Nathans beloved Mandrin has died

[Nathanlando]

I thought I would share my loss with everyone as this fish was important to me. Sadly despite all my efforts she starved. When I got her from the LFS she had just started that day (apprently) on frozen food. I had her for about 4 months and she was never very active or an aggressive eater.. kinda fluttered around contently picking at things. The last few days she wouldnt respond to my many attempts to feed her direct with the baster & mysis. Everyone else is doing well. I work closely with my LFS .. I dont know what happened here.. what I did do is get a new spotted mandrin which is much healthier hardier and more an agressive eater from the get go..

Since this is my first direct post .. here is what I have. My previous tank was a 30Gal I left with the girlfriend which was my starter tank.

55 Gal Sedona Serires Tank/Canopy
2 Maxijet 1200 powerheads
Seaclone 150 Skimmer (That works well, so do be giv'n me no slack!)
Must be 100lbs of fiji rock

cleaner shrimp
blood shrimp
pistol shrimp
peppermint shrimp

6 blue legs
4 turbo snails

blue starfish
yellow cucumber

Chevron Tang
Green Spotted Mandrin
Watchman Goby
Matched pair of fire goby's
pair of ocellairs clowns (spelling)

Various corals.
My water levels are checked weekly and everything is on par..?
Is anyone interested?

My web cam is always on .. but better viewed when the lights come on at 4pm EST till 2am

http://66.186.67.226:8078

 

[Anonymous]

Very sorry for your loss

Does your Watchman sift most of the sand or does it tend to stay in one spot?

 

[Nathanlando]

Watchman doesnt really sift too much.. he's got a cavern for him and the pistol that he gaurds against evil unknowns.

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

Sorry to hear that It's hard to loose a fish. How old is your tank? Newly set up tanks aren't very good producers of food for maderins.

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey there Nathan- sorry for your loss. Mandarins are tricky to feed, as I'm sure you know, and often only eat live foods. I designed my last system around keeping a Mandarin, and had a fuge on top of the tank with breeding peppermints feeding the tank with baby shrimp for the mandarin. Even then, I had to feed him live brine that were fortified with selcon and algae, and provide established live rock for pods. They say let your LR mature for at least 6 months before adding pod eating fish, like a Mandarin. I always also had to feed the other fish and shrimp in the tank before hand, then target feed the mandarin the live brine. They are not "active" hunters, and mine only went after food if it was basically right in front of him.

I've heard of Mandarins eating frozen food, but only after a long acclimation and "training" in a new tank. Mine never did. Not to flame your LFS- but I seriously doubt it was eating frozen food when you bought it...

PS Cool web cam btw!

 

[WRASSER]

mandrins are hard, you really need a mature tank to keep them. they need the coepods and anthrapods to eat. ihad two of them in my 150 and they would even come off the rock and eat the spectrum that would fall to the sand. i had mistakingly put the wrong crab in the tank and it ate both of them,and a couple others. i plan on putting two more in.