Mandarin

[butwa20]

Got a new male mandarin 2 days ago drip acclimated him and he was doing well very lively in the store and after release found him today very sluggish on the tank floor noticed a fin had been nipped. I am guessing someone did not like him being introduced. Put him in my new 75 gallon tank down in the refuge he is just laying there I hope recovering but I know this is going to sound strange but it looks like he developed a cough cuz he will breath fine and then exhale real hard blowing the sand in front of him I have sat and watched these guys and never seen them do it. Should I be worried for the little guy if so what can be done that I haven't down.

[Europhyllia]

That sounds pretty bad. I am going to be surprised if he is going to make it. What other fish are in there with him?
They should be able to recover from a fin nip unless it gets infected so I would put him in a quarantine tank and treat him for any kind of bacterial infection that might have resulted from the bite wound.
I like Seachem products and tend to use their stressguard product sort of as a preventative when stuff like this happens.
Paraguard would be an option once the problem has already started.
Good luck. Hopefully he'll beat the odds

[butwa20]

Sad news I lost him :( quarantined him in my new tank he was a really big male too sucks. Only other fish in the tank were a coral beauty, diamond goby, and a ocolarious clown pair might have been them :/

[buck27]

How long has the 75 been up and running? Might have added him too soon. I waited almost a year before putting mandarins in. a for the breathing hard thing, he is looking for food. Mine sort through sand like that all the time.

[butwa20]

he wasnt moving when he did it. and i just put him in the tank because i was trying to seperate him from the fish that beat him up for what i hoped was going to save him.

[butwa20]

i need to get you your bits back. they are sitting by my front door lol. just been busy with school.

[buck27]

I know the feeling. be patient super patient with the 75G and you will love the results man. In my opinion, (correct me if I am wrong folks) after about 8 months to a year you can do almost anything you want to your tank as it really starts to get its bacteria and life cycle going. If I were to redo anything in my tank now I would probably wait a year before adding any corals or "special" fish like the mandarin. I think by waiting you really give the eco system of a tank a big chance to help yourself in the long run. I hope everything works out for you and sorry to hear about the mandarin. I will be home today if you want to drop the bits off. I have a water change to do and then dose everything again.

[Europhyllia]

If I were to get another mandarin I'd definitely go for an ORA one. Since they are tank bred they will be smaller but it will be much more humane and probably more successful too.
You have to be pretty dedicated in most cases to target feed them. If you are very busy right now then perhaps a different kind of fish would be better.
Relying that it will be able to sustain itself just on whatever grows in your tank would be a little bit like getting a cat hoping it will survive on what it finds in the backyard.

[kenny1]

Agree with the above advice from Josh and Europhyllia. Mandarin's are known to be harder to keep, especially wild caught ones. They don't do well in smaller tanks unless they are already eating brine. In your smaller tank, and even in the store you bought him at, he may not have been able to find food. Your 75 should be big enough to support mandarins once it has been established for a while, 6-12 months in a rough estimate.

[butwa20]

yea i had a pair of them befor i was keeping him in my 49 untill he got beat up thats the only reason he was in the new tank. i had my old mandarin eating off frozen and pellet food that was the plan for this guy. just sucks i love the fish they are my favorite.