Mandarin fish is ill!!

[jonocoombes]

I have woke up today to find my mandarin fish struggling to breathe and not moving.. all the other fish are fine and all tests are perfect! Please help really worried I'm going to loose him thanks in advance

[54seaweed]

did you know:
mandarins are very fragile fish
mandarins eat up to 2500/4000 pods a day
mandarins require a well matured tank of a year or more
mandarins can starve to death in less than 48 hrs
unless trained to eat frozen but not always a guarantee
...I'd like to buy a Mandarin! | Melev's Reef, Inc

[Sniperhank]

Can you tell us more about the system? It is hard to make any statements with what is being said.
The unfortunate part here is that usually by the time we notice mandarins not doing well it is already too late. Take what seaweed said about them and understand how these fish are built to survive. They swim around and eat pods, some have even stated 1 every second, due to how their digestive system is built.
I kept one when I first got into the hobby. I was arrogant and thought that I could do it. It cost me a ton of money in pods that I dumped into the tank on a monthly basis. When I found him eating mysis, I stopped buying pods and it starved to death.
These beautiful fish simply belong in the ocean.

[jonocoombes]

Thanks very much to you both.. after a lot more research I'm guessing he was defantly not getting the food he needed. Bit angry at the shop that sold him to me as didn't really give me enough about him.. he sadly died . And was so skinny. I had him for 3 months and always seemed happy,just suddenly went under..

[Sniperhank]

Sadly, it was probably 3 months of starvation. That is simply how mandarin work out most of the time. They are very hard to keep alive. It isn't much on the LFS as it is us as the hobbyists as well. They will carry what we will buy, and we buy them because of how they have striking and beautiful colors. Mandarins simply belong in the ocean due to their specialized eating habits and high mortality rate.