getting a mandarin to eat

[darkreef]

It took me 6 months to train mine he was near death in my 33 with 20 g sump with 60 lbs of live rock ( no swimming room lol ) he was a blue dragonet . Used chemiclean and the frozen just wasn't enough he died. Even when there on frozen they are grazers and need to be fed every few hours a tiny bit . So having a huge aquarium is the best.

Iv heard of using a little container , poke a few holes in it . And hatch brine shrimp and they will swim out of the holes . Never used it though .

The best time to feed was when he was hunting the sand bed in the back . Spray some mysis and not watch . They no when your watching! Eventually they will flap there fins and make the mysis swim sucking them up in the water

Goodluck

[asylumdown]

Well I'm just not sure what to do at this point. He's still alive, but he's still not hunting. at all. The Codfather was awesome sauce and brought me a bag full of the large sized amphipods. Combined with a fresh mat of algae from my overflow rife with the small kind of copepods and small mysid shrimp, this guy's tank is loaded with living food. He doesn't appear to have eaten a single thing in the first 3 days (which has now all be thrown out according to the TT protocol), and this morning when I did the transfer, I was able to simply scoop him up with my hands. He barely even tried to escape.

at lights out tonight, there was a large sized amphipod hanging out on the side of his face, with no seeming reaction from the fish.

He's still looking around, and every few minutes he'll change position, but he seems far more concerned with finding a sheltered place to hide than 'hunting' anything.

Question to all you experienced folk out there - if you were me, would you continue with this rather labour intensive QT protocol hoping that suddenly he'd start eating live food, or would you look in to one of the human euthanasia techniques for sick fish? I can keep going and put him in my DT when this is done because I have faith that this QT protocol will clear him of the kinds of parasites I'm trying to avoid (I'm also now treating with prazipro), but if he goes in to display only to die of starvation in a week, I'm not sure if I'm doing him, or the rest of my fish any favours. From my reading it looks like death by starvation (assuming no other internal organs are damaged) takes months for these fish, and even thinking about that makes me queasy. It would be one thing if it simply wouldn't accept frozen food, as I am capable of working with that, but not eating anything at all, even if it's exactly what it would be hunting in the wild, live and right in front of it's face, seems to me like there's very little hope for it.

[IanWR]

I wouldn't panic yet. Sounds like you are doing everything that can be done. He's probably stressed out from multiple moves, plus he's being medicated. So finish your QT, and if he's still hanging in then move him to DT. Maybe add some more cover for him? I'm still new to the reef game but when I got my bangaii cardinals they wouldn't eat for almost 2 weeks, then just decided to start. So who knows?

[MitchM]

Whenever I buy a fish, I only want fish that have been at the lfs for 2 weeks or longer and are already eating frozen food.
I would keep him in qt if he was a new arrival to the lfs.
I would put him into the dt if he was stable long term and eating frozen at the lfs.
You said you're treating with prazipro, but is there a reason why?
If there was no sign of illness, I would not have started treatment of anything.
If there's food in the qt tank, just leave him there.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Question to all you experienced folk out there - if you were me, would you continue with this rather labour intensive QT protocol hoping that suddenly he'd start eating live food, or would you look in to one of the human euthanasia techniques for sick fish?

No. Some Mandarins are tough to wean, don't give up yet. You haven't tried nearly long enough. You've only had him 3 days? You have another 3 weeks at least.

Originally Posted by asylumdown

I'm also now treating with prazipro

That's a bad idea at this point - Praziquantel can, and usually does, cause temporary anorexia during treatment. This is certainly not helping your cause.

if he goes in to display only to die of starvation in a week, I'm not sure if I'm doing him, or the rest of my fish any favours

Exactly. Think with your brain, not with your heart. There is no way in **** I would be adding an inactive, apparently unhealthy fish to my display tank. That is backwards thinking... "He's not doing good in quarantine, so I'm going to put him in the display." Mandarins do JUST FINE in quarantine tanks PROVIDED you take the time and effort, which is significant, to train them onto frozen foods.

From my reading it looks like death by starvation [...] takes months for these fish

Yes. Keep going. If you're doing everything right, and assuming you started with a fish that was fat at the LFS, in my experience, he WILL begin to eat.

It would be one thing if it simply wouldn't accept frozen food, as I am capable of working with that, but not eating anything at all, even if it's exactly what it would be hunting in the wild, live and right in front of it's face, seems to me like there's very little hope for it.

I've had Mandarins do this, and they still began to eat frozen food.

What I have found the secret to be is consistency. Feed him the same food (frozen, plain brine shrimp with a drop of garlic), at the same time, in the same spot, everyday. Don't screw around with different foods, don't mess with him a bunch, and quit doing tank transfers until AFTER he's eating.

[Slick Fork]

+1 for giving him more time in quarantine. Once you're happy you've avoided parasites I wouldn't bother with the tank swaps, just give him/her a quiet place to hangout and have a chance to recover. The other fish in the display might bully it enough to push it the wrong way over the edge.

[mike31154]

A little background before I provide any advice on what might help your little dude. My 77 gal just turned 7 years old & I've had a Psychedelic Mandarin Dragonet in there since a month after setting it up January 2007. I was a newb who bought a used system & didn't know any better, but despite my lack of experience this little guy flourished in there until last month. Some time ago I noticed him getting skinny on me. He stopped roaming & hunting. What's up with that after so many years? I had a significant GHA issue for quite a number of years while the used LR & sand gradually became purged of all the junk that was in there. It almost seems as if the Dragonet preferred a 'dirtier' tank since there appeared to be many more pods in my system until I got the hair algae & nutrients under control a couple of years ago.

Not sure what caused him to stop hunting & eating, but seems like my pod population declined since the tank slowly cleared up of hair algae. Might also have something to do with the switch to LEDs? Seems far fetched, but I'm grasping at straws as well. Even without pods, he still shouldn't have starved, since he learned to take first Cyclopeeze granules, then Omega One small pellets (sinking). He really used to go after the pellets once he figured out they were food, so I always made sure the auto feeder had a good supply of those. I didn't train him to eat pellets, he got it on his own. Once I noticed he wasn't getting enough food, I tried daily spot feedings with the Omega One pellets. This worked for a while, but I had to monitor things since other livestock got wise to this & were raiding the feeding area! Finally a couple of weeks ago I found him expired in the corner, RIP. One of my first & favourite critters in the tank, tough to watch him waste away slowly, but what can you do? He lived for over 7 years. I don't know the average lifespan, perhaps he was a senior? You win some & lose some.

Hoping your situation turns around. As mentioned by others, it's early in the game for yours & you still have some time, don't throw in the towel just yet. Not a good sign when they get lethargic & totally ignore anything that resembles food, but all you can do is keep trying. I realize you've tried just about every type of food now, but won't hurt to give the Cyclopeeze granules & Omega One small sinking pellets a shot. Good luck.

[jason604]

I was at JL the other day and was absolutely stunned when I saw the green dragonet mandarin. The most beautiful fish I've ever seen by far but too bad some jerk has it on hold till Tmr lol. How do u guys QT? Just a reg small tank with salt water n a hang on back filter or something more complex? I never QT before and I bought 3 fishes from the LFS and 4 from other reefers and they all seem as healthy n happy as ever. I rly want the mandarin but I need I need to QT it to train it to eat what I want.

[asylumdown]

Sadly, this was not to be. Little guy was belly up today. He never ate a single thing as far as I can tell, even with live pods all over the place. He may have been much farther gone than I thought when I bought him.

[denny_C]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Sadly, this was not to be. Little guy was belly up today. He never ate a single thing as far as I can tell, even with live pods all over the place. He may have been much farther gone than I thought when I bought him.

was probably the case , if they havent eaten for a long time they lose the ambition to hunt, its sad but pretty common.

sorry buddy if anyone had a chance it was you , he was just destined or to far gone.



cheers

denny