Another is my Mandarin skinny post.

[EvolvedMonkey]

Is this Mandarin in trouble or just fine?

All of the other fish in the tank look fat and healthy, there is no stringy poop to be found.

There are many, many pods in the tank and the Mandy eats all day. She also scarfs down frozen brine shrimp.

Is metroplex/focus an option?

Thanks Reef2reef

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is this Mandarin in trouble or just fine?

All of the other fish in the tank look fat and healthy, there is no stringy poop to be found.

There are many, many pods in the tank and the Mandy eats all day. She also scarfs down frozen brine shrimp.

Is metroplex/focus an option?

Thanks Reef2reef

The video is extremely dark to clearly see but the mandarin is active and eating and thats good but appears slightly skinny. Refrain from metro/focus as metro is to be used when absolutely needed and applied precisely by weight and it can make food taste bitter to some fish.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

The video is extremely dark to clearly see but the mandarin is active and eating and thats good but appears slightly skinny. Refrain from metro/focus as metro is to be used when absolutely needed and applied precisely by weight and it can make food taste bitter to some fish.

Thanks as always vetteguy.

Since she’s happy to eat brine shrimp, should I just feed her multiple times a day?

She’s been in the tank for about 4 months, so I don’t think she’s going to get any fatter without some sort of intervention.

Should I take another video in white light?

 

[OrionN]

I think the Mandarin is emaciated.
If she eats frozen food, get her to a small tank and medicated her with med laced food.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks as always vetteguy.

Since she’s happy to eat brine shrimp, should I just feed her multiple times a day?

She’s been in the tank for about 4 months, so I don’t think she’s going to get any fatter without some sort of intervention.

Should I take another video in white light?

Brine- great. Soak in Selcon vitamins and add pods as they need to eat throughout the day. Another video under white light will help see the body mass clearer

 

[Jmp998]

You can see her spine. She is not thin, she is emaciated. If she is eating that much maybe it is internal parasites or other digestive issue as you suggest.

 

[Idech]

I see her very thin as well. No meat on the poor thing.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Eating brine is a positive. You’re obviously turning off your pumps during feeding to achieve this. My fish love these Canadian freshwater mysis! I get them here at my lfs in Az. They are smaller and less course than Krill but larger (5x) than brine. You might find that they’re a good solution. Good luck.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

You can see her spine. She is not thin, she is emaciated. If she is eating that much maybe it is internal parasites or other digestive issue as you suggest.

This is my best guess as well. She eats all day, and eats 10 decent sized brine shrimp once a day.

What's your suggestion to treat her parasites, if that's the case?

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Brine- great. Soak in Selcon vitamins and add pods as they need to eat throughout the day. Another video under white light will help see the body mass clearer

I'll take another video tomorrow when the lights are back on.

I'll buy some selcon vitamins..

As I said, there are an abundance of pods. She eats one every 10 seconds or so, 12 hours a day. So something else must be going on.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Eating brine is a positive. You’re obviously turning off your pumps during feeding to achieve this. My fish love these Canadian freshwater mysis! I get them here at my lfs in Az. They are smaller and less course than Krill but larger (5x) than brine. You might find that they’re a good solution. Good luck.

Yup, I turn off the pumps and flow.. SHe follows one shrimp for about 15 seconds before finally chomping it; meanwhile the tank has eaten 10 shrimp in the same time.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Yup, I turn off the pumps and flow.. SHe follows one shrimp for about 15 seconds before finally chomping it; meanwhile the tank has eaten 10 shrimp in the same time.

Yup, there’s the answer. Feeding brine to young fry bulk them up quickly. But adult fish don’t benefit nutritionally. Your mandarin will just starve. Have you tried spot feeding? When your Mandarin is at the far end of the tank. Feed your fish at the other end. Then with a turkey baster quickly feed your Mandarin, making sure she get 20/30 pieces.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Yup, there’s the answer. Feeding brine to young fry bulk them up quickly. But adult fish don’t benefit nutritionally. Your mandarin will just starve. Have you tried spot feeding? When your Mandarin is at the far end of the tank. Feed your fish at the other end. Then with a turkey baster quickly feed your Mandarin, making sure she get 20/30 pieces.

That's pretty much what I do.. I dump all the food far away to distract all the other fish, then I feed her with a turkey baster as much as she'll eat.. You're telling me 5-10 brine shrimp a day + endless copepods still isn't enough to keep her fed? I just need to keep feeding her?

 

[Glenner’sreef]

So definitely not 5-10 brine shrimp a day will sustain very many adult marine fish. And your somewhat visibly undernourished mandarin is proof that she’s not getting the estimated 500-1000 pods a day that it needs to survive. I’m sure you’ve come out at night and with a flash light scanned your live rock. Pods everywhere! That phenomenon does not occur during the day when mandarin is searching for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As in your video when your mandarin picked at something on the rock, that may have been a very small pod or micro fauna that is very tiny or a juvenile. Cause and effect is a real thing. If your mandarin is losing weight then you need to bump up one or both of these feeding methods.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

So definitely not 5-10 brine shrimp a day will sustain very many adult marine fish. And your somewhat visibly undernourished mandarin is proof that she’s not getting the estimated 500-1000 pods a day that it needs to survive. I’m sure you’ve come out at night and with a flash light scanned your live rock. Pods everywhere! That phenomenon does not occur during the day when mandarin is searching for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As in your video when your mandarin picked at something on the rock, that may have been a very small pod or micro fauna that is very tiny or a juvenile. Cause and effect is a real thing. If your mandarin is losing weight then you need to bump up one or both of these feeding methods.

Got ya! I appreciate the help and advice.

You don’t suspect parasites/worms simply because it’s not the most likely cause of malnourishment?

I’m also leaning towards thinking you’re correct as I’ve seen no stringy poop, and all of the other fish look fat and healthy.

I just thought if I saw 1000s of pods at night, then of course she was finding plenty of food in my 165g. I guess that’s not the case.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Parasites or worms not so much. Mandarins are pretty much bulletproof. The ich parasites normally have little to no effect on mandarins. As far as stringy poop, thats a rare occurrence. Clownfish once a year maybe. Freshwater fish all the time. But marine fish any visible poop just doesn’t exist.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

In that 1:32 length video, I saw it eat only one pod, its just cruising over the rocks looking but not picking. It has wiped out the pods in your tank, and now visibly skinny.

 

[OrionN]

In that 1:32 length video, I saw it eat only one pod, its just cruising over the rocks looking but not picking. It has wiped out the pods in your tank, and now visibly skinny.

^^^This is true. I review the whole segment also and see that he pecks only once. The fauna is wipe out in that tank. You need to get him ore food. My Mandarin pecks every 10 seconds or so. Mine also eats pellets that I feed other fish. Aggressively seek pellets to eat when I drop pellets into the tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This is my best guess as well. She eats all day, and eats 10 decent sized brine shrimp once a day.

What's your suggestion to treat her parasites, if that's the case?

You should feed multiple times per day. These fish browse all the time and need many small meals. It may be hunting pods, but I wonder how many it is actually finding? I once had a large male mandarin eat all of the existing pods in a 900 gallon tank.

It is unlikely to be a parasite issue. Besides, internal fish parasites don't want to kill their host because they then would die. In the wild, the fish can balance their food intake to offset the energy taken by the parasite. There are some internal protozoans that are different, but with those, the fish generally stops eating. There are some rare "food absorption" issues where a fish eats, but can't digest the food properly. I don't think that is the case here though.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Parasites or worms not so much. Mandarins are pretty much bulletproof. The ich parasites normally have little to no effect on mandarins. They’ve got smoother bodies than most scale type fish. As far as stringy poop, thats a rare occurrence in marine fish. Clownfish once in a while you might see a stringy poop Freshwater fish all the time. But marine fish any visible poop just doesn’t exist. Tangs are the most visible poopers but they just shoot it out.