pretty quick. Perhaps she/he is stressed out.

What other fish are in your tank and what are your params?

P.S. Did you see it eat frozen at the LFS? I've made that mistake believing without seeing once before.

 

[Andy O]

What size tank/fuge do you have. If you have to rely on pods, Mandarin's can decimate a pod population pretty quickly.

 

[~Flighty~]

I always put my mandarins in the fuge for a month before putting them into the display. They will eat the pods, but they don't easilly get into the dense macro, so there is little fear that they will destroy the breeding population. They will eat the available ones fast though, so you will probably need to supliment their food in there depending on the size.

Thin and slimy sounds like a problem though. Did you do any treatment or QT before introduction?

 

[starrfish]

My mandarins love tobiko - the sushi grade fish eggs. You could soak some in garlic and selcon and try to get her to eat those. You can get them at any asian market, or go into a sushi restaurant and beg for a little container.

 

[Andy O]

I found that my mandarin like live brine shrimp.

The other thing to take into account is that if the fuge is below the tank it will probably not be as efficient in propogating your main tank with pods as if you had a fuge that was tank level and was gravity fed -- just my opinion.

 

[snick1734]

I am gonna check my params now. I have a 58 gal. with a 20 long sump. I need to go get some brine. She is more active now and not so slimy looking. but still thinner than when I obtained her. I did watch her eat at the store. I have a Coral beauty, pearly jaw, true perk, LMB, 2 anthias and the mandarin. I did not quarintine her. I really have no way of doing it. I guess I am just talking a risk. Everyone else seems happy. I am just really worried that she won't eat. I have tried Cyclopeeze, mysis, and bloodworms. When you use garlic, can you just mince some up and add it or do you need to do something else whith it??? Thanks for the advise.

 

[~Flighty~]

Is she actively looking for food and picking things off of the sand? If so, you are probably fine for several days or weeks even if she isn't eating prepared food. Putting macro into the tank periodically will up the pod population and there are probably lots of harmless flatworms and things that you can't even see for her to eat for now. If you can catch her easily the fuge or sump would be good, but I wouldn't stress her too much trying to catch her.

If she isn't actively hunting, there is probably something medically wrong with her. If you do medicate make sure you double check that the treatment is ok for scaleless fish.

 

[snick1734]

She is occasionaly pecking at the rocks, not so much the sand. Lateral line is very prominent.

Tank params:
Temp: 76.6
pH: 8.2
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia:0
Alk: 6 dkh
Ca+: 465
Phos: 0.6 We have batteling this used to be greater than 1.0
mG: 1360

 

[Jim Tansey]

Hope you prove me wrong but they are very difficult turn when they go that way.

Good Luck,

Jim

 

[Andy O]

She is occasionaly pecking at the rocks, not so much the sand. Lateral line is very prominent.

Tank params:
Temp: 76.6
pH: 8.2
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia:0
Alk: 6 dkh
Ca+: 465
Phos: 0.6 We have batteling this used to be greater than 1.0
mG: 1360

I would try and get your Alk up to at least 8 or 9.

 

[nickyblase]

ditto on the low alk. As far as getting live brine, I'd be cautious about that, since there isn't a whole lot of nutritional value unless they've been supplemented, or still have their yolksac intact.

If it's picking off the rocks, it sounds like a good sign. You may want to check with a flashlight a while after lights out to see what your pod population looks like now.

Do you have any chaeto in your sump? If not, I'd pack a bunch in there as well, so long term the mandarin doesn't wipe out the whole pod population.

You can also do a search on here for the mandarin diner. It's worked for lots of people to get their mandarin to eat. Didn't work for mine, but I got lucky - my mandarin just started eating frozen one day. Another trick is to use a turkey baster with mysis soaked in selcon and garlic (juice - not the garlic itself).

Good luck, and if you need pod-filled chaeto, I'm sure there's someone near you who can get you some (not sure where Spencer MA is, though!).

 

[TheBigBadReefer]

all my mandarins are trained to eat out of a glass jar in the tank, they eat mysis brine cyclopeeze and of course pods.

 

[nickyblase]

Here's the link to the mandarin diner that Marc Levenson devised....

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6377&highlight=mandarin+diner

 

[snick1734]

okay so I was able to get some Tobiko from a Japanese resturant. I'll give it a whirl. I will let you know what happens. Fingers crossed, holding breath. . . . . . . .

 

[snick1734]

We have eaten some Frozen Brine, pecked at rocks and showed some interest in Tobiko. Thanks to everyone who has chimed in. I hope we can save her. She seems really shy and does not like to be watched. Nicole

 

[nickyblase]

good signs! Good luck. Make sure you're soaking the brine in selcon or some other type of supplement to get some nutritional value in them.

 

[delta]

In the morning before lights on when the suns bright enough in the room to lights the tank. Drop some tobiko in near the mandarin while things are still quiet in the tank and then walk away.

 

[snick1734]

I have live Brine hatching! I will try adding some tommorow morning after dropping in some tobikko. BTW you know how much a jar of that stuff goes for???? It is like $50/lb. But that is also a lot of eggs. I had to go to 5 places before someone aggreed to sell me 2 oz. They said come back anytime!! luckily they are only 15 minuttes away. They charged my $6.95. Well the saga will continue tommorow. Nicole

 

[Moe_K]

Did you tell them it was to feed your saltwater fish? They might give you a discount once they figure out you're not some gourmet looking for the latest sushi treat.