Lethargic spotted mandarin

[spamvicious]

I’ve got a spotted mandarin that I’ve had in my tank for three months. Usually he is zooming about the tank doing acrobatics.

The last couple of days he just sits on the rock or on the sand. I feed him brine shrimp twice a day and he’s eating some but is a lot slower. I also dose copepods every couple of weeks.

He’s not showing any signs of starving I don’t think and he’s the only fish in my tank so he doesn’t have to fight for food. I bought him off a friend, who had him two years and had bought him off someone else so I don’t know how old he is.

Here are my parameters. I’m dosing alk to try raise it.

 

[shakacuz]

could be near the end of days for it, possibly. lethargy indicates illness or age. brine shrimp is likely not as nutritional as copepods, but i would try adding a jar or three of copepods to see if it perks back up.

maybe its lonely?

also, it seems your ALK may be lower than recommended(7-8.3ish). would give it another test or check your reagents.

 

[spamvicious]

could be near the end of days for it, possibly. lethargy indicates illness or age. brine shrimp is likely not as nutritional as copepods, but i would try adding a jar or three of copepods to see if it perks back up.

maybe its lonely?

also, it seems your ALK may be lower than recommended(7-8.3ish). would give it another test or check your reagents.

I’ve added three bags of copepods in the last two days. I added one an hour ago and he wasn’t massively interested in them either. I was giving him mysis as well in the beginning but he seemed to cough like they were too big for his mouth so I stopped.

I have a small tank that’s why he’s the only fish so I didn’t think about him getting lonely.

 

[shakacuz]

I have a small tank that’s why he’s the only fish so I didn’t think about him getting lonely.

how big is the tank?

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

try posting a video and tagging a fish medic. they'd be able to tell a lot by breathing, swimming etc..

 

[spamvicious]

how big is the tank?

Fluval evo. Which is why I made sure he ate frozen food and I dose copepods regularly

 

[shakacuz]

Fluval evo. Which is why I made sure he ate frozen food and I dose copepods regularly

you may fit another fish or two in there. neon goby, clown goby, court jester goby, possum wrasse are some decent options.

@Jay Hemdal any ideas?

 

[spamvicious]

try posting a video and tagging a fish medic. they'd be able to tell a lot by breathing, swimming etc..

Lights are off for tonight so I’ll get a video tomorrow but hopefully he will be doing better

 

[Tamberav]

Brine shrimp is not going to sustain this fish. It is extremely notionally poor.

In fact, on another forum, there is a case of two biota angels being bought at the same time, same type. One was able to switch to pellets and grew normally, the other is on freshly baby hatched brine months later and is tiny/stunted and very sickly looking, just a matter of time before it passes since it won't eat anything but baby brine which is often thought as nutritious but clearly that's not even enough to keep a fish going long term.

You can dose pods but reality is the tank should be able to sustain enough on it's own. The extra pods just predate on each other or die. A tank will always settle to the # it can support via food sources for them.

I kept several of these mandarins in a 29g for 5 years but the tank was fed heavily to keep the pod population up and they ate mysis, ova, and pellets. Brine is only useful to wean onto other foods and then should be discontinued entirly.

 

[spamvicious]

Brine shrimp is not going to sustain this fish. It is extremely notionally poor.

In fact, on another forum, there is a case of two biota angels being bought at the same time, same type. One was able to switch to pellets and grew normally, the other is on freshly baby hatched brine months later and is tiny/stunted and very sickly looking, just a matter of time before it passes since it won't eat anything but baby brine which is often thought as nutritious but clearly that's not even enough to keep a fish going long term.

You can dose pods but reality is the tank should be able to sustain enough on it's own. The extra pods just predate on each other or die. A tank will always settle to the # it can support via food sources for them.

I kept several of these mandarins in a 29g for 5 years but the tank was fed heavily to keep the pod population up and they ate mysis, ova, and pellets. Brine is only useful to wean onto other foods and then should be discontinued entirly.

I fed mysis but it would cough as if the food was too big. I can try again and hopefully cut it smaller. Nutrama ova I can’t get as I’m in the UK. What pellets can I try?. If needs be I will rehome if that’s the issue.

 

[shakacuz]

I fed mysis but it would cough as if the food was too big. I can try again and hopefully cut it smaller. Nutrama ova I can’t get as I’m in the UK. What pellets can I try?. If needs be I will rehome if that’s the issue.

https://reefnutrition.com/collections/food-for-gobies
try TDO chroma c1 or c2, amongst the other options on that page.

 

[Tamberav]

I fed mysis but it would cough as if the food was too big. I can try again and hopefully cut it smaller. Nutrama ova I can’t get as I’m in the UK. What pellets can I try?. If needs be I will rehome if that’s the issue.

I am not sure what is available there but there are different types of mysis and some are very small. Some are labled mini mysis (V2O brand) and others are not labled to make the distinction clear.

PE is the large one, pretty sure hikari is smaller than PE. V20 Mini might be smaller yet.

Nutramar ova isn't being made anymore but you can usually get other eggs to try or the fresh stuff from the market.

 

[spamvicious]

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I am not sure what is available there but there are different types of mysis and some are very small. Some are labled mini mysis (V2O brand) and others are not labled to make the distinction clear.

PE is the large one, pretty sure hikari is smaller than PE. V20 Mini might be smaller yet.

Nutramar ova isn't being made anymore but you can usually get other eggs to try or the fresh stuff from the market.

Thanks for the information. It actually explains about the pods. Recently I saw shells coming out of the filtration at the back when I would top up RO water etc. So I understand now it was the copepods cos they’re not surviving.

If the pods aren’t able to breed etc then is it best for me to rehome?. I did the research but was under the impression that if the mandarin was eating frozen food and I kept dosing pods it would be able to thrive on both.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

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Thanks for the information. It actually explains about the pods. Recently I saw shells coming out of the filtration at the back when I would top up RO water etc. So I understand now it was the copepods cos they’re not surviving.

If the pods aren’t able to breed etc then is it best for me to rehome?. I did the research but was under the impression that if the mandarin was eating frozen food and I kept dosing pods it would be able to thrive on both.

not sure if this is available in UK but mine eats this mysis as well as pods. it really stinks though.

 

[Tamberav]

*

Thanks for the information. It actually explains about the pods. Recently I saw shells coming out of the filtration at the back when I would top up RO water etc. So I understand now it was the copepods cos they’re not surviving.

If the pods aren’t able to breed etc then is it best for me to rehome?. I did the research but was under the impression that if the mandarin was eating frozen food and I kept dosing pods it would be able to thrive on both.

Is it still trying to hunt for food?

If it's not foraging, it may be too late for the guy.

 

[spamvicious]

Is it still trying to hunt for food?

If it's not foraging, it may be too late for the guy.

Yeah he is still eating just not as much. But he isn’t skinny or showing bones which is what I have been keeping an eye on.

 

[Hats_]

just my 2 cents but i feel like a tank that size is not possible to sustain a large enough pod population to sustain a mandarin. these fish are better suited to larger mature tank with large pod populations as these fish have to eat all day long since they dont have a stomach. It may just be trying to conserve energy in wait for the next feeding moment

 

[spamvicious]

just my 2 cents but i feel like a tank that size is not possible to sustain a large enough pod population to sustain a mandarin. these fish are better suited to larger mature tank with large pod populations as these fish have to eat all day long since they dont have a stomach. It may just be trying to conserve energy in wait for the next feeding moment

Yeah I understand your point. As above I was under the impression that as long as it was eating frozen and I could supplement pods I thought it would be ok. But for whatever reason the pods aren’t surviving in my tank. I thought given that I just had him as a the solo fish it would be better too.

 

[Hats_]

Yeah I understand your point. As above I was under the impression that as long as it was eating frozen and I could supplement pods I thought it would be ok. But for whatever reason the pods aren’t surviving in my tank. I thought given that I just had him as a the solo fish it would be better too.

I get that, a friend of mine went through the same with his mandarin until it was moved to a bigger tank then his behaviour went back to normal. Not a lot of fish feed on pods like mandarins do, they eat a very large amount per day. My advise would be to rehome it and get some other nice fish that are better suited

 

[spamvicious]

I get that, a friend of mine went through the same with his mandarin until it was moved to a bigger tank then his behaviour went back to normal. Not a lot of fish feed on pods like mandarins do, they eat a very large amount per day. My advise would be to rehome it and get some other nice fish that are better suited

Yeah I’m currently looking for a new home. Most important thing is what’s right for the fish.