Mandarin losing part of its tail fin

[DalPal25]

I've only had the mandarin for a couple weeks now and it's going back to the LFS this weekend because I don't have a good enough pod population. It was a surprise gift from my mother and I thought I could try and make it work and tried to be optimistic but it's just not happening until I get a much better pod population.

But anyway, here are some pictures of it's tail. They're blurry but it's still apparent he's missing some of his tail. I have two clownfish and they never seem to even go near him so I doubt it's them nipping unless it's happening at night. But I also have a cleaner shrimp that likes to chase the Mandy around a bit and while I've never seen the shrimp actually catch the Mandy, I figured maybe it was getting to him at night? I thought cleaner shrimps would clean, not eat! Anyway, thanks for any help.

 

[Preme]

Looks like another fish may have nipped at it? Sounds like the shrimp did it... sorry to hear you gotta bring it back to your LFS

 

[DalPal25]

Looks like another fish may have nipped at it? Sounds like the shrimp did it... sorry to hear you gotta bring it back to your LFS

I know, I'm pretty bummed about it. I wanted one anyway but I would've liked more time to prepare for it instead of having it be a surprise.

 

[davocean]

I highly doubt that is from a cleaner shrimp
Not sure how big and established your tank is, but it's pretty cool of your Mom to get that for you, make sure to just tell her we all usually research fish care needs before purchasing to be responsible reef keepers, but make sure to say thanks and you appreciate her interest in your hobby as well!

 

[DalPal25]

I highly doubt that is from a cleaner shrimp
Not sure how big and established your tank is, but it's pretty cool of your Mom to get that for you, make sure to just tell her we all usually research fish care needs before purchasing to be responsible reef keepers, but make sure to say thanks and you appreciate her interest in your hobby as well!

Yeah I talked with her about it. It was a really nice gesture so that's why I tried my best to make it work but he's clearly starving so I had to break the news to her today since he's going back this afternoon. She understands now, she just got excited and wasn't thinking