how long should I be worried???

[the Art Mill studio]

ok I am so upset and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!! My tank is about 10 Months old and the only fish I have are 2 Mandarin Dragonets the male I have had for about 8 months, bought as a tiny aqua-cultured baby & got my female from the same place about a month ago. Both of them are happy & growing I have an area where I grow my own copepods & phyto and I also supplement feed live baby brine every-night. But 6 days ago I apparently did a really stupid thing!!! I bought a lawnmower blenny at a LFS that I have never bought livestock from, the first day he seemed a little stressed but was swimming around & even seemed to enjoy the evening brine feast. But the very next day he became very lethargic, stopped eating, & seemed to be breathing very heavy... today I found him dead! Im so mad at myself for putting him directly in the tank with my sweet & expensive mandarins!!! I looked at the fish and don't see any signs of ich but it is hard to tell because that fish is basically white & brown speckles, the mandarins seem to be their usual selves rock hopping and hunting for pods... but I am really worried that this fish had some disease that will be transferred to my mandarins!!! how long do I need to be worried??? & do I need to do anything special to the tank/water for prevention??? sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any advise y'all can provide.

 

[sfin52]

I wouldn't stress too much at least not yet

 

[T-J]

From what I've read, Mandarins are pretty hardy when it comes to certain diseases. Hopefully you won't have any issues. Keep them fat, which will help them even more.

 

[vetteguy53081]

ok I am so upset and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!! My tank is about 10 Months old and the only fish I have are 2 Mandarin Dragonets the male I have had for about 8 months, bought as a tiny aqua-cultured baby & got my female from the same place about a month ago. Both of them are happy & growing I have an area where I grow my own copepods & phyto and I also supplement feed live baby brine every-night. But 6 days ago I apparently did a really stupid thing!!! I bought a lawnmower blenny at a LFS that I have never bought livestock from, the first day he seemed a little stressed but was swimming around & even seemed to enjoy the evening brine feast. But the very next day he became very lethargic, stopped eating, & seemed to be breathing very heavy... today I found him dead! Im so mad at myself for putting him directly in the tank with my sweet & expensive mandarins!!! I looked at the fish and don't see any signs of ich but it is hard to tell because that fish is basically white & brown speckles, the mandarins seem to be their usual selves rock hopping and hunting for pods... but I am really worried that this fish had some disease that will be transferred to my mandarins!!! how long do I need to be worried??? & do I need to do anything special to the tank/water for prevention??? sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any advise y'all can provide.

How did you acclimate/introduce the fish.
For the little time it appears fish was in tank, risk is low but not ruled out, reason for quarantining. At this point, keep an eye open for any changes in behavior or appearance

 

[gbroadbridge]

H

ok I am so upset and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!! My tank is about 10 Months old and the only fish I have are 2 Mandarin Dragonets the male I have had for about 8 months, bought as a tiny aqua-cultured baby & got my female from the same place about a month ago. Both of them are happy & growing I have an area where I grow my own copepods & phyto and I also supplement feed live baby brine every-night. But 6 days ago I apparently did a really stupid thing!!! I bought a lawnmower blenny at a LFS that I have never bought livestock from, the first day he seemed a little stressed but was swimming around & even seemed to enjoy the evening brine feast. But the very next day he became very lethargic, stopped eating, & seemed to be breathing very heavy... today I found him dead! Im so mad at myself for putting him directly in the tank with my sweet & expensive mandarins!!! I looked at the fish and don't see any signs of ich but it is hard to tell because that fish is basically white & brown speckles, the mandarins seem to be their usual selves rock hopping and hunting for pods... but I am really worried that this fish had some disease that will be transferred to my mandarins!!! how long do I need to be worried??? & do I need to do anything special to the tank/water for prevention??? sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any advise y'all can provide.

How did you acclimate the blenny?

Typically they do not get ich, and your other fish seem okay.

 

[MnFish1]

ok I am so upset and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!! My tank is about 10 Months old and the only fish I have are 2 Mandarin Dragonets the male I have had for about 8 months, bought as a tiny aqua-cultured baby & got my female from the same place about a month ago. Both of them are happy & growing I have an area where I grow my own copepods & phyto and I also supplement feed live baby brine every-night. But 6 days ago I apparently did a really stupid thing!!! I bought a lawnmower blenny at a LFS that I have never bought livestock from, the first day he seemed a little stressed but was swimming around & even seemed to enjoy the evening brine feast. But the very next day he became very lethargic, stopped eating, & seemed to be breathing very heavy... today I found him dead! Im so mad at myself for putting him directly in the tank with my sweet & expensive mandarins!!! I looked at the fish and don't see any signs of ich but it is hard to tell because that fish is basically white & brown speckles, the mandarins seem to be their usual selves rock hopping and hunting for pods... but I am really worried that this fish had some disease that will be transferred to my mandarins!!! how long do I need to be worried??? & do I need to do anything special to the tank/water for prevention??? sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any advise y'all can provide.

IMHO - close observation. New fish can die from a number of things. You should not add anything else new to the tank (how big)? IIMHO_ unless you want to remove the mandarins and treat them for a mystery illness - there is not much to do - unless you have a picture o the blend.

 

[the Art Mill studio]

How did you acclimate/introduce the fish.
For the little time it appears fish was in tank, risk is low but not ruled out, reason for quarantining. At this point, keep an eye open for any changes in behavior or appearance

did the usual slow drip acclimation... I totally knew better as far as quarantining goes but just got ahead of myself, the tank the mandarins are in currently is my "experiment / quarantine tank" but the display tank they will eventually live in isn't up & running quite yet... like I said I got a little impatient & that blenny was kinda cute, hopefully I didn't totally screw myself & my sweet mandarins

 

[the Art Mill studio]

H

How did you acclimate the blenny?

Typically they do not get ich, and your other fish seem okay.

did the usual slow drip acclimation...

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

ok I am so upset and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!! My tank is about 10 Months old and the only fish I have are 2 Mandarin Dragonets the male I have had for about 8 months, bought as a tiny aqua-cultured baby & got my female from the same place about a month ago. Both of them are happy & growing I have an area where I grow my own copepods & phyto and I also supplement feed live baby brine every-night. But 6 days ago I apparently did a really stupid thing!!! I bought a lawnmower blenny at a LFS that I have never bought livestock from, the first day he seemed a little stressed but was swimming around & even seemed to enjoy the evening brine feast. But the very next day he became very lethargic, stopped eating, & seemed to be breathing very heavy... today I found him dead! Im so mad at myself for putting him directly in the tank with my sweet & expensive mandarins!!! I looked at the fish and don't see any signs of ich but it is hard to tell because that fish is basically white & brown speckles, the mandarins seem to be their usual selves rock hopping and hunting for pods... but I am really worried that this fish had some disease that will be transferred to my mandarins!!! how long do I need to be worried??? & do I need to do anything special to the tank/water for prevention??? sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any advise y'all can provide.

Well, it probably wasn't ich on the lawnmower (that wouldn't have killed it so quickly, and you probably would have seen spots). It could have been velvet (Amyloodinium) as that causes rapid breathing and sudden death, but really, lawmowers are prone to not doing well for a variety of reasons, I guess I wouldn't be hugely concerned, but watch the mandarins for rapid breathing or lack of appetite.

Jay

 

[the Art Mill studio]

Well, it probably wasn't ich on the lawnmower (that wouldn't have killed it so quickly, and you probably would have seen spots). It could have been velvet (Amyloodinium) as that causes rapid breathing and sudden death, but really, lawmowers are prone to not doing well for a variety of reasons, I guess I wouldn't be hugely concerned, but watch the mandarins for rapid breathing or lack of appetite.

Jay

thanks Jay if it was velvet what is the "incubation period" how long do I need to be worried that the mandarins won't get sick?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

thanks Jay if it was velvet what is the "incubation period" how long do I need to be worried that the mandarins won't get sick?

That isn't well known for velvet. Two weeks has been proposed by Ed Noga in his book.

Jay

 

[the Art Mill studio]

That isn't well known for velvet. Two weeks has been proposed by Ed Noga in his book.

Jay

thank you for all your help