Mandarin fish is dead

[guiltypen]

Hello.. sorry for the long post .I have started my nano reef tank about 3 weeks ago . Unfortunately were I live aquarium stores give you very wrong information just to get you to buy from them. After setting up a 60 liter aio tank 45 liters after adding live rocks from an established tank “ store bought “ and the rest of the filtration system (bio media , heater, floss, pump ). A week ago i got some fish and invertebrates (shop recommendations) . Clown fish , bangaii cardinalfish ,two mandarin fish and couple of hermit crabs and snails (I realized later that it’s way to much and I probably shouldn’t have added any fish yet . In any case the two mandarin fish were fighting because they were both males... but at least they were fine. Today I left the house after checking on the fish and getting readings of 0.2 ammonia and 0.02 nitrite . Which based on the the fish store guy is fine. I came back home and I realized that one of mandarin fish is not in his usual spot and noticed that his belly was white and he was barely moving ..

I went to grab any bucket to put him in and try to feed him or do anything.. I came back and he was dead ... I don’t know if it was the ammonia level or is it an infection.. I’m new to this and google search gives so many answers. What should I do .. how can I prevent my other fish from dying too ...

 

[Fishurama]

Your tank is way too new for a mandarin. Do not take LFS advice as a newbie. Most just want to make a sale. You have to do your own research. Any ammonia is bad and is likely ammonia burn, which gets to the gills, causes inflammation then death.. Do not add any fish until you get it down to 0. Mandarin need a special diet of copepods as they do not have a normal digestive tract (no area to store food) and need to constantly eat do to this. They eat hundreds a day and a bottle ususally only has a few thousand. Let them build up in your tank before adding another. Do not add anymore fish, if you can dose some nitrates/phosphates to rid the ammonia, and let things settle for a few weeks. Then add fish slowly(1 at a time). Hopefully to a QT.
This is a good website to check fish/corals. It gives you difficulty, if they are reef safe, and sometimes what they eat. For corals it shows lighting,placement, flow,etc.

live aquaria example

 

[fishguy242]

hi,sorry to see ,yes bad advice from store ,tank is too new to support mandy ,much less two,poss death from fighting or starvation,have you seen them eat? main diet is pods

 

[Pistondog]

Hello.. sorry for the long post .I have started my nano reef tank about 3 weeks ago . Unfortunately were I live aquarium stores give you very wrong information just to get you to buy from them. After setting up a 60 liter aio tank 45 liters after adding live rocks from an established tank “ store bought “ and the rest of the filtration system (bio media , heater, floss, pump ). A week ago i got some fish and invertebrates (shop recommendations) . Clown fish , bangaii cardinalfish ,two mandarin fish and couple of hermit crabs and snails (I realized later that it’s way to much and I probably shouldn’t have added any fish yet . In any case the two mandarin fish were fighting because they were both males... but at least they were fine. Today I left the house after checking on the fish and getting readings of 0.2 ammonia and 0.02 nitrite . Which based on the the fish store guy is fine. I came back home and I realized that one of mandarin fish is not in his usual spot and noticed that his belly was white and he was barely moving ..

I went to grab any bucket to put him in and try to feed him or do anything.. I came back and he was dead ... I don’t know if it was the ammonia level or is it an infection.. I’m new to this and google search gives so many answers. What should I do .. how can I prevent my other fish from dying too ...

Welcome guilty
Sorry for the loss.
You got some bum advice, out here would not start mandarins on a 6 month old tank.
Unless the remaining mandarin is tank raised, he'll need alot of copepods, which your tank is lacking, unless you added some.
You can purchase these online, which you should do quickly

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/6652/?pcatid=6652

 

[USMA36]

Way too much and your tank wasn’t cycled. 1 mandarin never mind 2 in a nano tank is way too much. I have 1 in a 90 and I am constantly adding pods to keep him fat and happy. I don’t know what lfs you use but I’d never go there again. research research research! Start here with the BRS 52 weeks of reefing series.

 

[PTXReef]

I would set up a baby brine shrimp culture ASAP to supplement the other mandy, unless you are lucky and it takes to frozen spirulina brine. It won’t last long if it keeps starving

 

[guiltypen]

Your tank is way too new for a mandarin. Do not take LFS advice as a newbie. Most just want to make a sale. You have to do your own research. Any ammonia is bad and is likely ammonia burn, which gets to the gills, causes inflammation then death.. Do not add any fish until you get it down to 0. Mandarin need a special diet of copepods as they do not have a normal digestive tract (no area to store food) and need to constantly eat do to this. They eat hundreds a day and a bottle ususally only has a few thousand. Let them build up in your tank before adding another. Do not add anymore fish, if you can dose some nitrates/phosphates to rid the ammonia, and let things settle for a few weeks. Then add fish slowly(1 at a time). Hopefully to a QT.
This is a good website to check fish/corals. It gives you difficulty, if they are reef safe, and sometimes what they eat. For corals it shows lighting,placement, flow,etc.

live aquaria example

Thanks for your reply.. much appreciated.. I’m going to do a water change and does with prime water conditioner . I’m not going to add anything to the tank unless I do a proper research .. the store guy was trying to convince me to get a bubble tip anemone I’m sure that would have been a disaster..
thanks again for your help

 

[guiltypen]

hi,sorry to see ,yes bad advice from store ,tank is too new to support mandy ,much less two,poss death from fighting or starvation,have you seen them eat? main diet is pods

Unfortunately some people just don’t care about anything other than selling.. I have seen the mandarin picking something from the rocks which I assumed was food I trying feeding them frozen copepods , and mysis shrimp but never seen them actually eat it

 

[Billldg]

Unfortunately it does sound like you were giving some bad advice. I am sorry to say that with your tank being as new and as small as it is, you really only have 2 options. One is to feed pods daily and the other is to give it away or bring it back to the LFS. I wish I could give you some better options.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Shame on them. . . Not a Good first fish.
How long has tank been cycling and do you know current parameters ?
Being in Kuwait, , , what is tank temperature?

 

[guiltypen]

Welcome guilty
Sorry for the loss.
You got some bum advice, out here would not start mandarins on a 6 month old tank.
Unless the remaining mandarin is tank raised, he'll need alot of copepods, which your tank is lacking, unless you added some.
You can purchase these online, which you should do quickly

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/6652/?pcatid=6652

Thanks for the reply . Unfortunately I have been trying to find some live food that I can purchase but I couldn’t find anything were I live and couldn’t find anywhere that will ship to my country “kuwait”. I’m going to check if liveaquaria can ship internationally. Thanks

 

[guiltypen]

I would set up a baby brine shrimp culture ASAP to supplement the other mandy, unless you are lucky and it takes to frozen spirulina brine. It won’t last long if it keeps starving

Thank you for your reply. I’m going to try getting brine shrimp eggs as soon as the shops open tomorrow. The last thing I want is my fish to dying from starvation !!

 

[62518161]

Google.

 

[guiltypen]

Unfortunately it does sound like you were giving some bad advice. I am sorry to say that with your tank being as new and as small as it is, you really only have 2 options. One is to feed pods daily and the other is to give it away or bring it back to the LFS. I wish I could give you some better options.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll pass by the store tomorrow then they open and see if they can take it back for a while at least. If they won’t I’ll try to get some brine shrimp eggs and hope he will survive until they hatch.

 

[guiltypen]

Shame on them. . . Not a Good first fish.
How long has tank been cycling and do you know current parameters ?
Being in Kuwait, , , what is tank temperature?

Ikr! The tank has been cycling for three weeks now ph=8.4, ammonia=0.2 , nitrite=0.02 , kh=9 temperature=25C/76.5f
I’m going to do a 20% water change now

 

[guiltypen]

Google.

Unfortunately I assumed the seller knows or at least care . Never again...

 

[DSEKULA]

Sry sounds like you got really bad advice. Mandarins are very active fish and will be all over the tank. The one having a "normal spot" is indicative that the fish is beeing bullied out of food or cant find food (pods).
Id get that ammonia down asap and either commit to buying pods or find someone willing to take in the remaining mandrin. Dont get too hard on yourself, that type stuff happens to all of us in the beginning i sware some lfs wait for noobs just to sell stuff. I got sold a sea apple with a week old tank.
Ferl free to get opinions on here too, some of might not have all the information but we also dont make money off telling you something csn go in your tank.

 

[guiltypen]

Sry sounds like you got really bad advice. Mandarins are very active fish and will be all over the tank. The one having a "normal spot" is indicative that the fish is beeing bullied out of food or cant find food (pods).
Id get that ammonia down asap and either commit to buying pods or find someone willing to take in the remaining mandrin. Dont get too hard on yourself, that type stuff happens to all of us in the beginning i sware some lfs wait for noobs just to sell stuff. I got sold a sea apple with a week old tank.
Ferl free to get opinions on here too, some of might not have all the information but we also dont make money off telling you something csn go in your tank.

Thanks for your advice . Much appreciated I’ll try to find pods , live brine shrimp that they can feed on or a place for the mandarin to live in . This is such a great community. I will definitely check here before I get some more horrible recommendations . thanks

 

[K7BMG]

Sorry for the loss and frustration
R2R is your place to research.
Using the search tool upper right hand corner, will yield you great results, now and in the future.
Type in the fish name or product name and it will find useful information.

 

[PTXReef]

Thanks for your advice . Much appreciated I’ll try to find pods , live brine shrimp that they can feed on or a place for the mandarin to live in . This is such a great community. I will definitely check here before I get some more horrible recommendations . thanks

Research what you need beforehand for the BBS culture so you don’t miss anything when you go to the LFS!

2-liter bottle, air line tubing, air pump, light source (any lamp works), and of the course the eggs! I am using the SF Bay brand hatchery kit at the moment and it does the job!