Do Mandarins shed?

[jahel318]

I saw what appeared to be my mandarin "shedding". Do they shed like reptiles or am I going crazy?

 

[Mpfaff77]

They don't shed but they do have a Mucas coating. Is this happening all the time or primarily at night????

 

[jahel318]

Well I just got her 2 days ago. I acclimated her and her male mate the same day. The male is doing fine but she stays usually in one spot and "sheds". I'm wondering if it's stressed.

 

[EllieSuz]

They lose their color at night when they're sleeping, but "shedding" is not a symptom I've heard of before. My guess would be a disease, although I don't know which one. Are they in your display tank? Let's hope it's not contagious. A pair of these fish require a very large, mature tank to satisfy their voracious appetite for pods.

 

[xtlosx]

Well I just got her 2 days ago. I acclimated her and her male mate the same day. The male is doing fine but she stays usually in one spot and "sheds". I'm wondering if it's stressed.

Interesting someone else has seen this.. sadly I do not think it's a positive thing. I had a mandarin for two years in a cube, then moved him into our 150G last year... He did just what you are saying, sat in one spot, and looked like he was shedding. Sadly he didn't make it for much longer after that. I'm not sure why it happened, or what happened. Hope that doesn't happen to you.

 

[Mpfaff77]

They lose their color at night when they're sleeping, but "shedding" is not a symptom I've heard of before. My guess would be a disease, although I don't know which one. Are they in your display tank? Let's hope it's not contagious. A pair of these fish require a very large, mature tank to satisfy their voracious appetite for pods.

I don't think they loose their color per say I think it is the Mucas coating thickening while they sleep. At least that is how I perceive it. Although it does look like they are whitish and washed out in color.

Also agree with it being very hard to keep a pair unless they eat frozen and are in a matured tank.

 

[jahel318]

I have them in a 5 gallon QT right now. My main display is a 44 gallon with live sand and rock that has been running for 4 years now. I just recently started culturing my own pods and brine shrimp to feed them although they haven't had an appetite yet. I've also tried enticing them with frozen blood worms and freezed dried brine both in a SELCO dip but it hasn't attracted them. I was hoping I could slowly train them to take frozen foods but this is only day 3. The female seems to be a little more active this AM but still has that weird coating that seems to be "shedding".

 

[snorvich]

I have kept a pair for years so that is doable. But they were in a 350 gallon tank with no copepod eaters. Pretty much all mandarins will eat frozen, but unless there are sufficient copepods, supplied food (under normal feeding circumstances) will not be sufficient to maintain them. Also, mandarins that do not move and peck at the rock are likely collected with cyanide. It has been my experience that they NEVER survive.