Mandarin not eating

[boosst]

i got about a 3" mandarin from my lfs and it won't eat. it has been about a week. it pics at pods and stuff on the rocks but hides when i feel. i try to squirt some to wherever he is but he just swims away. i have tried about 5 types of frozen food. i noticed today his stomach looks a little sunken in...what do i need to do? i am going to try garlic tomorrow with some brine. thanks

[pinkie]

They are grazers and need to feed off copepods that have had a chance to grow in a well established tank. They don't typically respond well to clumps of food tossed at them like many fish like. How long have you had the tank up and running? Mandarins should really only be added to a large well established reef tank that has been running for a year minimum. Unfortunately if he is already showing signs of starvation, he most likely will not last through the end of the month.

[boosst]

the tank has only been setup for 4 months. i have heard that you need a well established tank that is at least a year old, but my lfs said that it should be fine and i have a TON of copepods. maybe my lfs was just looking for a sale...? i guess if he doesn't look better ion a day or so, i will take him back and maybe he will have a chance. he is constantly grazing on pods but i don't guess he is getting enough. when i get home from work there are thousands of them all over the glass so i figured he would have plenty to eat.

[pinkie]

I think you are assuming right, taking a LFS's opinion on when to buy a fish will usually result in "now should be fine". As for him not eating, it could be some other issues. For example, water parameters, or simply that the fish isn't adjusting to captivity and is refusing to eat.

[chromafi]

Take him back while you can. Even if he lives it wont be for long in a 4 month old tank.

[snorvich]

Sometimes fish caught using cyanide are unable to properly get nutrition despite eating. Ideally, your tank should have been more mature as they really need to feed off of a live copepod population.

[Zaita]

Hey Boosst,

While I don't agree with the LFS selling a thin mandarin this is too often the case. If your tank has ALOT of pods that you can observe then you maybe fine.

I would watch the Mandarin for a while and count how many pods you can observe it eating. Ideally it should eat atleast 1 every 10seconds.

Don't bother trying to feed the mandarin (esp a blue mandarin) prepared foods. They won't eat them, especially if they have pods instead. I have attempted to feed my mandarin more than 8 diff types of prepared food, but she will eat nothing but copepods and is getting fat :)

While a 12mnth+ tank is ideal, you can keep a mandarin in a new tank but you should consider purchasing and culturing pods to add to your tank to keep the population as high as possible. Also avoid other fish that eat pods too (Scooter Blenny, Other Mandarins, Wrasse).

If the Mandarin looks fat and healthy I would keep him, there is no reason why you can't support him with a little effort. But if the fish has a sunken belly, and visible line down its abdomen then it may already be too late.

My best piece of advice would be to leave the fish alone and let it eat. They don't like to be disturbed or have food shot at them :P They spend all their time eating and you should avoid distracting them from this task hehe.

I wish you good luck in whatever you decide. They are awesome fish to have and interesting to observe.

[boosst]

i watched him for a few minutes and he is eating very often. usually every 5 seconds but never more than a 10 second gap between eating. how do you go about culturing pods? can't you get them at saltwaterfish.com or live aquaria? he isn't skinny enough to worry, but i do notice that line where the stomach starts sinking in. and i don't have any other fish that eat pods. i will try to repopulate the pods manually and see if how he does. thanks

[Zaita]

Hey,

Snds like good news then :) I can't offer any advice on where to purchase pods because I live in New Zealand :P And we have strict laws on importing micro-organisms etc.. total BS really.

But you can purchase them many place I believe. Just google buy copepods or something :)

As long as the fish continues to eat and your pod population can handle it you shouldn't have too many problems.

Scott.

[Amyandlars]

How long have you had the Mandarin in your tank? Did it come thin from the LFS, or has this developed while in your tank? If it came that way from the LFS, you could hatch brine shrimp, you can get a hatchery from just about anywhere. Make sure the yolk sacs are still attached for more nutrition.

If it's withering away while in your tank, best just to take it back, and try again in 6 months.

[Zaita]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10468247#post10468247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amyandlars
How long have you had the Mandarin in your tank? Did it come thin from the LFS, or has this developed while in your tank? If it came that way from the LFS, you could hatch brine shrimp, you can get a hatchery from just about anywhere. Make sure the yolk sacs are still attached for more nutrition.

If it's withering away while in your tank, best just to take it back, and try again in 6 months.

Hatching BBS can be a short-term solution. But ultimately they are not enough to sustain a mandarin. Indications are that the mandarin has a sufficient amount of copepods to eat. Sustaining this population of copepods would be the best and easiest solution.

The other major issue with BBS is that you have to isolate your mandarin, this prevents it from eating pods during this time-frame. If you do not isolate it, all the other fish will eat the BBS before the mandarin has a chance.

I strongly beleive a Mandarin is a very hands-off fish. A lot of people have difficulty with keeping them alive because they try to bombard them with prepared food, or with an environment where they cannot sustain enough copepods for the fish to survive.

Even I tried to feed mine prepared food when it arrived. I hatched some BBS and isolated the Mandarin to feed it so the other fish wouldn't eat them. I soon realized this is going to be just as impractical for the fish as it will be for me, now I am happier to just watch her swim around eating pods and looking after herself. :)