Mandarin Healthy?

[miko chang]

Does my mandarin look Plump and happy?

 

[ichthyogeek]

I can't really tell. The pectoral fins are obscuring the stomach area. From the lateral line, it doesn't look like it's so far gone that it will die...but without pictures of the stomach area, I can't tell how healthy/far gone the fish is.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

I can't really tell. The pectoral fins are obscuring the stomach area. From the lateral line, it doesn't look like it's so far gone that it will die...but without pictures of the stomach area, I can't tell how healthy/far gone the fish is.

I second this

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Here is a better picture of her. She went through this odd white spot and left a smudge on her lines, but here she is. She did have a line running through the middle of her body recently and is currently fattening up again, but here she is sunbathing!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Here is a better picture of her. She went through this odd white spot and left a smudge on her lines, but here she is. She did have a line running through the middle of her body recently and is currently fattening up again, but here she is sunbathing!

she looks sooo nice !! stunning colors, hope mine looks like this when shes grown

 

[Anak’s Reef]

she looks sooo nice !! stunning colors, hope mine looks like this when shes grown

Did you get the mandarin? I’m glad! Thank you! She’s been doing awesome! I even caught her eating some mysis shrimp. !!!!!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Did you get the mandarin? I’m glad! Thank you! She’s been doing awesome! I even caught her eating some mysis shrimp. !!!!!

Yeah I bought ORA Blue, shes super tiny, but she eats frozen so im happy, i have her on like 40% pods 60% frozen.

 

[Starlight2017]

Hi, the way I noticed when my green mandarin was losing weight was when I first saw the stomach area underneath the bottom fins they use to “walk” with, begin to sink in a little. The next thing I saw is a line appearing on each of the sides of the mandarin (what I might consider to be their rib cage). To fatten it up again, I had to feed it lots of Tig Copepods which tend to be much larger than other kinds of copepods (such as Tisbe) and are also high in fat. I currently have mine in quarantine while my tank is doing a 76 day fallow period (fishless) to rid the tank of any diseases or parasites. I have spent almost $1500 in the last 2 months so far trying to keep up with this mandarin’s eating habits while in quarantine (which has been very very tideous!) Good thing I am working from home because I can peek at the tank and pour more pods in the tank! I have been using a fine mesh strainer for coffee to catch the larger pods to avoid pouring constant saltwater into the tank and then pouring the sifted water and smaller pods which have slipped through the fine mesh strainer back into my pods container.
I would love to teach my mandarin to try to eat frozen foods! Any advice on how I can try this while it’s still in quarantine for 2-3 more weeks before going back to my main tank?

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Wow that’s a lot! I’m glad you are putting effort into keeping your mandarin! It’s easier if your mandarin is alone in QT, in my main tank, I caught my mandarin eating some mysis on her own. In QT, you can just drop some mysis or whatever you want to feed on the floor. Since there’s no sand or anything, a couple days and your mandarin might pick at it and have a taste. Hope all goes well with your mandarin! Get her some pods in the QT too if she’s skinny. Remember, You can’t force her to eat it, just try and entice her too.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Hi, the way I noticed when my green mandarin was losing weight was when I first saw the stomach area underneath the bottom fins they use to “walk” with, begin to sink in a little. The next thing I saw is a line appearing on each of the sides of the mandarin (what I might consider to be their rib cage). To fatten it up again, I had to feed it lots of Tig Copepods which tend to be much larger than other kinds of copepods (such as Tisbe) and are also high in fat. I currently have mine in quarantine while my tank is doing a 76 day fallow period (fishless) to rid the tank of any diseases or parasites. I have spent almost $1500 in the last 2 months so far trying to keep up with this mandarin’s eating habits while in quarantine (which has been very very tideous!) Good thing I am working from home because I can peek at the tank and pour more pods in the tank! I have been using a fine mesh strainer for coffee to catch the larger pods to avoid pouring constant saltwater into the tank and then pouring the sifted water and smaller pods which have slipped through the fine mesh strainer back into my pods container.
I would love to teach my mandarin to try to eat frozen foods! Any advice on how I can try this while it’s still in quarantine for 2-3 more weeks before going back to my main tank?

You should use a coffee filter to sieve the pods! It works really well for me! I looked multiple times and not a single pod was left in the water after I used the doubled coffee filters. One worked well, but on the second layer, I found a couple so two layers would do really well! Coffee filters are super cheap too!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Wow that’s a lot! I’m glad you are putting effort into keeping your mandarin! It’s easier if your mandarin is alone in QT, in my main tank, I caught my mandarin eating some mysis on her own. In QT, you can just drop some mysis or whatever you want to feed on the floor. Since there’s no sand or anything, a couple days and your mandarin might pick at it and have a taste. Hope all goes well with your mandarin! Get her some pods in the QT too if she’s skinny. Remember, You can’t force her to eat it, just try and entice her too.

Yeah shes eating frozen foods, but i became afraid she wasnt eating enough in the little box so I put her into the DT. Its been like 2 days, and she kinda just seems to sit around in the sandbed...

 

[afboundguy]

@Mandarinfish20 how old is she/he? She looks a little skinny to be honest but she/he also looks

Does my mandarin look Plump and happy?

@miko chang agreed it is sort of hard to see but she doesn't look skinny enough that I would be worried about her passing. Could you tell us a little bit more about your tank set up? Size, age etc?

Hi, the way I noticed when my green mandarin was losing weight was when I first saw the stomach area underneath the bottom fins they use to “walk” with, begin to sink in a little. The next thing I saw is a line appearing on each of the sides of the mandarin (what I might consider to be their rib cage). To fatten it up again, I had to feed it lots of Tig Copepods which tend to be much larger than other kinds of copepods (such as Tisbe) and are also high in fat. I currently have mine in quarantine while my tank is doing a 76 day fallow period (fishless) to rid the tank of any diseases or parasites. I have spent almost $1500 in the last 2 months so far trying to keep up with this mandarin’s eating habits while in quarantine (which has been very very tideous!) Good thing I am working from home because I can peek at the tank and pour more pods in the tank! I have been using a fine mesh strainer for coffee to catch the larger pods to avoid pouring constant saltwater into the tank and then pouring the sifted water and smaller pods which have slipped through the fine mesh strainer back into my pods container.
I would love to teach my mandarin to try to eat frozen foods! Any advice on how I can try this while it’s still in quarantine for 2-3 more weeks before going back to my main tank?

Wow that’s a lot! I’m glad you are putting effort into keeping your mandarin! It’s easier if your mandarin is alone in QT, in my main tank, I caught my mandarin eating some mysis on her own. In QT, you can just drop some mysis or whatever you want to feed on the floor. Since there’s no sand or anything, a couple days and your mandarin might pick at it and have a taste. Hope all goes well with your mandarin! Get her some pods in the QT too if she’s skinny. Remember, You can’t force her to eat it, just try and entice her too.

First off this is just my opinion but I don't think QT'ing is worth it for mandarins. For starters they don't and can't get ich due to their slime coat and mandarins need a constant supply of food (pods) which usually require a mature and established tank which a QT tank is not.

For anyone having trouble with a skinny emancipated mandarin I would suggest setting up a spot feeder like this one (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thanks-paulb-mandarin-feeder.263752/) and feeding the feeder with freshly hatched baby brine shrimp which are super nutritious when they are first hatched and can help fatten up a mandarin. I fill mine up 1-2 times a day, have a phyto and pod culture going to keep my little girl fat an healthy in what is typically considered too small of a tank to have a mandarin (25 cube plus 3 gallon HOB fuge). I am always seeing pods on my glass when I clean it every few days so I know the tank has enough pods due to all my hard work and it's great to see her growing from the little 3/4" pipsqueek she used to be to the almost 3" chubster she is today!!!