mandarin in trouble me thinks..

[renogaw]

well, even though my tank is "mature" (year and a half), and i have over 130lbs of rock in a 90 gallon, and i have a fuge that i see pods on everything constantly, and i have pod piles in the tank,and i've added thousands of pods, and the mandarin eats and eats and eats, i think i have a slowly starving mandarin i'm thinking of trying to catch him and force him to learn what mysid shrimp is...
was going through the posts and i got him last april, so he's 10 months old, but not fat whatsoever

 

[fisharefishy99]

Has he gotten skinnier? Or have you had to feed him more and more and he is shrinking?
Sounds quite odd. You don't really mention if this is what he has been like for 10 months, or for a few days. I have a scooter blenny, he eats like a monster. Never gets fat, and seems quite happy. He did learn to eat frozen food though, someone told me I was lucky though, told me most won't do it.

 

[renogaw]

he hides so much in the rock i barely notice him, but today i was doing a lot with the tank and saw him. his front half of his body is big, but his second half, basically after his fins, is skinny.

 

[fisharefishy99]

Well, I think they are always like that. But maybe if you are feeding him more, his front section is getting bigger, and his back is staying the same so it looks like he is getting skinner when his front is really just getting fat. Just my 2 cents.

 

[renogaw]

i'll try for a pic, maybe he's normal and i'm just paranoid due to all the horror stories of them starving.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by fisharefishy99
http:///forum/post/2474793
Well, I think they are always like that. But maybe if you are feeding him more, his front section is getting bigger, and his back is staying the same so it looks like he is getting skinner when his front is really just getting fat. Just my 2 cents.
Not sure what you mean by this statement.

His stomach area is in the back, not by his head.
Anyways, here is a pic of mine I got also at the same time, April of 2007. The pic that was taken in July to show his girth is the same that he is today....a chubby one. Should be plump all the way down the body.
Might be worth trying to catch him to isolate him in a smaller tank to teach him how to eat frozen. Worth a try. Just a suggestion. But it sounds like you have all the proper areas for pods to grow, so not sure why he is so skinny.

 

[nycbob]

if a mandarin is starving, it wouldnt last 10 months imo. i think its gonna be fine. most mandarin will die within 1-2 months if pods r insufficient.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2474927
if a mandarin is starving, it wouldnt last 10 months imo. i think its gonna be fine. most mandarin will die within 1-2 months if pods r insufficient.
Agree on this one!!!

 

[fisharefishy99]

sorry for the confusing statement, but yeah, I figured that if it lasted 10 months, it should be fine. Unless it seemed unhappy lately.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by Anonome
http:///forum/post/2474915
Not sure what you mean by this statement.

His stomach area is in the back, not by his head.
Anyways, here is a pic of mine I got also at the same time, April of 2007. The pic that was taken in July to show his girth is the same that he is today....a chubby one. Should be plump all the way down the body.
Might be worth trying to catch him to isolate him in a smaller tank to teach him how to eat frozen. Worth a try. Just a suggestion. But it sounds like you have all the proper areas for pods to grow, so not sure why he is so skinny.

definitely not looking like yours. its sorta like one of those tv shows where you see the ribs and then the stomach area looks thin...i have some pods growing in my QT/frag tank... maybe i'll put him in there for some time to teach to eat mysid with the possibility of eating pods if he gets really hungry.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2474927
if a mandarin is starving, it wouldnt last 10 months imo. i think its gonna be fine. most mandarin will die within 1-2 months if pods r insufficient.
I very much disagree. They can take a year to slowly starve to death. Reno, your tank sounds like it is very well suited for a Mandarin. He could be just not eating much right now. If you still see tons of pods then I wouldn't worry. Mandarins will eat mysis, but they don't get the nutrition that they need from mysis in any way at all.

 

[nietzsche]

from what ive heard, was probably wet web media or whatever, said that theyll die within weeks if there isnt food available. i always wonder how pods go from refugium to tank if they have to deal with powerheads and the pump, but i guess theyre small enough to make it out ok. seems like what youll have to do is find a source that sells copepods for a cheap price, and maybe even set up a culturing station for copepods and phytoplankton so you can feed it to the pods. i have some small pieces of liverock rubble along with chaeto and i can see them on the glass there and coming in and out of the chaeto. most likely youll just have to restock the tank and refugium with copepods
i found a place online that sells 1,000 copepods for 25 dollars and it comes with 3 different species and are different sizes. they do not require overnight shipping either. i would try to find a deal like that or maybe something that might be cheaper

 

[sepulatian]

from what ive heard, was probably wet web media or whatever, said that theyll die within weeks if there isnt food available.
No, not at all. They sometimes will feed off of brine shrimp, mysis, whatever will make them not so hungry, while slowly dieing of malnutrition. Renogaw has a nicely set up tank. I cannot imagine his Mandarin dying from lack of pods. Let us know what is going on Ren.

 

[bruner54]

I read to today that mandarins have incredibly fast metabolism like hummingbirds so they have to constantly eat but his fast metabolism might be keeping him skinnier. Just a thought.

 

[puffer32]

My first ever scooter blenny tollk 10 months to starve to death. I was told he ate algae and was constantly pecking for what I thought was algae on my rocks, but later learned he was looking for pods. My tank had some, but not enough to sustain this fish. He eventually got thin and died, and even then I thought he was deing for another reason beause i had lots of algae.

 

[nietzsche]

find out anything renogaw?