Super sad evening

[slojmn]

I found my beloved Mandarin dragonette dead under a ledge this evening. He was very bloated and covered in slime. I am at a complete loss as to what the he*l happened to him. All other inhabitants are fine. I saw him last night as usual and he was cruising and eating pods. He has been a tireless hunter of pods for over a year now in my tank and has been fat and always healthy. This is so strange. He was just blown up like a baloon with no marks or discoloration. As soon as I got him out from under the ledge he floated to the top and bobbed around as he was so bloated. I am just floored by this. He was my favorite fish. I have my tank devoted to a mandarin with nice non agressive tank mates, a refugium attached, and plenty of pods for hunting. This is so sad and, as usual, unexplainable. I suppose I will get another dragonette as I absolutely love them, but I am a bit worried as to what happened to him and could it happen to another mandarin. Could he have been caught by one of my starfish? But then they would have eaten him. What would cause the bloated body? So many questions and no answers on my end.

[zhenya]

Oh man,
I'm so sorry for your loss Slojmn From your description it seems like he was a healthy and happy fish,I have lost couple of fish to completely unexplainable reasons,one day healthy and vigorous and the very next morning- dead.Gosh,it so frustrating a hobby at times.

[organicreefer]

that sucks -my condolences.i dont have a clue what could have happened to youre fish-mandarins are practically impervious to most diseases and arent normally prayed upon.....

i lost my 41/2 year old mandarin just a couple weeks ago-but he had been in decline for over a year and i saw it coming -who knows it could very well have been old age-when i got him he was "full grown".

[Barry N.]

Man that's sad

I had a lawnmower blenny that I just loved . He would eat out of my hand. One day he just came up missing but when I took my 180 SPS tank down a few weeks ago I found him behind the tank. Never had any fish jump out before.

Sorry for your loss.

Barry

[slojmn]

Thanks for the nice words offered in condolence. It is hard not to get attached to these little dragonettes. I appreciate the kind thouhts.

I found two very small mandarin's at my lfs and they appear to be male and female. They were quite ematiated but hopelessly picking at unseens things in the tank they were housed in. I brought both home and they immediately began hunting the rocks and pecking like crazy. I have found them two early mornings in a row hanging out on the same rock pecking for pods. They have 120g of tank to get lost in but seem to be hanging out together. I have hopes that they will fatten up, grow, and bestow upon me the fabled mandarin mating dance in the future

[organicreefer]

they really are neat little fish........i have been considering looking for a pair myself.good luck with youre new little guys.

[scubadude]

Sorry bout your loss slojmn! Anyone ever witnessed these guys eating flatworms? I think i remember someone saying that, it sure would be nice if we could figure it out if they could live healthy solely on that source (or atleast for the most part)....I have seen quite a few fuges where there were TONS of flatworms enough to support a mandarin.

[jeff967]

slojmn, I know the feeling. we fattend one up far over 2 years, before loseing him to a powerhead my fault. good luck with the pair!
scuba, yes my first salt tank was a 20, I setup with about 15lbs of very fresh no stink LR, did not take long, tank was loaded with pods & white flatworms. mandarin was in 20 far 1year before moving him to my 100. iknow that one ate white ones.
jeff

[L and L]

Sorry to hear that. It's amazing how attached we get with these fish.

When we first got into the saltwater world.... we were "one of those" beginners who received bad information from our LFS. And bought a mandarin for our 30g two month old tank. They were aware of our tank specs, age and all the facts ...but, still suggested we buy the mandarin.

After I found some webboards and learned about them... I decided to put him in a 10g holding tank till I got the 100gRR running good.

I left early morning to drive to our LFS (50 miles away....hehe, not very local =) and I bought some live sand and hurried back to our house and get it running.... but, when I got back... the little guy had died while I was at the LFS.

My wife and I were deeply saddened by this. I decided right then.. that I would research everything before making any moves like that.

[Minh Nguyen]

Originally posted by slojmn
.......
I found two very small mandarin's at my lfs and they appear to be male and female. They were quite ematiated but hopelessly picking at unseens things in the tank they were housed in. I brought both home and they immediately began hunting the rocks and pecking like crazy. I have found them two early mornings in a row hanging out on the same rock pecking for pods. They have 120g of tank to get lost in but seem to be hanging out together. I have hopes that they will fatten up, grow, and bestow upon me the fabled mandarin mating dance in the future

Feed your tank well and you will be reward with fat Mandarins that will dance for you in the future.
Good luck

[rededteck]

Hey Slojmn welcome to Reefland.

Sorry to hear about the mandarin. I also have a single mandarin in my 220 reef. It is fat and happy and has a food source greater than it can consume.

I would enjoy a few snapshots if you some.

[Palmetto]

My condolences, slojmn.

I hope your new Dragonets dance away- I think you have a good chance. Non-paired Mandarins usually fight constantly, and the fact they are hanging out and eating together is a good sign.

Best wishes to the happy couple!

[slojmn]

Palmetto, Thanks for the well wishes. It has been about two weeks now, while they are not hanging out as much together and there is a bit of chasing here and there they seem to be quite content together. Minh let me know that even if they do pair up they usually don't hang out together to much, only when the dancing begins . I figure they will pair up as they mature since they are tolerating one another so well.

rededteck, Thanks for the nice welcome. I am trying to get some pictures of these guys as they are out and about way more than my last mandarin. I just have not gotten a good shot yet. When I do I will post it.