Tank Full of Pods....

[pallidamors]

.....but the mandarin is still skinny. Why?

 

[demonsp]

How old is the tank?
How much LR?
Do you have a fuge?
how long have you had the mandrine?

 

[pallidamors]

the tank is only a 20l (small I know)
30lbs of lr
no fuge
6 months


I know the tank is small for a mandarin and if he gets any skinnier I will return to the lfs, but why are there lots of pods and he is still skinny?

 

[demonsp]

Maybe they are to big for him to get. Its not so much the size but the lack of a fuge for proper pod regeneration. You need a fuge running for 6 months for the best chance.

 

[pallidamors]

there are all sizes crawling around the tank. ...I just cant figure it out.

 

[demonsp]

Very few mandrine's will eat frozen food and the main diet is pods. he can clean a tank fast and then have no food source. Its a fact and a reason he is on the difficult level. What do these pods you say look like?

 

[pallidamors]

I know what they eat....the pods I speak of are tiny crustaceans I see running around on the sides of the tank's glass

 

[demonsp]

Here is a pic of a copepod which is the pod they want. They are pretty small and hardly ever come out during the day.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/pods.html

 

[pallidamors]

they look just like the copepod in the 2nd pic.

 

[Tu Ku]

6 months is long enough to expect some change in the mandarin's size, certainly of him getting fatter. I agree that a refugium would help your case a great deal, but if there are copepods swimming freely in your tank then chances are your mandarin is taking full advantage of them.
It's very possible, that the size of your tank, or lack thereof is keeping your mandarin stressed out and he'd just prefer to not eat until he feels comfortable. Is he a relatively active fish? How many other fish/invertebrates do you have in this tank?

 

[pallidamors]

He is very active and I see him eating the pods all the time. I heard stories that sometimes people get their mandarin and he is too skinny or stressed and slowly dies even with food present, in other words, he is too far gone when you get him. Could this be?

 

[hybridgenius]

Yea... if he looked unhealthy to you already when he was at the LFS, then chances were he is about to go man. I know a few people who have a mandering or two, but they also have bigger tanks. Goodluck and just hope things go well.

 

[demonsp]

I tried but i guess he didnt get the answer he wanted.

 

[palawan]

I would return the mandarin back and exchange it with another one. This one might be too stressed.

 

[pallidamors]

thanks for all the info guys

 

[acrylic_300]

I had one die in a tank with 600-700 lbs live rock that was established for 18 months.

It would pick around at sand and sift it through the gills....but I never did see it eat a pod. It was seemingly looking for something even smaller than the smallest pods. Bacteria maybe?

That was with a 12 hr. light cycle and the fish picking and looking the whole time.

It lasted about 7 months....maybe died of old age?