Help! My 7 year old Mandarin fins!

[Tuffloud1]

I noticed my Mandarin is not active.

His back fun is almost completely gone and other fins look bad.

This has happened before a few times and they grew back but he stayed active during the recovery.

He always would eat pellets if they fall to the sand bed but in his current condition he doesn’t react at all to the pellets.

Anything I can do? Is it some kind of fun rot?

I’ve never witnessed any of my other fish messing with him.


Livestock:

2 Blue Throat Triggers
Powder Blue Tang
Lieutenant Tang
Convict Tang
Purple Tang
Tomini Tang
One Spot Foxface
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Salon Fairy Wrasse
6 Azure Damsels
Flame Angel
2 Oscellaris Clowns

 

[Tired]

How sure are you on that age? He might just be old.

What size is the tank?

 

[Tuffloud1]

How sure are you on that age? He might just be old.

What size is the tank?

I know we got him 7 years ago. Not sure what his age was at that time but he was tiny when we got him.

265 gallon tank.

I just moved him to my frag tank incase one of the fish in my main display is nipping at him. The frag tank is plumbed into the same system. Only other fish in the frag tank is a Lawnmower Blenney.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

While it could be tankmate aggression, it does look infected now. 7 years is REALLY old for a mandarin, this may be age related. Moving it like you did is a good plan. You could also consider dosing with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic.
Jay

 

[Tuffloud1]

He passed. Pretty devastating. He’s been with us since I first got into saltwater.

He was our favorite fish.

 

[Tired]

Poor guy. If it's any consolation, it's likely that he just hit the end of his lifespan. Which means he had a long, healthy life in your tank, with lots of food and no predators. That's a good run for a fish.

 

[ScottB]

Sorry you lost him, but I am going to second the comment that 7 years is a good run for those fish.

 

[Paul B]

7 years is pretty good. I am not sure how long they live but I had two of them for about 10 years but I got them very young. Yours may have just died of old age as they may have been a few years old when you got him. Thats as good as it gets.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Thank you all for your condolences. It is sad and strange loosing a fish that we’ve had so long. Half of my daughters life!

You guys are right, he had a good run.

 

[Lswim]

Sorry you lost him, but I am going to second the comment that 7 years is a good run for those fish.

Yes, it's a good lifespan for mandarin but, I am pretty certain those 2 blue throat triggers have shortened it a little. They are notorious fin nippers. Witnessed it many times in the shop. Regards

 

[laverda]

When fish get very old they often look old,( Just like we do as we age) do their fins rotting, losing skin tone/color and turning gray. Since it was only the tail fin it may had been aggression. Other fish and even inverts sense when a fish, coral or invert is in declining health.