Dead Mandarin !

[evenings]

Two nights ago, I saw my Mandarin emaciated and barely moving, (another newbie mistake of purchasing a fishand putting it in an immature tank) her fins that normally undulate are steady and I can tell some heavy breathing.

NOW, I can't seem to find her, she must be dead in the tank somewhere behind the live rocks. Can anyone tell me how to find her? Will I have to disassemble my rockscape? I tested the water today and all seems well, no detectable ammonia yet. I have a brittle star and a serpent star, what are the odds of them scavaging her remains? It would be rather sad to see her bones floating one day. Or worst, an ammonia spike that might hurt my other fish. Please advice. TIA

 

[SquishyFish]

If the stars are big enough, they probably already have her. Green stars are fairly oportunistic and even aggressive at times. I would just leave it as is and test the tank regularly over the next few days.

 

[Atari]

Sorry to hear about your mandarin you don't have a green star do you?

 

[quarryshark]

Sorry for your loss.
For the future, I don't have a madarin, but I do have 2 Scooter Dragonettes (thought they were Blennies when I bought them) which are difficult to keep as well. Maybe I'm lucky, but both of mine love the Angel food preparation I feed my Macalosus. I just need to target feed them, they are slow and get out competed.
Had them for 8 month..fat and sassy.

 

[evenings]

No my star is not green, it's a dark-brown brittle star and a light brown serpent star. Yeah they must already have her... THanks Guys