We got this beautiful Mandrin and he was fat and happy and now all the sudden he seems thin we have massive amounts of live rock and plenty of pods. Is he just getting old? we got a suggestion to try giving him so frozen food but it would be a bummer to loose this beautiful fish
Help! My mandrin just started getting thin
- Thread starter LynnMT
- Start date
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What size tank is it in? How long have you had the Mandarin? How long has the tank been established? What other inhabitants are in the tank? How are you sure you have "plenty of pods?"
The tank is 135 gallons we have had it for almost 3 years. We bought the mandrin fish about 1 year ago . I have a really big coral banded shrimp (which I am still not sure if he is a problem or not) We have a D. Sailfin tang, ,flame angel, Foxface, 2 tomato clowns and just bought a hawkfish
What kind of Hawkfish? It might be "bullying" the Mandarin, keeping it from eating. It also might be out competing it, for the Pod population. If the Mandarin "suddenly" became thin, shortly after introducing the Hawkfish, it'd be worth keeping a close eye on the two, observing them, to see if there's any problems.
If you have a refugium, this will help to increase your "pod" population, by giving the pods a protected place to reproduce, without predation. However, adding bottled pods, to an already stocked tank, may not be of much use. The pods will quickly be consumed. Create a few "Pod Piles." These are small piles of pieces of rubble rock, in which the pods can hide, live, reproduce, that fish can't get into.
The pods you want the most of are Copepods, which are very tiny. The pods you saw with your flashlight, are most likely Amphipods, which are also great. However, I think Mandarins will make more use of Copepods.
If you have a refugium, this will help to increase your "pod" population, by giving the pods a protected place to reproduce, without predation. However, adding bottled pods, to an already stocked tank, may not be of much use. The pods will quickly be consumed. Create a few "Pod Piles." These are small piles of pieces of rubble rock, in which the pods can hide, live, reproduce, that fish can't get into.
The pods you want the most of are Copepods, which are very tiny. The pods you saw with your flashlight, are most likely Amphipods, which are also great. However, I think Mandarins will make more use of Copepods.
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The longnose hawk would definitely be eating the pods your mandarin used to eat - they are likely competing for food, especially if your hawkfish isn't eating much prepared foods.....
Do you think I should add more tiga pods?
A better option would be to remove the Longnose Hawkfish.
Adding pods will not do much, as they'll be eaten faster than they reproduce.
Adding pods will not do much, as they'll be eaten faster than they reproduce.
Ughh we just bought him last night I feel like no matter how long I do this I always end up in a sand trap
FreakinReefin
Insert idiot comment
If he was getting thinner before you added the hawkfish then it would be prudent to think that this was a problem that was, at least, there before the hawkfish. Now you certainly could have made the recovery, if any, worse by adding the hawkfish, but I would think that removing the hawkfish is still not going to solve the problem if he wasn't the originating factor. Therefore removing the hawkfish is a bit of a nearsided conclusion. You might try feeding arcti-pods(sp) or some sort of smaller pod food to see if that helps. Hopefully your mandarin will pull through! I'm prayin for the best and I know how you feel! Those are beautiful fish and have always been among the most important fish to me in my tanks. I've definitely made revisions in my tanks to benefit my mandarins in their favor, even if it meant a slight disadvantage to other fish...
Your best bet would be to remove the hawkfish, and put the mandarin in a QT where you can teach it to eat frozen food. I had the same problem with a mandarin in my 125 after having it for about a year. I taught him to eat some frozen food, and now I make sure to send some food his way every day. Have had him almost 2.5 years now.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
try prawn roe....i havent seen a mandarin yet who wont eat it...
it's made by QM and available at some LFS's, barrier reef for one...
it's made by QM and available at some LFS's, barrier reef for one...
dragoneggs
Well-known member
Hope your mandarin keeps improving... I love success stories nursing fish back to health. I can't wait to get my new tank mature enough to put a mandarin in! Keep us posted.
