Mandarin Dragonet dying

[IE Reefer]

Hi everyone,
I had a previous thread about my other fish and what it went through here and it seems that whatever disease is coming back for round two since my Mandarin Dragonet is acting the same way as the Goby did. I tried moving him around but the fish wouldn't budge much since he's so weak from not eating for so long, I know there's nothing that I can do for the fish I'm just curious about what disease my tank inhabitants may have that could potentially wipe out the rest of the inhabitants.

Here's a quick video of the fish's current state:

 

[blaxsun]

This mandarin looks emaciated. If it’s a smaller tank chances are it hasn’t had enough pods and has simply been starving.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone,
I had a previous thread about my other fish and what it went through here and it seems that whatever disease is coming back for round two since my Mandarin Dragonet is acting the same way as the Goby did. I tried moving him around but the fish wouldn't budge much since he's so weak from not eating for so long, I know there's nothing that I can do for the fish I'm just curious about what disease my tank inhabitants may have that could potentially wipe out the rest of the inhabitants.

Here's a quick video of the fish's current state:

Sorry - as I mentioned in the other thread, this mandarin is starving, and there isn't anything you can do for them once they reach that point. They digest their liver for energy, and that causes irreversible liver failure.

It could have the same issue as the goby did on top of this, but the primary issue is starvation.


Jay

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dont know much about fish disease, but that fish is starved to death, the poor thing will pass soon.

 

[IE Reefer]

Sorry - as I mentioned in the other thread, this mandarin is starving, and there isn't anything you can do for them once they reach that point. They digest their liver for energy, and that causes irreversible liver failure.

It could have the same issue as the goby did on top of this, but the primary issue is starvation.


Jay

Ok, I understand that I accidentally starved both of those fish but the thing that I'm not getting is how they would starve even though there was plenty of food. I might have not put in as many pods as I should have but the goby was eating at a buffet but ended up dying before the Dragonet. Also, I have a close to 3" ORA Sunrise Dottyback and it only eats one piece of shrimp a day and is still living, what's up with that? I have one more question, could all of this stuff potentially kill the rest of my fish, or should I not worry about anything and start to feed them more throughout the day?

 

[Mushroomsyo]

Poor guy.

 

[Tonycass12]

Ok, I understand that I accidentally starved both of those fish but the thing that I'm not getting is how they would starve even though there was plenty of food. I might have not put in as many pods as I should have but the goby was eating at a buffet but ended up dying before the Dragonet. Also, I have a close to 3" ORA Sunrise Dottyback and it only eats one piece of shrimp a day and is still living, what's up with that? I have one more question, could all of this stuff potentially kill the rest of my fish, or should I not worry about anything and start to feed them more throughout the day?

What are you feeding them and how much is a good place to start before asking for opinions.

 

[IE Reefer]

What are you feeding them and how much is a good place to start before asking for opinions.

I feed them a US quarter-sized portion (reduced after goby passed) of Rod's fish food once a day around 9 -10 pm.

 

[Tonycass12]

I feed them a US quarter-sized portion (reduced after goby passed) of Rod's fish food once a day around 9 -10 pm.

Most of that food is going to be too large for a mandarin. Was he captive bread or wild caught. My mandarin won't touch frozen foods but will take extra small tdo pellets, hes captive bread and thats what they are fed while being raised.

 

[IE Reefer]

Most of that food is going to be too large for a mandarin. Was he captive bread or wild caught. My mandarin won't touch frozen foods but will take extra small tdo pellets, hes captive bread and thats what they are fed while being raised.

Whops, I forgot to add that the fish died last night and I found the body this morning, also like how Jay said there wasn’t anything I could do. Not sure if he was wild or captive, my LRS didn’t even know he had him in one of his tanks when I first got him.

 

[rmorris_14]

This thread makes me so sad and angry Poor mandarin. It seems like you didn't know how to properly care for it, regarding its dietary needs. So yes, there was something you could have done. You could have provided it with the correct dietary needs, before it starved to the point of liver damage.

 

[Tonycass12]

Whops, I forgot to add that the fish died last night and I found the body this morning, also like how Jay said there wasn’t anything I could do. Not sure if he was wild or captive, my LRS didn’t even know he had him in one of his tanks when I first got him.

If it was captive raised it would only be about the size of a pencil eraser. They are extremely small compared to wild caught. I would recommend looking at biota mandarins if you decide to give it another shot. Much hardier and they are already feeding on pellets so getting them to eat isint much of an issue.

 

[Mushroomsyo]

This thread makes me so sad and angry Poor mandarin. It seems like you didn't know how to properly care for it, regarding its dietary needs. So yes, there was something you could have done. You could have provided it with the correct dietary needs, before it starved to the point of liver damage.

I agree. You should have known the fishes dietary needs.

 

[Tonycass12]

This thread makes me so sad and angry Poor mandarin. It seems like you didn't know how to properly care for it, regarding its dietary needs. So yes, there was something you could have done. You could have provided it with the correct dietary needs, before it starved to the point of liver damage.

I agree. You should have known the fishes dietary needs.

Easy guys I think the OP has already realized the mistake and paid the price and they are taking the steps to learn from it by asking these questions. No need to go shaming for mistakes that many people make on their first go around.

 

[IE Reefer]

This thread makes me so sad and angry Poor mandarin. It seems like you didn't know how to properly care for it, regarding its dietary needs. So yes, there was something you could have done. You could have provided it with the correct dietary needs, before it starved to the point of liver damage.

I understand that I should have been more responsible and kept up with adding pods but I only just turned 18 and only been doing fish keeping for 2 years there are many things that I don’t know yet and (I’m not saying that fish need to die for me to learn) I’m still learning from the mistakes I’ve made. Plus theres only so much I can do for being as busy and/or not being home as I am.

 

[IE Reefer]

I agree. You should have known the fishes dietary needs.

I did know how to feed the fish, I spent months on end researching about mandos before I purchased the fish. Like I said previously, I only have so much time to spend with the tank.

 

[Crustaceon]

Generally, a mandarin is going to go for things pod-sized, preferably live. I've also seen them eat plenty of larger foods such as live amphipods and in my case, pretty much the largest frozen mysis you can find from flat packs (literally 1/4 the dragonet's body length). I emphasize this is not a sure-fire thing and it is best to start by seeding your tank with live pods or at least using a pipet to direct live brine at the fish. If you're consistent and lucky enough, the dragonet will associate the pipet with food and will sometimes begin to accept some frozen foods as mine typically do. But of course, it's always best to ensure you always have a food on hand that you know for a fact your mandarin will eat.

 

[IE Reefer]

Easy guys I think the OP has already realized the mistake and paid the price and they are taking the steps to learn from it by asking these questions. No need to go shaming for mistakes that many people make on their first go around.

Thank you for understanding, I’m still learning and I hope to educate myself further once I go to college and major in Marine Bio.

 

[IE Reefer]

Generally, a mandarin is going to go for things pod-sized, preferably live. I've also seen them eat plenty of larger foods such as live amphipods and in my case, pretty much the largest frozen mysis you can find from flat packs (literally 1/4 the dragonet's body length). I emphasize this is not a sure-fire thing and it is best to start by seeding your tank with live pods or at least using a pipet to direct live brine at the fish. If you're consistent and lucky enough, the dragonet will associate the pipet with food and will sometimes begin to accept some frozen foods as mine typically do. But of course, it's always best to ensure you always have a food on hand that you know for a fact your mandarin will eat.

What I’m planning on doing is dosing my tank of pods every week after my water changes to overpopulate my tank of them so that once I do decide to take on a Captive bread Mando (this time) I will know that there is plenty of food for him and I can reassure myself by feeding him mysis or pellets.

 

[Jekyl]

What I’m planning on doing is dosing my tank of pods every week after my water changes to overpopulate my tank of them so that once I do decide to take on a Captive bread Mando (this time) I will know that there is plenty of food for him and I can reassure myself by feeding him mysis or pellets.

The population of pods will max out to the amount of food available. You won't be able to just have more than the tank can sustain. You'll either have to buy them regularly, get a bigger tank, or keep fish that are recommended for your tank size.