Mandarin using deep breathing

[kenziejlooft]

My Mandy has been in the tank a couple of days I have noticed that she is using deep hill movements staying in the same place the tank is a couple of months old supplied with copods two months ago without fish the tank is 32g
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 1-2
Ph 8.2
Sg 1.26 was 1.30
Lowered salinity just about 10 min ago

 

[Tired]

That salinity was too high, lowered too fast. Was she breathing too fast before you lowered it?

What's her body condition like? A mandarin can eat a bottle of pods in a week or less, and the tank looks too new to have many pods available of its own accord.

 

[kenziejlooft]

She was breathing like that before I lowered it she looks fine it’s just her breathing there was a lot in there when I first put her in there I guess I will have to get slot more

 

[Tired]

You're going to need an incredible amount of pods to keep a mandarin happy off of just bottled stuff. Better start trying to get her to eat frozen food, and expect to feed her multiple times a day to keep her fat and happy. Or get multiple copepod cultures going. Or both.

 

[kenziejlooft]

How do you train them to eat frozen

 

[kenziejlooft]

I will do both

 

[vetteguy53081]

With the water that cloudy- you have zero ammonia and nitrate ? Are you by chance using API test kits ?
Nitrate slightly high and a fast drop in salinity raises question. Are you able to increase oxygen even with an air stone?
I'd rule out ich as mandarins have a special slime coat that prevents in from getting ich. Flukes they can get but without pics, hard to say.
Heavy breathing with a mandarin many times associated with high salinity And I wonder if you are getting false reading(s) ? Id take a sample to LFS and have them test salinity-ph-ammonia-nitrate.

 

[William Mumford]

Freshly hatched brine shrimp are okay to supplement the diet.

I like using a feeder so that they arnt every where in the tank.

 

[kenziejlooft]

With the water that cloudy- you have zero ammonia and nitrate ? Are you by chance using API test kits ?
Nitrate slightly high and a fast drop in salinity raises question. Are you able to increase oxygen even with an air stone?
I'd rule out ich as mandarins have a special slime coat that prevents in from getting ich. Flukes they can get but without pics, hard to say.
Heavy breathing with a mandarin many times associated with high salinity And I wonder if you are getting false reading(s) ? Id take a sample to LFS and have them test salinity-ph-ammonia-nitrate.

The water became cloudy because I did a large water change a couple of weeks ago and sand went everywhere and ever since then the water has been cloudy I have salifert and Red Sea test kit I will use those to see if it shows up anything I used api to quick check she seemed fine when I first put her in she just stayed in the same spot I have been watching her closely today when I checked in her she was breathing heavy so I did a water change and changed salinity

 

[vetteguy53081]

The water became cloudy because I did a large water change a couple of weeks ago and sand went everywhere and ever since then the water has been cloudy I have salifert and Red Sea test kit I will use those to see if it shows up anything I used api to quick check she seemed fine when I first put her in she just stayed in the same spot I have been watching her closely today when I checked in her she was breathing heavy so I did a water change and changed salinity

2 weeks? In 2 days it should have cleared up. What method of filtration are you using? I would add chemipure blue which will keep levels in check and polish you water clarity. This bloom is not normal for that long period

 

[kenziejlooft]

2 weeks? In 2 days it should have cleared up. What method of filtration are you using? I would add chemipure blue which will keep levels in check and polish you water clarity. This bloom is not normal for that long period

Could I use pristine by sea hem that’s all I have and I know I didn’t think so either I am just using what it comes with it’s a bio cube

 

[vetteguy53081]

Could I use pristine by sea hem that’s all I have and I know I didn’t think so either I am just using what it comes with it’s a bio cube

You mean prime by seachem?
It will help somewhat

 

[kenziejlooft]

You mean prime by seachem?
It will help somewhat

No I use that i mean this

 

[vetteguy53081]

It wont do much. It is intended to reduce organic waste which the filter should be doing.

 

[Tired]

All that's going to do is get rid of stuff that the pods can eat to multiply with.

 

[kenziejlooft]

I just checked on her she’s still breathing kinda heavy I will have to get chemiblue today

 

[josvanmeer]

You should have started training her on pellets and frozen food on the first day you got her. A 30 gallon is not enough without supplemental feedings. This is a prime example of buying something you shouldnt have.

This is what you need to do starting today:
Feed/train twice a day using a coralfeeder or turkeybaster. Use pellets that sink, like hikari marine s and are small enough for her mouth. You can also use frozen brine shrimp. Turn thr flow off in thr entire tank. Use the coralfeeder to put pellets or frozen near her. Wait 10mins and watch. If she doesnt grab anything, dont get discouraged, mine took two weeks to start eating something besides pods. This is also why you shouldve started training right away. At this point it might be too late, but that doesnt mean you shouldnt try.

Also get an autotop off system with rodi water to keep your salinity in check. Your filtration needs to be looked at as well; water should not be cloudy for that long.

 

[kenziejlooft]

You should have started training her on pellets and frozen food on the first day you got her. A 30 gallon is not enough without supplemental feedings. This is a prime example of buying something you shouldnt have.

This is what you need to do starting today:
Feed/train twice a day using a coralfeeder or turkeybaster. Use pellets that sink, like hikari marine s and are small enough for her mouth. You can also use frozen brine shrimp. Turn thr flow off in thr entire tank. Use the coralfeeder to put pellets or frozen near her. Wait 10mins and watch. If she doesnt grab anything, dont get discouraged, mine took two weeks to start eating something besides pods. This is also why you shouldve started training right away. At this point it might be too late, but that doesnt mean you shouldnt try.

Also get an autotop off system with rodi water to keep your salinity in check. Your filtration needs to be looked at as well; water should not be cloudy for that long.

She was in a 55g at first then I had given her to Lfs to watch her because I got her online and live aquaria said minimum 30 g tank but anyway I had to put her in 30g because I have velvet in my 55g so I am doing this for her Safety but I will start training her cause I tried to give her frozen but she didn’t eat it

 

[sam2110]

Sounds like a purchase with out much thought and research, I would love a manderin but even my system at 1 year old still doesn't have the diversity to house one.

My nano tank clears about 30-40 minutes after I clean the sand, 2 weeks would suggest something else.

Check temperature as high temp water cannot carry as much oxygen, also check your PH again if lower PH less oxygen. and find a LFS really close to your house so you can buy live copepods evey couple of days! Even better take it back and wait for your tank to mature before you buy another.

And as for the API test kit, best advice bin it.

 

[Tired]

A 30 gal tank is large enough for a mandarin to have room to swim, but not large enough to grow enough pods for them to eat. Adult mandarins eat hundreds of pods in a day. If fed prepared foods, they have to be fed multiple times a day, and should still have a heavy supply of pods. They're meant to eat almost constantly, so their digestive system is meant for a constant flow of high-nutrient foods. They can't retain a large meal in their stomach and digest it fully, like other fish can. They're very difficult to feed properly, unless they're in a huge tank with a ton of pods.

She might be starting to get underweight. What's her body condition like? She should be fat.