Mandarin in QT not looking great

[n240sxle91]

My Mandarin came last Tuesday from LA, and it seemed a little on the small side. I put him in the QT, and have been watching him. To help him along I also poured a bottle of copepods into the QT. The QT is 10 gallons, was fully cycled, and has PVC for hiding. My water changes are every 2 days and are from my 360 gallon DT (that has copepods).

The Mandarin isn't moving much, and seems a little on the sluggish side. I'm worried it isn't going to make it. I'm torn on what to do. On one hand I want to put him in the DT to give him the best chance possible, but on the other hand I really don't want to possibly infect my DT.

I know some people don't QT Mandarins to begin with. I think this is a mistake, and that anything alive should be put in QT before going into the DT. However, I'm afraid this policy might damn the Mandarin to death.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

If he's really that sluggish, would moving him to the DT even make a difference? Is he under weight? I've seen them starved to the bone and still go roaming about looking for food. If yours is roaming about, I'd add it to the DT. But if he really is more sluggish than normal, I would keep him in QT. Is he wild caught? Is he eating? I'd set up a Madarin Cafe to give him the best chance. You can do a search on this site if you don't know about the Cafe. Also someone made a Mandarin feeder the other day, that feeds them baby brine. His breed every month now, thanks to this feeder. Basically, it looked like nylon stocking over a Petrie dish. If he's wild caught, he may be having problems adjusting. Give him some time. Be sure he's eating.

And if you want more responses, you should tell the exact water parameters and the acclimation procedure you used. How much difference in the salinity was there, from bag water to tank? If you don't give as many details as you can, you will get very few responses to your questions.

Good luck with your Mandy. I hope he makes it.

 

[n240sxle91]

Thanks for the response. As I said before, the fish is from LA. The acclimation procedure was floating unopened bag in QT to match temp for about 20 minutes, then opened bag and tested SG. I had QT already set to match SG, but I double checked just to be sure. I then put the Mandarin in the QT.

I'll check out the Mandarin Café. Thanks!

 

[Sk8r]

Mandarins are one fish I don't qt, because of the feeding problem, and because their slime coat is incrediby thick, so it takes incredibly bad conditions to get them to take up ich.

 

[n240sxle91]

While they may not get ICH, the water they came in with might be carrying it, or something else. So while I hear you, and maybe putting them in QT isn't the best for them, I also need to worry about the fish that are currently in the DT.

I will look into the Mandarin Café thing, and hopefully the little guy will turn around soon. He looked thin to begin with, and I was worried for him before I even got him out of the bag.

 

[Sk8r]

Do what makes you feel best, certainly.

 

[n240sxle91]

I put together a Mandarin cafe, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. The Mandarin didn't make it through the night. I will try again when LA has larger ones available. This one was just too far gone to begin with.

Thanks again for the thoughts and help.