Mandarin help

[Angelag]

Okay, I know I'm probably going to get a buttload of crap for this but I'm going to try and reach out anyway. Yesterday I went in to a dump of a fish store... Worst I've ever seen but I browsed anyway... First bad move. I came across a bunch of teeny mandarins all were skinny none were more than an inch and a half long but one was in terrible shape. I have never seen a fish look emaciated... So of course the sucker in me took over and after a pretty rude convo with the salesperson I left with a $17 fish that is prob past the point of saving but I want to at least give her a fighting chance.

So here's where I'll prob get #### from most of you

I have a 28 gallon nano cube only set up for 2 1/2 months approx 35lbs live rock 20lbs sand copepod population is booming. I know she will deplete the population pretty quick in such a small tank that's been running for such a short time but if anyone has any pointers on training her to eat mysis or pellets that would be great.

The mandarin was the fish that started it all for me but after doing a lot of research I decided I wouldn't go that route until I was ready for a much bigger tank but I just couldn't leave it there. She was pretty lethargic at first but after a couple hours she was out and about eating everything. I'm not opposed to spending the $30 or so a week to keep this fish happy and healthy but if any of you have some better suggestions that would be great

[altolamprologus]

It's pretty easy to bring back emaciated mandarins if you have the dedication. Here's what you should do:

1. Order tisbe copepods immediately. live aquaria has them in stock. Get 2 of the 16 oz bottles, one to dump into the tank as food, and one to start culturing. To culture them, just dump the bottle into a container (I use 2 liter bottles) with saltwater and add a tiny bit of crushed fish food. If you think you need more, it's probably too much. Add a tiny bit more once a week. They won't be ready for at least a month, so you need to train the mandarin.

2. Get a net guppy breeder. Petco always has them. Put the fish in there. It will allow you to have better access to him to feed and observe.

3. Get live brine shrimp and add some to the guppy breeder. The fish should start eating them right away.

4. Mix in frozen brine once the mandarin is eating live well. Once he's eating frozen, stop adding the live

5. Slowly introduce other frozen foods by mixing them with the frozen brine

6. It wouldn't hurt to buy some tigger pods and give him that too. In the tank he'll never be able to catch them, but he will be able to in the breeder net.

 

I have 2 mandarins in a 29 gallon, one of which I've had in there for over a year. They are in breeding condition and spawn for me regularly so trust me on what to do. If you follow what I said, you'll have a trained, fat mandarin in a month

[Angelag]

Thank you so much. I bought two bottles of tigger pods from my regular lfs but I just added them to the tank. I'll buy the breeder net and another bottle tomorrow morning.

[milk]

Perfectly possible to keep a mandarin in smaller tank once its trained - I had mine in my 8 gallon fat and happy for many months (I also have a large refugium connected to my tank) until it jumped out of my rimless tank. Do a search for training methods to wean it onto frozen - the one I used and one of the popular ones is to put it in a net breeder for fry in your tank - and feed it live baby brine and copepods through a pipette or baster - once it gets used to eating from this, gradually introduce frozen mysis or brine and the tiny new life spectrum pellets into the pipette with the live food, and eventually they'll eat whatever comes out of the pipette because they make an association with it as being food.

 

Unfortunately, while doing my research, I came across a few posts like yours; and these beautiful fish, if they are already too emaciated, they most likely wont make it. I was lucky to get an ORA mandarin, so I believe that training it was fairly easy because ORA supposedly feeds them with the new life spectrum pellets. My little guy gobbled them up right away.

 

But yes, I would start dumping pods in there, even if you see many around already. Ideally, once you trained her, there will be no need to spend $30 a week -I didn't spend anymore than the netbreeder and pellets when I got the mandarin.

[Angelag]

so the mandarin seems to be getting comfortable in her surroundings and gaining weight even in just the couple days I've had her. but today I noticed a pale/ white patch on her right side... I took a pic to my lfs they AM and one PM. anyway, just wondering if anyone could give me a second opinion or had any info/advice. I'll attach a pic.

[altolamprologus]

so the mandarin seems to be getting comfortable in her surroundings and gaining weight even in just the couple days I've had her. but today I noticed a pale/ white patch on her right side... I took a pic to my lfs they AM and one PM. anyway, just wondering if anyone could give me a second opinion or had any info/advice. I'll attach a pic.

I wouldn't worry about it. Mandarins lose all their color at night and for whatever reason, sometimes patches of them stay pale for a day. More than likely, it won't be there tomorrow

[Angelag]

really? so I shouldn't have bought the $60 worth of meds then, huh? good to know.

[gabe3eb]

so the mandarin seems to be getting comfortable in her surroundings and gaining weight even in just the couple days I've had her. but today I noticed a pale/ white patch on her right side... I took a pic to my lfs they AM and one PM. anyway, just wondering if anyone could give me a second opinion or had any info/advice. I'll attach a pic.

Good luck, hope its nothing permanent.

[Angelag]

Apparently I left out a line in my orig post. I took a pic to my lfs they told me it was slime coat disease and gave me two meds one for AM one for PM.

[altolamprologus]

really? so I shouldn't have bought the $60 worth of meds then, huh? good to know.

Probably not. My male mandarin shows a dull patch every now and then and he's still healthy.

 

What meds did they give youmake you buy?

[Angelag]

Unfortunately I don't have them with me. The tank is at my grooming shop & I'm home for the night. One is for parasitic diseases and one for bacterial infections

[littlelactose]

Man I hate those people working at local fish stores sometimes...

[Angelag]

Man I hate those people working at local fish stores sometimes...

And from that I take that I've been screwed yet again. Nice.

[Saltyreefs]

And from that I take that I've been screwed yet again. Nice.

 

 

I have had my mandarin for several years now and I can't say that I have ever seen his skin loose pigment like that unless when Its lights out. Don't open them yet wait a week and see how the mandarin does, if you notice a decline in health, then you have them handy and can use them. If nothing happens then just return them. This is one of my favorite fish. Hope everything goes well. Good luck!

[RC1313]

And from that I take that I've been screwed yet again. Nice.

Take the medicine back if you can. My mandarin loses color just like that every night.

[BulkRate]

A tough lesson to learn... do not medicate/dose something to treat ANYTHING until you've got a positive diagnosis. There's lots of temporary conditions that can pop up seemingly overnight, and few of them that require the volume of remedy products actively pimped at local stores. One notable exception.... depending on your livestock it can be a good idea to keep a broad-spectrum marine antibiotic on-hand for sudden emergencies. See Matt Penderson's saga on one of the prominent breeder forum regarding a bacterial septicemia (sp?) infection that blew through his dragonet stock a few years back.

 

In my opinion that mandarin, while very skinny, doesn't appear emaciated to the point of being Too Far Gone. May just be the angle you've shot from, but I've seen some in stores that looked like a Van Gogh portrait, that's how concave their stomachs were. If it IS a suffering from skin/slime coat disease, regular feeding and being kept in a tank with decent water quality's hardly going to hurt.

 

Oh and look into getting a benthic species of bottled pods...the free-swimming tiggers can be hard for mandarins to hunt. Alto's big on the tsibe variety and has proven to be able to keep a mandarin healthy on 'em + a prepared diet. In a couple of weeks I hope to have my cultures running and then will likely source a green through a contact at ORA.

[Angelag]

So an update on the little mandarin-- he's doing well, gaining weight. The white spot had almost gone away but when I checked on him this morning it was back. I was watching him for awhile today and my starry blenny came up and bit him. I knew my blenny was kind of an A-hole, he pretty much runs the tank but could bites from him cause the white spot?

[altolamprologus]

So an update on the little mandarin-- he's doing well, gaining weight. The white spot had almost gone away but when I checked on him this morning it was back. I was watching him for awhile today and my starry blenny came up and bit him. I knew my blenny was kind of an A-hole, he pretty much runs the tank but could bites from him cause the white spot?

If the blenny always bites in the same spot, I could see the resulting tissue damage causing color loss.

[Angelag]

If the blenny always bites in the same spot, I could see the resulting tissue damage causing color loss.

Pretty much... Sometimes on the opposite side but always the same area

[Angelag]

okay, another update. The little mandarin is eating frozen foods!!! Super excited and had to share with someone because my normal friends think I'm crazy and don't understand what a big deal this is.

Before pic:

[Angelag]

well I guess the after is too big to post, but you can see it here

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?f...e=1&theater

[slickwill613]

okay, another update. The little mandarin is eating frozen foods!!! Super excited and had to share with someone because my normal friends think I'm crazy and don't understand what a big deal this is.

Before pic:

That's awesome! Too scared to get one for my nano, but when I upgrade it's already on the stocking list. Keep us updated.