Mandarin goby question
- Thread starter MikeyAl
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Alexraptor
New member
Perfectly normal behavior as far as I know. I have observed mine do it quite frequently especially when out hunting.
As to exactly why they do it? No Idea to be honest.
As to exactly why they do it? No Idea to be honest.
Alexraptor
New member
That does not sound normal.
When you say continuous, do you mean he keeps doing it repeatedly or that his jaws have been "stuck" in a fully open position for the last 24 hours?
When you say continuous, do you mean he keeps doing it repeatedly or that his jaws have been "stuck" in a fully open position for the last 24 hours?
ReefJunkie01
New member
Hey Mikey, a couple of questions:
is there anything major you had changed (anything at all) with the tank over the last 72 hours?
what other fish do you have in the tank, and, are the other fish showing any signs of stress? (if the other fish are stressed, something is wrong with a parasite or water quality)
what kind of substrate do you have? (could lead to chocking, but this is rare).
Currently, is he breathing at a constant rate, or does it look like every couple of minutes he's "bucking" and trying to blow something out? (if it's this, then there's probably something stuck) or, is he breathing at a steady state with no change (means something else might be wrong)?
Can you see his sides? Do you see a sharp horizontal running along his side? (means he's emaciated and is severly worn out due to lack of energy)?
Has he stayed in the same spot this entire time or has he moved around, and, when he moves, is it an erratic flutter for a few minutes, then he just drops to the sand bed? (indicates he's stressed out from something)?
What is your ammonia/nitrite levels?
What is your PH?
What is your salinity?
Sorry you're having this issue. The good part is it's still alive, which means if there is something stuck it's not completely blocking his water passages.
is there anything major you had changed (anything at all) with the tank over the last 72 hours?
what other fish do you have in the tank, and, are the other fish showing any signs of stress? (if the other fish are stressed, something is wrong with a parasite or water quality)
what kind of substrate do you have? (could lead to chocking, but this is rare).
Currently, is he breathing at a constant rate, or does it look like every couple of minutes he's "bucking" and trying to blow something out? (if it's this, then there's probably something stuck) or, is he breathing at a steady state with no change (means something else might be wrong)?
Can you see his sides? Do you see a sharp horizontal running along his side? (means he's emaciated and is severly worn out due to lack of energy)?
Has he stayed in the same spot this entire time or has he moved around, and, when he moves, is it an erratic flutter for a few minutes, then he just drops to the sand bed? (indicates he's stressed out from something)?
What is your ammonia/nitrite levels?
What is your PH?
What is your salinity?
Sorry you're having this issue. The good part is it's still alive, which means if there is something stuck it's not completely blocking his water passages.
No ammonia or nitrate. pH is 8.2 -1.034 salinity.
No changes to tank in last 48 hrs. All other fish look and act fine
He is breathing at a constant rate and moving around (some). Substrate is sand.
Other fish - 2 perculas, 2 chromis, 1 pseudochromis, a sixline wrass, and a yellow tang.
No changes to tank in last 48 hrs. All other fish look and act fine
He is breathing at a constant rate and moving around (some). Substrate is sand.
Other fish - 2 perculas, 2 chromis, 1 pseudochromis, a sixline wrass, and a yellow tang.
Guy W
New member
laga77
New member
Not blood worms, black worms. Blood worms are very low on the nutritional scale. Try black worms and if he won`t then get some white worms. White worms will live in salt water over night. So they will wiggle and the Mandarin should eat.
ReefJunkie01
New member
Looking at that vid, only thing I can think of is it stressed itself and secreted it's mucus (mandarin secrete a toxin when stressed to deter other fish, but oddly they can poison themselves slightly when they do this and the water current isn't high enough). If it's the toxin issue, a major water change will help.
The other thing it might be is that it's underfed. Can you see underneath it? It's stomach isn't the rounded section under its eyes. It's actual stomach is on the underside of its body past the two fluttering fins at its sides. The fish can look well fed because of this rounded portion under its head, but it's the section past its side fins you need to look at. My mandarin had been doing something similar to what yours is doing in the vid when it was seriously underfed.
The other thing it might be is that it's underfed. Can you see underneath it? It's stomach isn't the rounded section under its eyes. It's actual stomach is on the underside of its body past the two fluttering fins at its sides. The fish can look well fed because of this rounded portion under its head, but it's the section past its side fins you need to look at. My mandarin had been doing something similar to what yours is doing in the vid when it was seriously underfed.
