Mandarin died
- Thread starter JFleur
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LIreefguy
Valuable Member
my parameters are all good isnt really enough information.
the 3 major reason why a mandarin dies is disease, human cause , or starvation.
it could of been sick, your tank might not of been ready(only fish in tank tells me tank is new) or it could of been slowely staring to death at your lfs before you got it
either way imo mandy should never be first fish in your tank, unless its the only fish in your tank
the 3 major reason why a mandarin dies is disease, human cause , or starvation.
it could of been sick, your tank might not of been ready(only fish in tank tells me tank is new) or it could of been slowely staring to death at your lfs before you got it
either way imo mandy should never be first fish in your tank, unless its the only fish in your tank
I had 2 clowns in there for a few months that did just fine. I sold them because the female was extremely aggressive and would attack anytime I had to put my hand in the tank. The tank is about 4-5 months old with plenty of pods in there. Parameters are alk is at 11dk, nitrate/nitrite both 0, ph is 8.3 and salinity is at 1.025
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4-5 months is still fairly new for a dragonette. Plenty of pods to your eye does not mean a sustainable population for a Mandarin.
What size is the tank? What steps have you taken to mitigate disease? What is the ammonia, and temperature? Is the light schedule vastly different from the store you bought it from? Whats your feeding regimen? Are the parameters that you say stable or just todays reading, if you think they are stable how often have you tested? Do you have a hard glass top? How long was the fish in the store prior to coming home with you? Was there anything unusual in transit, drop the bag, high or low temperature, long transit or acclimation time? Have you observed any abnormal behavior? Was there any white spots, black spots, red areas, hazy areas, open wounds, torn fins? Were fish on the same system from the store showing signs of illness?
What size is the tank? What steps have you taken to mitigate disease? What is the ammonia, and temperature? Is the light schedule vastly different from the store you bought it from? Whats your feeding regimen? Are the parameters that you say stable or just todays reading, if you think they are stable how often have you tested? Do you have a hard glass top? How long was the fish in the store prior to coming home with you? Was there anything unusual in transit, drop the bag, high or low temperature, long transit or acclimation time? Have you observed any abnormal behavior? Was there any white spots, black spots, red areas, hazy areas, open wounds, torn fins? Were fish on the same system from the store showing signs of illness?
Wow, lots o questions... lets see if i can answer them all...32g, i have a qt tank but the place i buy the fish from already qt fish before selling them, ammonia is 0, temp 78 may fluctuate a half a degree either way, light schedule is almost identical to store even down to the same light system, i put an 8oz bag of pods in tank and i already have all my glass covered with pods to the point my tank looks cloudy theres so many, i test water weekly with same exact results, no lid of any kind, idk how long they had the fish, but they do qt them so in going to say at least 4 weeks, transit was fine, in bag upright in a bucket for stability, temp then drip acclimated, no spots, damaged fins or red puffy anything. It mostly hid the first day and a half and the day before it died it was really active and looked to be just fine.
Paul Sands
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Mandarin in a 32 gallon tank would require supplemental feedings 2 - 3 times daily. You didn’t kill this one, the supply chain before you got him did, but you’ll have a lot of work keeping one alive in a small tank.
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
I'm looking at the position of that fish. Is it just an illusion or is it stuck upright with it's tail down in the sand? That's a big clue there if so. Fish don't stand on their tails. What are the chances something in the sand grabbed it and pulled it down?
Also - don't have a mandarin in that little tank.
Clowns are often, I'd say usually, aggressive like that. The solution isn't to sell them, it's to not put your bare hands in the tank.
Also - don't have a mandarin in that little tank.
Clowns are often, I'd say usually, aggressive like that. The solution isn't to sell them, it's to not put your bare hands in the tank.
The 0 nitrate is kind of a flag to me. The picture has some diatom and substrate algae growing and looks like you have some sort of macro algae as well. If that is macro algae and it went into its sexual mode due to lack of nutrients or food (nitrates), they start producing carbon dioxide during the night cycle which can kill fish.
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
What snails do you have in the tank? Something had to drag it into the sand, but i'm not aware of any cleanup crew that would drag a fish under after it was dead. It's possible you have something living in there that you aren't aware of.
Ok, so what im getting from this and other sites im reading is basically... no fish in a tank smaller than 100g... or i get extremely tiny fish that ill never enjoy because they will be hiding.... am i on track here?
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
There's tons of fish you can put in a 32, just research them first. Many wrasses, gobies, blennies, clowns, anthias. Tons of them. Check liveaquaria.com they even have a fish selection tool based on tank size if you need a starting point.
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I have 2 turbo snails, a handfull of snails that have like a crome point on their shell, 2 snails that look like torpedoes and bury themselves in the sand.. plus a bunch of different hermits, 2 peppermint shrimp and 1 fire shrimp
TTNuge
Active Member
Not at all. But a Mandarin is a grazer that feeds all day long and can clean out all the pods in a 100g tank if it's not mature enough. Having "a lot" of pods in a 32g is not and probably would never be enough for a Mandarin even if it was a very old/mature tank without supplementing them.
There are plenty of other options, but the Mandarin wasn't a great one.
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
Google 'cone snail' and check out the pictures. Do you have any that look like that?
