Does my mandarin look healthy and well fed?

[Lepdecko123]

Hi everyone,

I have had this baby mandarin goby for about 2 months now. I dose a full bottle of tiger pods every 2 weeks. The fish seems to be active and is constantly pecking at stuff.

Curious if any more experienced reefers think the fish looks healthy?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

No, sorry, seeing that line across his body means he's starving, he's very thin

 

[W31Olds]

No too thin. Good news is he still active and hunting. Post some info on you Tank. Age Size , etc. Mine will eat TDO Chromaboost small slighty crushed pellets. You must Target feed with a Pipet. They are high protein and can help your Mandarin put on weight. That's if he will eat them. I supplemental feed my WC every morning as that's when they seem to be the hungriest. Just feed her this morning and she usually eats about 10 pieces or so. The trick is distracting the other fish as mine will barge in and eat the food.

 

[Lepdecko123]

No too thin. Good news is he still active and hunting. Post some info on you Tank. Age Size , etc. Mine will eat TDO Chromaboost small slighty crushed pellets. You must Target feed with a Pipet. They are high protein and can help your Mandarin put on weight. That's if he will eat them. I supplemental feed my WC every morning as that's when they seem to be the hungriest. Just feed her this morning and she usually eats about 10 pieces or so. The trick is distracting the other fish as mine will barge in and eat the food.

I have had the tank for 6 months now and have probably added about 10’bottles of tiger pods so far. I think my mistake is picking the wrong pods, as theyre really big and dont hide well from fish. At night i see different types that are much smaller but evidently it isnt enough for my mandarin.

I will buy more bottles of smaller pods and supplement those. Thankfully he still swims and hunts all day

 

[Miami Reef]

I hope you can get him to put on weight. He seems very thin.

 

[EnterName]

No too thin. Good news is he still active and hunting. Post some info on you Tank. Age Size , etc. Mine will eat TDO Chromaboost small slighty crushed pellets. You must Target feed with a Pipet. They are high protein and can help your Mandarin put on weight. That's if he will eat them. I supplemental feed my WC every morning as that's when they seem to be the hungriest. Just feed her this morning and she usually eats about 10 pieces or so. The trick is distracting the other fish as mine will barge in and eat the food.

I have had the tank for 6 months now and have probably added about 10’bottles of tiger pods so far. I think my mistake is picking the wrong pods, as theyre really big and dont hide well from fish. At night i see different types that are much smaller but evidently it isnt enough for my mandarin.

I will buy more bottles of smaller pods and supplement those. Thankfully he still swims and hunts all day

If you don't want the other fish to get the pods: Wait for the lights to go out or be extremely dim, turn off all pumps and then add the pods. This will give them a chance to hide in rocks and sand before the fish eat them.

 

[W31Olds]

Tigr PODs will be eaten by all sorts of fish and are probably getting wiped out before your Mandarin gets very many. I don't think they reproduce very well also. You could try frozen Copepods but mine wouldn't eat them.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have had the tank for 6 months now and have probably added about 10’bottles of tiger pods so far. I think my mistake is picking the wrong pods, as theyre really big and dont hide well from fish. At night i see different types that are much smaller but evidently it isnt enough for my mandarin.

I will buy more bottles of smaller pods and supplement those. Thankfully he still swims and hunts all day

A mandarin can go through a bottle of pods in a weekend, they eat thousands per day. I'm sorry but it will likely starve to death, no point in spending $25 a pop at this point, just learn the hard lesson. I've tried twice and watched it starve to death both times, its really hard to take as a fishkeeper so I'm sorry again and good luck to you.

By the way, culture your own pods and stop buying them, its so easy and cheap its ridiculous, no need to pay those crazy prices for water bugs. pm me if you want I live in Toronto too, cheers

 

[Reef Jedi]

No, he is starving and on the brink of death. You could rush order a mandarin feeder kit from algae barn and see if that helps. Then keep adding pods. He can be saved but needs immediate food so a rush order needs to happen before he starves to death.