I noticed my Mandarin is covered in bubbles all over his skin. I looked at them and noticed some of them were expanding and collapsing when he breathed and what not. It looks like ick from far off but when you look at him close you see it's bubbles. He's eating fine, gobbling up something every minute or so.

Any ideas?

Pics would help. My target occasionally gets sand on him so I would assume he would be fine.

Took these tonight. It looks like he has sand and something else on him here. Normally it doesn't look so much like ick. Trust me, it's bubbles, they look like they are under his skin...even on his fins.

He's still eating though. He's eating something off the live rocks. I can't tell if it is the Arcti Pods I'm feeding or what.

fungus? i had green clown goby with those b4. just try feeding them good and it should go away.

Hmm... this could be several things... How long have you had this fish?

Does the fish swim fine? Do the bubbles pop(you may have to net it to test)? If so, it could be a swim bladder disease.

If the spots do not wipe off, the Lymphocystis virus is a possibility.

It could be a parasitic infection such as Fish lice or mites (especially if it's a new fish).

Finally, I don't think you can completely rule out a fungus as well (I'm not too familiar with those).

Observe it carefully and note any physical, or behavioral changes.

I'm pulling this out of my butt, but could he have some bacterial infection, and the bubbles are a waste gas of the bacteria?

You might do a search on wetwebmedia.

try adding a cleaner shrimp

Mine looks just like this. Bubbles under the skin, what seems like excessive slime coat sloughing as well. Just got him 2 days ago. He's in quarantine. I will keep an eye on this post to see what happens.

I think mine is looking some better. He's still eating. He's the only fish I have in the tank so I've just left him in there. I'm not planning on adding any more until around Christmas. Let me know how yours progresses.

Here is a close up of my Mandarin's bumps. He's still eating and still very active. The shot was taken early in the morning when he appeared to have lighter coloring. He darkened up after the light was on for awhile.

Click to view attachment

Maybe maybe not:

Mandarins have a very slimmy skin and everything sticks to it. From the look of your pictures you have very fine sand. It could be that just stuck to it's head area as it is digging around.

Also, just because you see it pick or make an eating motion at the rocks doesn't mean it actually found food.

Because of your tank size you will have to train it to eat frozen

that is true! I had a firefish that always seemed to have some fine sand on him, and it bothered me to no end. Doesn't really look the same on yours though...

the mandarins all look skinny, try feeding them live bloodworms while you can.