Madarin starving thanks to blenny

[bjj_junkie]

Hey everyone, I came across an unexpected problem. I've had my mandarin for about 2 months now and he's been well and healthy. I made sure to have a good pod population before putting him in there and it seems like I did but recently I bought a lawnmower blenny to help with an algae on sand problem I had but it turns out that he doesn't eat anything but they algae (which is gone) and he eats all the pods so now my mandarin is super skinny and the goby is starting to get skinny too. Idk what to do. If I add more pods they won't reproduce on time for a good population to start again and if the blenny took out the population I already had in less than to weeks it's just gonna be pointless. I don't want either to die and I feel bad for the mandarin. Idk what to do, I was thinking putting him in the refugium but I want advice from other people that know more. Thanks

 

[mr_X]

I have never known lawnmower blennies to eat pods, but I have seen many mandarins eat tanks clean of pods and then starve to death. This process can easily take a couple/few months to happen. I seriously don't think it has anything to do with the algae blenny.
What size tank do you have, how old is it, and how much rock is in it?

 

[bjj_junkie]

I have never known lawnmower blennies to eat pods, but I have seen many mandarins eat tanks clean of pods and then starve to death. This process can easily take a couple/few months to happen. I seriously don't think it has anything to do with the algae blenny.
What size tank do you have, how old is it, and how much rock is in it?

It's a 60 display 80 total with about 70lb total rock and its still very young at about 5 months. I supplied lots of pods to the display and refugium about a month before adding the mandarin. I just find it odd that this happened right after the blenny was brought in. He doesn't eat what I feed and there's very little to no algae left and I see him sucking in by the glass where the mandarins likes to eat

 

[mr_X]

I don't know for sure, but I would say it's due to the young tank, and not the blenny. possibly just coincidence.

 

[bjj_junkie]

I don't know for sure, but I would say it's due to the young tank, and not the blenny. possibly just coincidence.

You could be right. I'm gonna try and order more pods but it'll probably be to late by then

 

[mr_X]

take some rock out of the refugium if you have any, and put it in the display temporarily.

 

[Ingy]

One thing the blenny probably did was eat all the pod food. Pods also eat algae, and as it was eaten by the blenny, your pod population also would have dropped. Thereby starving your manderin.

I like to suck pods out of my sump chaeto ball with the turkey baster and shoot them into my DT rockwork. I do it either right after feeding my fish in the day when my sump lights are off (easier to catch pods) or right after the DT lights go out so the pods can get into the rocks better. My hope is they reproduce better thereby keeping my pod population up.

 

[bjj_junkie]

One thing the blenny probably did was eat all the pod food. Pods also eat algae, and as it was eaten by the blenny, your pod population also would have dropped. Thereby starving your manderin.

I like to suck pods out of my sump chaeto ball with the turkey baster and shoot them into my DT rockwork. I do it either right after feeding my fish in the day when my sump lights are off (easier to catch pods) or right after the DT lights go out so the pods can get into the rocks better. My hope is they reproduce better thereby keeping my pod population up.

That's a good idea, ill try this and the rock to see of it helps, thanks

 

[54seaweed]

heres a really good read about mandarins

Melevsreef.com - Mandarin Care