Mandarin not sleeping

Bent

Bent

I got nothin'
I know I know. Who cares. I just thought it strange.

My mandarin does not seem to be sleeping. It wasn't always the case, on my middle of the night checks for predators, I would see him snoozing here and there. Lately however, on my midnight checks I see him cruising around hunting as if the lights were still on. What gives?

Is he not getting enough to eat during the day? Is it a sign that my pod population in the DT is dwindling?
 
Might have to start manually harvesting from the fuge, or just move him down there. There are some monster pods down there.
 
If you move him down he'll clean house in 72 hours. You can buy live food for him if you're up to doing that. You may also be bale to train him to eat frozen but you have to put it right in front if him. They suck at chasing food
 
Bent said:
Is he not getting enough to eat during the day? Is it a sign that my pod population in the DT is dwindling?
Click to expand...

That's quite likely. I had a Mandarin for almost two years in my main system (approx. 400 gallons) and he/she would sleep. Then something caused my pod population to crash, and all of a sudden the Manadrin didn't sleep, and then a few weeks later I didn't see it anymore. Still not sure what crashed the population. Mine was an incidental acquisition via a craigslist special; I wouldn't actually buy one. Just too hard to feed unless you are willing to spend a fortune on pods or do a brine hatcher.

BTW, PJ cardinals don's sleep either; though that appear to be unrelated to feeding :lol: because mine are huge.
 
My fuge is infested with huge pods, my DT not so much. Seriously the fuge is like infested. Almost like roaches.

I don't understand why the DT isn't the same way.
 
Pods move more at night than daytime, your mandarin has probably learned that too. I have had jawfish do the same thing, I wouldn't see them for weeks because they where building there homes and eating at night. If he starts losing weight you will have to move him. You also may have to create a haven for pods in your tank like a pile of rubble or course gravel for pods to collect and hide. And then your Mandarin can just there and wait for them to come out and snatch them up.
 
alton said:
Pods move more at night than daytime, your mandarin has probably learned that too. I have had jawfish do the same thing, I wouldn't see them for weeks because they where building there homes and eating at night. If he starts losing weight you will have to move him. You also may have to create a haven for pods in your tank like a pile of rubble or course gravel for pods to collect and hide. And then your Mandarin can just there and wait for them to come out and snatch them up.
Click to expand...

I wonder what I could use in the DT that wouldn't be hideous?
 
Bent - You should really try to get him to take frozen mysis. You may have to chop them up a bit smaller. I had luck with my last pair releasing the mysis in front of the mandarins and letting the flow push the mysis like they were alive and the mandarins were "hunting."

Good luck!
 
Your other fish have also been consuming the pods in your DT. If I were you i'd try to find hime a large old tank to live in. You might end up spending so much time and $ trying to keep this one fish alive and then it may not make it anyways.
 
seamonster124 said:
Your other fish have also been consuming the pods in your DT. If I were you i'd try to find hime a large old tank to live in. You might end up spending so much time and $ trying to keep this one fish alive and then it may not make it anyways.
Click to expand...

he's got a 55 gallon tank, with a 30 gallon fuge, and an additionally large sump with a load of rock in it. if that's not a good starter for a mandy, i don't know what is.

bent, how late are we talking here? my mandy has always tended to be an early riser and a bit of a night owl. it wouldn't usually be until a little while after lights out that she would be sleeping in the sand.

if your fuge is still productive, and your chaeto is still growing, maybe think about doing some pod condos that you rotate through your fuge/sump/display to help force migrate the pods, and when you trim your chaeto, shake it out in the display real good before you get rid of it to help dislodge any pods that might be hiding on it.

it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to make one of the PaulB feeders to help supplement with freshly hatched baby brine, and having some live white worms and live black worms on hand for some feedings throughout the week would be a great idea too. my dragons suck down those worms like there is no tomorrow. i prefer the white worms over the black worms because they live considerably longer in salt water, and i can culture them in tupperware in the basement with ease.

i'm not necessarily convinced that this is caused by a lack of prey, but it is certainly possible. the only thing i see when looking at your setup (assuming that it is the same since the last FTS you posted i found in search) is that it is kind of rock light in the display. adding some additional rock could help to provide some more areas for pods to reproduce in your display area.

also, is this the same mandy you rescued some months ago? if it is i'm excited that he's still with you, and apparently doing quite well.
 
MondoBongo said:
he's got a 55 gallon tank, with a 30 gallon fuge, and an additionally large sump with a load of rock in it. if that's not a good starter for a mandy, i don't know what is.

bent, how late are we talking here? my mandy has always tended to be an early riser and a bit of a night owl. it wouldn't usually be until a little while after lights out that she would be sleeping in the sand.

if your fuge is still productive, and your chaeto is still growing, maybe think about doing some pod condos that you rotate through your fuge/sump/display to help force migrate the pods, and when you trim your chaeto, shake it out in the display real good before you get rid of it to help dislodge any pods that might be hiding on it.

it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to make one of the PaulB feeders to help supplement with freshly hatched baby brine, and having some live white worms and live black worms on hand for some feedings throughout the week would be a great idea too. my dragons suck down those worms like there is no tomorrow. i prefer the white worms over the black worms because they live considerably longer in salt water, and i can culture them in tupperware in the basement with ease.

i'm not necessarily convinced that this is caused by a lack of prey, but it is certainly possible. the only thing i see when looking at your setup (assuming that it is the same since the last FTS you posted i found in search) is that it is kind of rock light in the display. adding some additional rock could help to provide some more areas for pods to reproduce in your display area.

also, is this the same mandy you rescued some months ago? if it is i'm excited that he's still with you, and apparently doing quite well.
Click to expand...

Yes it is indeed the rescue, which is why I might be a tad hyper sensitive when it comes to assessing him since I really want him to do well.

Yes the display is pretty minimalistic when it comes to rock, and its funny you mention it, because I was really considering ordering another 30-40lbs of rock from TBS hoping maybe that would offer more of a refuge for pods in the DT.

Late, time wise has seemed pretty random. Sometimes Ill get up at midnight or 0200 and find him cruising around. Sometimes he will be MIA and sleeping somewhere. Its def a change though, since when the moonlights come on i could consistently find him in his "spot" sacked out. Last night I was up until about 0100 watching star wars and every time I got up to get another brewski I stuck my face in front of the tank and he was always up hunting. When I went to bed finally around 0130 or so I didnt see him anymore, so I assume he finally settled in for the night.

Maybe he wanted to watch episode 4 too?

Ive really considered doing the pod condo thing, and it might be a project for this weekend. The fuge is always loaded with them, and maybe the combination of more rock and the condo rotations will help populate the display a little better.

Im also considering that maybe the way im plumbed up is part of the issue. A seperate pump from the sump feeds the fuge which drains back down to the sump. Maybe the pods within the fuge are just having a hard time finding their way down to the sump. The fact that the fuge is not directly inside the sump may be a good reason as to why the rest of the system is not covered in them like the fuge is.
 
i'm glad to hear he's still around. i totally understand the hyper-sensitivity. if my mandy so much as looks at me funny i am taking notes, testing water, and trying to mind link with the other fish.

does the tank get a lot of ambient light where it is? i know having mine in the dining room it can get more light from the living room and kitchen when i'm up late than if it were somewhere else.

you've know piqued my curiosity as to what my mandy is doing. i haven't really paid too much attention after hours since i moved in to the larger tank. time to get out my red lens flashlight and have a look-see around.

one thing i have started doing is jotting down notes when something seems amiss. this can help lend a bit of a sanity to you, and assist in pinpointing details and timelines that you would have otherwise forgotten. you're used to a clinical setting, so i'm sure you're down with patient charting.

about two months ago my mandy was acting weird. not having the normal feeding frequency, seeming a little confused, slightly lethargic. so i just observed and took some notes. digging around on some of my old RC threads i realized that she did something similar around the same time the previous year. so next year i will have my better notes, and be on the look out to see if the pattern repeats itself.

how does he seem otherwise? has he added weight since you first brought him home? coloration looking good? the fact that he's still around, given the condition you found him in, is a really good sign.
 
I think if you had a few rocks that you swapped back and forth it might help, if the corrugated plastic or loofa sponge condos don't blow your hair back. Mesh sacks of rubble are good cause the mandy can't get all the way into the pile to decimate the population, but less pretty. It'd be nice to have toward the front of the tank so you get to see her feed.
 
Haven't done anything yet. I trimmed my chaeto yesterday, and shook it out in the DT. Tons of pods came out.

I'm still thinking about what to do.

I can say that after I shook the chaeto out in the am the mandarin was asleep shortly after lights out. Could be a coincidence.
 
Good luck, Bent. based on description of your system (especially shaking pods from chaeto), sounds like you should be fine. But I agree with mark, that best bet is to push the mysis in hopes that yours will take the bait. Ouch! Block that pun.

Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Nightmare worm ID
Replies
14
Views
2K
Uncle99
Uncle99
R
hanna checkers
Replies
16
Views
348
wvned
wvned
R
Midas blenny missing
Replies
5
Views
273
griss
griss
AZBigJohn
Thinking of culturing some pods...
Replies
7
Views
791
jrill
J
C
Can’t keep overflow box balanced
Replies
2
Views
149
Cruzersmith
C
Back
Top