Huly April 24, 2013 Share April 24, 2013 Last night our female mandarin was eating acting normal. This morning was the same. Tonight we came home and she was deceased on sand bed. No obvious injury, no sign of illness but covered in a clear slime. We have been adding tigger pods weekly to biweekly just to make sure both would have enough food supply with the addition of her. Our male is foraging through tank now and acting normal. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 24, 2013 Share April 24, 2013 (edited) Was her belly sunken in? She's a new addition, right? How long have you had her? Did you have her in QT propr to placing her in your DT? Mandarins have a horrible smelly slime coat. When they are stressed or when they die that slime increases. It's a natural defense for them. Did she have anything that looked like this slime before she died? She may not have gotten enough to eat or came to you malnurished. I'm thinking you did not have enough of a natural pod population to keep her healthy. The additions may not have been enough. How big is your Dt? How long has it been up and running? What kind of a substrate are you using? A pair of adult mandarins need a whole lot of pods. Edited April 24, 2013 by Jans Natural Reef Foods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 24, 2013 Author Share April 24, 2013 She was on the thin side when we got her but she has fattened up some in the two weeks we had her. We did not QT her as we have heard that can be more dangerous for a mandarin and their natural slime coat protects them from most diseases. DT is 66gal live rock thick sand bed. No refugium but from Icy to Feb we dosed and dosed more pods knowing we wanted a mandarin. Sean stated we had more than enough pod population but we can't see them. We kept dosing as we moved rock here and there and to just be sure they had plenty. She was half the size of our boy. Also we found her near our large Aussie Elegance and and this weekend my dad saw our large filter feeder crab grab my pearly. Could it be aussie? Crab? The boy was too rough? Not enough food? Should we have dosed more? I can post photo of her deceased. Just want to make sure nothing else might be to blame and figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 24, 2013 Share April 24, 2013 awwww I am sorry for your loss!!!! I know how devastating that can be....especially for you guys (those that name their fish often are crushed when something like this happens) I do think Jan may be right about not having a large enough natural population. Mandarins are a hard fish to keep fat (ok ok Paul we know your have fat ones...LOL...and we are ALL jealous of your manadrin feeder!) but in a tank that isn't established very long with no refugium etc they can be impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 24, 2013 Author Share April 24, 2013 Oh and both are still juvi 1" female 2" male Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 25, 2013 Author Share April 25, 2013 The mandarin is Pez favorite fish and reason we went salt water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 The mandarin is Pez favorite fish and reason we went salt water. Pez might have to start to like Angel fish or something LOL.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 25, 2013 Author Share April 25, 2013 Pez might have to start to like Angel fish or something LOL.... Yeah good luck on that lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 Yeah good luck on that lol I am SURE there is a maroon and gold one somewhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 not enough pods. #1 cause of mandarin death. keep the mandarins in a fuge and they'll do great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpez April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 not enough pods. #1 cause of mandarin death. keep the mandarins in a fuge and they'll do great. Since we got the male, he came to us looking a bit malnourished, but he has gotten (as huly likes to put it) "fat and sassy". He has definitely grown since coming into our tank. I see pods on the glass here and there, particularly when I get a bit of algae on there (people have told me that is a sign of good pod population) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 If you saw pods on the glass then you had enough pods. Something else must have caused her death. Sometimes fish just die. I'm sorry. they are beautiful fish. don;t be discouraged. give a little time and get another one. Since we got the male, he came to us looking a bit malnourished, but he has gotten (as huly likes to put it) "fat and sassy". He has definitely grown since coming into our tank. I see pods on the glass here and there, particularly when I get a bit of algae on there (people have told me that is a sign of good pod population) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 I think the pearly got sick of the polygamist situation. I think you had a murder! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 just because there are pods on the glass, doesn't mean that there are enough pods everywhere for mandarins to eat. they need hundreds of them every day of all different types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 25, 2013 Author Share April 25, 2013 I think the pearly got sick of the polygamist situation. I think you had a murder! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 LOL LOL LOL LOL He was cheating on his GF with the pearly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly April 25, 2013 Author Share April 25, 2013 If you saw pods on the glass then you had enough pods. Something else must have caused her death. Sometimes fish just die. I'm sorry. they are beautiful fish. don;t be discouraged. give a little time and get another one. Agreed that is my thought as I do not see a wound, no sign of illness etc. I wonder if she was a little malnourished when we got her as she was thin. She fattened up a little but not like the boy did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjamaya April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 (edited) Sorry to hear that. I always, immediately start to feed my mandarins live brine shrimp mixed with frozen. After having my pair juvies for 2 months now they are eating frozen brime..... Of course, every time I feed them I turn off all pumps. Edited April 25, 2013 by kjamaya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 Your mandarins are surviving, for now, because of the pods in your tank, not the diet you are giving them. Brine shrimp is a poor diet for fish unless it is gut loaded with nutrients. Sorry to hear that. I always, immediately start to feed my mandarins live brine shrimp mixed with frozen. After having my pair juvies for 2 months now they are eating frozen brime..... Of course, every time I feed them I turn off all pumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 I too had a Mandarin die after a few weeks in my 5 year old reef. While I don't think it was lack of pod, given the age of the tank, I am hesitant on getting another until I am confident on it's food source. Anyone tried to feed their Mandarin with baby brine shrimp ? The type you buy the eggs and hatch at home ? What about live blood worms ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 They won't eat blood worms..their mouths are too small... You can make a feeder like Paul's and grow and feed your own brine...look at his setup... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjamaya April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 Your mandarins are surviving, for now, because of the pods in your tank, not the diet you are giving them. Brine shrimp is a poor diet for fish unless it is gut loaded with nutrients. Maybe so but I believe it has to do with the brine shrimp. I do load it with nutrients and vitamins. Before I had these juvies I had a mandarin that lasted for 2 years eating brines and pellets. I gave him away because when I upgraded tanks I wanted to have a pair and decided to go with 2 juvies. My mandarins are fat and look to me to be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 25, 2013 Share April 25, 2013 If the brine are enriched then they probably are healthy. Maybe so but I believe it has to do with the brine shrimp. I do load it with nutrients and vitamins. Before I had these juvies I had a mandarin that lasted for 2 years eating brines and pellets. I gave him away because when I upgraded tanks I wanted to have a pair and decided to go with 2 juvies. My mandarins are fat and look to me to be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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