Help with Mandarin Goby

[massive attack]

About 2 months ago I bough a Mandarin Goby. I was neverous for the first couple of days until he started eating, but since then and up to a couple of days ago he was doing awesome! Unfortunately over the last couple of days his colouration on his head is very patchy and faded, the rest of his body seems fine, and he isn't skinny. What could this be? Is he not getting enough nutrition from the brine shrimp? This is all I see him eat, although there are a ton of copeppods in my tank, I just never see him eat them... Is this a case of mal-nutrition or something more serious, please help.
Thanks, Mike

 

[big dave]

If you see copepods, feeding isnt what you should be worried about. A full bodied mandarin is a happy mandarin. How much LR do you have in your tank? Usually they eat all of the pods in a tank your size pretty quickly (a few weeks) Since you are still seeing many just keep an eye on them. When they run out, your mandarin may starve if he isnt eating brine shrimp or other small live foods. ( by the way, you can tell if it is a him or her by the length of their dorsal fin. The males have a filament on theirs) Ok, back to your orininal question. What are its tankmates? Usually if a mandarin gets a discoloration its after its been picked on. Dont dismiss any fish in the tank as potential bullies. I have seen mandarins picked on by gobies and clownfish. If it is an aggression prob, try to QT the mandarin and catch out the bully. Also, you can tell if it is a stress injury if the fish seems to be "sliming". Mandarins do this if theyre stressed sometimes. Just my 2 cents.

 

[massive attack]

Thanks, for the input, I have about 40-50lbs of live rock. Also, there are 2 firefish, a six-line wrasse, and a Flame Angel in the tank, (plus some invert's) all are healthy. Although the Flame picks on the Firefish once and a while, I've never seen it pick on the Mandarin. Is the discolouration a result of a disease?
Thanks for the advice, Mike

 

[big dave]

Keep an eye on the Flame. They can be a little nippy sometimes. If you feel that it is a disease use a product called MarinOomed. Its made by tetra I belive. It is invert safe but you will have to take out any echinoderms in the tank they will be affected by the medicaton for some reason. By the way echinoderms are urchins, starfish, brittle and serpent stars, and sea cucumbers.

 

[car guy]

yeah watch that firefish they're pretty aggresive, lol, it might be the flame, you ought to listen to big man he knows his stuff sometimes, like when he told me that i could use a 96 watt pc with a 65 wat ballast and it blew up and i had to go to the hospital from glass in my neck!

 

[massive attack]

Big Dave, thanks for the input. But, what's this MarinOomed stuff? Why do you think I sould use it? What's in it? What's it supposed to kill?
Thanks for the help, Mike