IS MY MANDERIN FISH DYING

[plazalisa]

hi i have a manderin fish he was a lovely green colour but now he's turning white an so are his fins. he also looks as if he is struggling to breath but all the other fish are fine. whats wrong?

 

[Navarre]

Sorry to hear about the mandarin.
What are you feeding it on? It is very likely to be starving to death
Madarins are really not the easiest fish to keep in a tank. They need a near constant supply of live food which takes the form of Copopods or Amphipods. Its very very rare for a Mandarin to take artificial food or frozen.

Thet are also totally unrecomended for a tank which is less than 1 year into maturing. I have 130gallon setup with pods clambering all over the place yet even though i desperately want a mandarin, i know that the tank still cannot sustain one yet. )

I really hope im wrong and that he pulls through for you though.

 

[spanair]

Usuall discoloration on a mandarin means he is not eating, so not good news

 

[plazalisa]

i do feed my fish on frozen and artificial food so this probably explains it all . what do you reccomend i get to pull him through? if i buy live food will he be ok or is it too late? he has been changing colour now for just over a week. im looking after the fish as my mum and dad have gone away on holiday and im only 16 so thank you for all your help!

 

[Great Lakes]

Do you have a local lfs that may sell live brine shrimp?

This could be a temporary fix.

 

[plazalisa]

the garden centres that we go to have fish sections that sell live little worm things in a bag but im not sure of what they are my parents are back very soon so i'll let them know what to do. thank you so much

 

[Navarre]

are these worms red? if so then they are probably blood worms. Very rich in nutrition. I have used these in the past but dontlike doing it on a regualr basis as these worms are collected usually from stagnant water.

 

[plazalisa]

im going to the garden centre tomorrow to get somw live food. is there any certain type i should get that manderins have or is it any old live food?

 

[Navarre]

Anything really. Brineshrimp (although they are almost without nutrition).
Do you have any other fish in the tank? if so then its highly likely that they will eat the food before the mandarin gets a lookin

 

[Reefer 4:19:59]

im going to the garden centre tomorrow to get somw live food. is there any certain type i should get that manderins have or is it any old live food?

most any old benthic or pelagic zooplanton is fine. You won't find them at the garden centre tho. DO NOT FEED WORMS FROM THE GARDEN CENTER!!!! tHE WORMS REFFERED TO ARE FROM A PET STORE. You must be UK, here we have blood or red worms and black worms sold in local pet shops (or Local Fish Store) which maybe fed even to marine fish & inverts. To do this get a shot glass or jigger (yes please be sure it is glass & no metal nothing that will contaminate tank) and put a pinch of the red/blood worms rinsed in cool fresh water in the shot glass then sink slowly to the botom while you keep the worms in the shot glass. Live brine shrim esp if you get a brine shrimp net, net a few, soak in Selcon (here is brand name, don't know there) then release in front & on top of mandarin. A dozen several times a day & the worms in a spot that he habituates could possibly pull him thru. If you have a quarentine area you could put him in there with circulation and keep putting in a few red worms, mosquito larvae, even baby guppies and brine shrimp. If he is alone you will know if he is eating & what & he will not be outcompeted for food.
Mysis shrimp are good & you could try frozen - again with the shot glass, put in a bit, thumb nail size bit - and thaw in tank water in the shot glass. When warm put one into tank at a time in area where the mandarin will see it. If you really want to try to save this fish & you can not get fresh live appropriate salt water fish food get a needle & some nylon thread, cut a meter length & run the thread thru a mysis then fish with it. If you make it look natural you may get the mandarin to eat. At least you will get a chance to fish in the ocean....
ohh, just thought of something else you could try besides the above, vinegar or glass eels & fruit flies.

 

[plazalisa]

i have also noticed that the manderin has one eye missing. i do have other fish in the tank could one of them have done this. i will go to the pet shop intead and get the food reccomended. my parents are back tomorrow so hopefully they can do something. but thank you all again. i best be off now to save my beautifull fish.

 

[plazalisa]

I would just like to say thank you for all your help, but sadly the manderin died this morning which i am very upset about just got to break the news to mum an dad now thank you again

 

[Navarre]

Sorry about the loss.
Madarins are terribly difficult to get to eat and thus hard to keep alive in an aquarium. Consider this a learning process and then at least some good will come from the loss )