Blue Legs Ate My Green Mandarin?

[mridgep]

I had my Green Mandarin for 2 days. I first noticed a little, what I thought to be, fin rot or some other parasite. I dipped him in freshwater today. Lights went off. I came back and turned on a room light and the fin was gone and he is dying.

Tank consists of 3 Yellow Tail Damsels, 5 Astreas
14 Blue Leg Hermits, and 1 Blue Starfish.

I'm assuming that it was the hermits. I know that its highly unlikely that any fish attacked him because they know that he's poisonous. I know that no parasite works as fast as it did.

Why he doesn't just swim away from the hermits and why has he let me pick him up so easily when I went to dip him?

Since he is poisonous to other fish do I need to do a waterchange. He has secreted a little slimy stuff that's sticking to the LR.


Please share any experiences or comments that you have regarding this.

Thank you,
Matthew P. Ridge

 

[davelin315]

It's been a long time since I've had a mandarin, but I don't know that they are good candidates for a FW dip. They secrete a very thick slime coat from what I remember and that makes them pretty close to being immune from ich and other ailments (I would assume this includes fin rot, which I don't think would be cured by a FW dip anyway). My guess is that you might have injured it by dipping it, although as scavengers, your blue legs would have eaten it once it started dying.

 

[EmilyB]

No way blue legs could/would attack a mandarin under normal conditions.

He let you pick him up because he was ill, or sleeping (if you so happened to do this at night).

A FW bath for a mandarin, as Davelin said is probably a sure recipe to kill it's protective coat and doom it.

 

[31-2c]

I would look closely at the blue damsels as the cause of the fin damage. Damsels love to pick on other fish and each other

 

[Laurie]

I would say your Mandarin was on his way out before you even put him in your tank. If you have only had him for 2 days and he was sick enough that he let you pick him up that means he didn't have the energy to move. A healthy Mandarin wouldn't even let you get close. I have 2 (in 2 different tanks) and they disappear if a net or my hand goes into the water.

I'm sorry about your Mandarin. It can be very difficult to find a healthy one especially if they have been at the LFS for a while.

 

[mridgep]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Matt