bizarre mandarin behavior

[pitons]

I have a small mandarin who appears to be quite happy in my tank with plenty of copepods to eat. Unlike most mandarins however, he really like to stay in the top corner of my tank. He buzzes around eating copepods that are stuck on the glass and floating on top of the water. According to all the info I know about these fish they are supposed to be bottom rock dwellers. Has anyone else ever heard of this happening? Is there anything I should be concerned about?

 

[predator]

My manderine is all over the place all the time. But then again my manderine eats flake food???I know it sounds crazy but I'm serious, he eats Kent Marines "Marine Flakes".

 

[kevinkennedy]

My Mandarin swims all over the place and seems to love playing in the strong current near the powerheads, My mandarin has been also living off frozen blood worms for quite awhile, with hardly any coepods in the tank.

 

[pitons]

The mandarin does not twitch or respire abnormally, in fact he seems quite happy and likes attention. He is protected from the current where he likes to sit, but there are a lot of places in the tank that are protected - I think he likes the copepods on the glass because I can see him eating them all the time. I do see him picking at my live rock, but he is always on the top. I have no bottom dwelling fish that could bother him so I don't understand why he's not on the bottom -- unless blue hermit crabs a a couple of shrimp bug him.

 

[jacksonpt]

My mandarin is all over the tank too. He is a little timid, so if he hears (or feels) me walk to the tank, he will hide in the rocks for a few minutes. Typically though he swims up and down the glass looking for pods