Either my Mandarin starved, or I have a mantis. .

[Teremei]

I came back from a 3 day vacation (fish were fed) and my mandarin is mysteriously gone. I do not see him hunting on the rocks as I do atleast several times a day. So I fear he is gone.

When I got him he was severely immaciated. But I got him eating prepared foods and have enough LR for pods. He had gotten a bit fatter over the few months I had him. And at the 8 months mark, he's gone. I never got him to full fat belly mode, but he wasn't as thin as when I got him. Did I just not get him fat enough quickly enough?

The other culprit could be a mantis. I HAVE heard clicking at times at night. Not very often. But every once in awhile at night, I would hear a few clicks. It's possible I got a baby mantis on a rock several months ago that is now bigger? Your thoughts? And how to find a mantis tips would be appreciated (like if he's behind rocks between the glass and rocks).

[thor32766]

to me if its a baby, odds are it wouldnt have been a mantis, but it might have. One the best times to find mantis is feeding time. When you feed they smell and come out. I have had a manits in a 10 gallon for over a year with a few damels and he has never touched them. One of the blue damels moved him out of his own whole. Now maybe if you have a good sized mantis. try the feeding thing and pay close attention to see if you see anything.

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7468980#post7468980 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Teremei

The other culprit could be a mantis. I HAVE heard clicking at times at night. Not very often. But every once in awhile at night, I would hear a few clicks. It's possible I got a baby mantis on a rock several months ago that is now bigger? Your thoughts? And how to find a mantis tips would be appreciated (like if he's behind rocks between the glass and rocks).

Generally, only smashers come in on rocks, and they dont really hunt fish. They just get blamed a lot.


Did you check behind your stand, etc? If its just clicking, its more likely a pistol shrimp. Mantii are LOUD.

If its a predator, I'd say its about 10times more likely its a crab.



Also, what else do you have for fish. A friend of mine has a Majestic angel that clicks when its excited.

[Teremei]

My fish are listed in my avatar. Remaining are Coral Beauty, Pair of Occelaris, Royal Gramma, and Neon Goby. It's not the fish. .

Like I said either maybe I didn't get him fat enough (though he was getting better and looked healthy) or maybe a crab or mantis predator. .

[Reefeross]

Maybe a mantis...If you heard a clicking there is probably a Pistol Shrimp in your tank, but those aren't aggresive towards fish to my knowledge.

Does anyone know if Frogspawns eat fish? I don't think they do, but mandarins are slow.

I don't know, maybe there just weren't enough pods, mandarins are eating machines. Sorry for your loss.

[stykthyn]

frogspawn dont eat fish, they are mostly filter feeders.mandarins are notorious for hiding out. I would give it another couple of days before I label him missing. on another note mandarins cannot survive long on prepped foods, since he was starved when you purchased him he may have succubmed to malnutrition.

[Sk8r]

What I have read about dragonettes in advanced stages of starvation (as yours was when you got him) is that the pinched belly doesn't show until he's nearly a goner---which indicates to me that he could have serious internal damage during that period. You did what you could for him, but it's also possible that he slowly succumbed to organ damage suffered before you ever got your hands on him.
On the other hand, they are fully capable of turning up after you're sure they're a casualty.

[Teremei]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7475186#post7475186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
What I have read about dragonettes in advanced stages of starvation (as yours was when you got him) is that the pinched belly doesn't show until he's nearly a goner---which indicates to me that he could have serious internal damage during that period. You did what you could for him, but it's also possible that he slowly succumbed to organ damage suffered before you ever got your hands on him.
On the other hand, they are fully capable of turning up after you're sure they're a casualty.

Yeah, that makes sense. And it's possible. Tell me more about these Mandarin's hiding out? I've had this guy for 8 months and I've never heard about Mandarin's going into extended hiding periods. Have you heard of this?

[Sk8r]

Depends on your rockwork. If they happen into a heavy concentration of pods somewhere behind the rocks, they can concentrate their hunting in a smallish area and just not show up for a while. Some people with complex rockwork have actually lost track of mandarins for extended periods. The one thing to beware of would be replacing him/her with a mandarin of the same gender. If the first is still surviving, you'll find him/her very fast, as the two go into combat mode. If you get another mandarin, pick the other gender. If the mandarin doesn't show up at that point, you might complete your pair if you can get another one that eats frozen food---or if you want to launch into the live pod supplements you can get online.

[Teremei]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7475375#post7475375 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Depends on your rockwork. If they happen into a heavy concentration of pods somewhere behind the rocks, they can concentrate their hunting in a smallish area and just not show up for a while. Some people with complex rockwork have actually lost track of mandarins for extended periods. The one thing to beware of would be replacing him/her with a mandarin of the same gender. If the first is still surviving, you'll find him/her very fast, as the two go into combat mode. If you get another mandarin, pick the other gender. If the mandarin doesn't show up at that point, you might complete your pair if you can get another one that eats frozen food---or if you want to launch into the live pod supplements you can get online.

I'm in no need for another mandarin right now. I'm not in fish buying mode. My 55 is perfectly full of fish for now. I have an empty (and expensive) 125 that I'm going to be upgrading into. When and if I finally get around to that and everything is fully moved in and maturing in the tank. I will think of getting another mandarin. . Thanks for the answer though.

[DrBDC]

Also, check the overflows and sump. They like to ride the water slide a lot. My male has been in my sump for about 6 months.

[Teremei]

No sump on this 55, thanks.