Possible sick fish?

[K-pow]

I’ve had this guy for about 2 weeks and he has been fine doing well. Showing interest in live and frozen food. Seems to be eating fine. But I’ve noticed the last 2 days that he has a weird milky film. Is this a sickness or is this normal for the mandarin goby to have? It does come and go throughout the day.

 

[Dragon52]

#reedsquad should be able to help

 

[Zack K]

When do you notice this slime coat? Mandarins are known for sleeping in a "protective" slime coat at night. If you only notice this shortly after the lights come on it could be him shedding this bubble.

 

[BloopFish]

Mandarin gobies are also known to produce extra slime coat when stressed. They are already known to have a thicker slime coat than most fish, so this makes the extra slime look very drastic. Testing your ammonia levels and other parameters would help you figure out what's causing it to stress out. Also, are there other tank mates that may be stressing it out?

 

[K-pow]

Nothing seems to bother him. I will watch the times i notice it better, and see the exact times. The other fish seem to be okay with him. And he comes out of the rocks often and swims around. My parameter are all good. The ammonia is at a 0.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its a natural secretion produced by mandarins. They use for:
Disease prevention from ick
When stressed
To ward off predators as secretion has a bad smell towards predators

 

[K-pow]

Well this is all good to know. Thank you everyone for taking the time to share. I really appreciate it

 

[huckjai]

My Mandarin would shed every morning while in QT. Don't really notice it any more in the main tank. They always have sand and debris stuck on them at times because of the slime coat. Scares me sometimes, haha.