Mandarin fish mia

[Natchos]

Shoot. It's been a whole day that we've been looking for our little mandarin fish. We can't find him. He usually hangs out in the back of our 28 gal nano cube, and for some reason we can't see him today. We were initially thinking maybe our crab got him. We got our flashlight tonight to look at the tank in the dark, and you won't believe this... We just found out that there is actually 4 crabs in there. I am so worried. Did he get snatched by one of the crabs? We bought this tank and the contents from someone 4 weeks ago now, and we (and the seller) thought there was only one crab in there. Now we found the original crab (1 inch body) and two smaller one and a very small baby one tonight. Should we get rid of them all? We also have 2 clowns and an algae blenny in there. I'd hate it if they took over everything. Help!

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

How long has the mandarin been in the tank (before you got it)?? Was it eating prepared foods? maybe it starved to death.

As for the crabs try the glass trick. Lean a glass or bottle up against the rock at night time with some food in the bottom. The crabs will fall in and not be able to get back out. Then you can put them in the back of the tank or somewhere where they wont do any more harm.

 

[Natchos]

Thanks. I gather that the mandarin fish was in there for 14 months. He ate copepods I was told. Now, this might be stupid, but I have no idea how he got the copepods. There is a refugium behind my tank, and I was always under the impression he got them from there. Was I wrong? I got some of the brine shrimps we feed the clowns as well. I am not sure moving the crabs to the back would help, as the tank is quite small. I put a mason jar in and will put some food in it (but what kind?) in it. Then I'll see if my lfs wants them. I'll take a picture of them tomorrow, if we catch any. I sure hope Bernard (the mandarin) comes back. So sad.

 

[Natchos]

Holy smokes, we just found a fifth one. Did some looking up online and they look like they might be gorilla crabs. Not cool. I won't be able to sleep now... Yuck. Gotta get them out I suppose.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

mmm a picture of the setup might help. By putting the crabs in the back i meant if you had a separate compartment in the back of the tank...bringing them to the LFS is fine too though. Definitely post pics if you catch any

If the mandarin ate copepods then the previous owner was probably buying them and adding some to the tank since mandarins eat a lot, do you see any bugs in your refugium? Mandarins usually need a larger tank since they eat so much. I have one in my 28 nano but she eats frozen foods very well and i also have a lot of amphipods in my tank. Did you notice that your mandarin looked skinny at all? Also brine shrimp is not very good for your fish, it is more of a treat. I would look into buying some mysis shrimp and blood worms, both come in the frozen cubes.

I hope you find bernard..mandarins are great fish, specially when they are eating frozen foods haha

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

crabs are so gross...i dont like putting my hand in the tank when i know there is a crab lurking..creeps me out. Do they have the black tips?? Usually black tipped ones are bad I'm pretty sure

 

[Natchos]

Yeah they are gross. Black tips, hairy and red eyes. Yuck. Hoping we catch these buggers tonight. If not the rocks will have to come apart and we'll hunt them for their dear lives. Still sucks about little Bernard though. I'll post pictures of the whole thing tomorrow. Thanks for your help and support

 

[cmor1701d]

Unless a mandarin is eating prepared foods it will starve in less than a 75 gallon tank that has ~100# or more of LR and a healthy pod population.

Unless you won recently won the PowerBall or MegaMillions it would be difficult to buy enough pods to keep a mandarin alive in a 28.

I have also been hearing reports of mandarins that were known to eat prepared foods at the lfs, stop doing so in the home aquarium.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Did you catch anything?? I forgot to mention any kind of food will work really, just some brine or flakes at the bottom and they should go right in!

 

[Natchos]

Yup. We caught one overnight. My husband's trap worked. I'll post a picture next. He's pretty big.

 

[Natchos]

Here's a picture. Sorry, not the best quality. It's hard to photograph it, he's in my daughter's sea monkeys container. His body is at least an inch wide.

 

[hackteck]

did you buy those crabs? or did they hitchhike

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Looks pretty big!

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium

 

[Natchos]

They are definitely hitchhikers! We bought this tank used from someone last month, with all the stuff in it. He knew he had a crab in there, and he never bothered getting him out. That mandarin was in this tank for 14 months, and was doing super well too. Can't believe he's gone.

 

[jenatron]

That mandarin was in this tank for 14 months, and was doing super well too. Can't believe he's gone.

He was probably supplementing pods. Once you bought the tank the supply depleted, and he starved.

 

[Hinds04]

He was probably supplementing pods. Once you bought the tank the supply depleted, and he starved.

What do pods eat?

 

[jenatron]

What do pods eat?

Sorry, I'll be more clear. Mandarins usually only eat copepods. You can buy copepods if your tank isn't plentiful. I was suggesting that the previous owner probably bought copepods, since it's unlikely the tank had a large enough supply of pods for the mandarin. Then you obtained the tank and the source of copepods stopped. Then he had nothing to eat and starved.
As Cmor said, it would have been pretty pricey to keep up though, especially for 14 months. Perhaps he wasn't really in there for 14 months?

 

[austinsdad]

If you've got enuf rock in your tank, pods can live in the nooks and crannies and multiply on their own. I had a big fat mandarin that lived in my 72g tank for years with about 100 lbs or more of rock.

 

[Natchos]

Thanks everyone. When we bought the tank it was established for 18 months, and it has live rocks and a refugium in the back with some macro algae. I could see copepods in the tanks on a regular basis, but then again, I am not sure if he had enough. Not entirely sure. He was a pretty tiny mandarin, especially for being 14 months old. He didn't seem to be in any kind of distress but that too is hard to tell I suppose. On a good note, we caught another one of the crabs last night. Off away he goes... Still have some babies to catch though, they may be harder to catch, as they seem to stay under the nooks and crannies at the bottom. We may have to lift all the rocks and find them ourselves. I'll update you as I go. Thanks again!

 

[Natchos]

And here's the second crab. He's missing 2 legs on one side. I am not so sad for him though.