White patches on mandarin fins

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SkinnyPete

Aquarium Advice Freak
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Feb 4, 2005
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My mandarin has been in my system for about 10 months. She has always been on the skinny side but recently started accepting frozen foods. I've been feeding her mysis daily and she's been eating it very enthusiastically.

Recently, I've noticed a discoloration on her fins. White patches on two of her fins.

Ammo 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 5, phosphates .03, sg 1.024, temp 72-74.

I've got a slight nitrate issue as I've begun feeding new seahorses 1-2 times daily. I'm doing weekly water changes and am going to add more macro to the tank to try to boost nutrient exporting.

The only thing that has changed is the temperature. I've converted the tank to a seahorse tank and it is recommended to drop temps below 74. I took very special care to drop from 78 down to about 73 very slowly over the course of about a week. These white patches seem to have appeared right around that time, but it may be a coincidence.

Not sure if I should just monitor this or remove the fish to a QT tank. Could this temperature really be a problem for her? Her behavior has not changed at all and she has definitely gotten noticeably bigger since eating frozen. I also don't want to spread anything to my seahorses.

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72-78 should be ok for the mandarin. I would keep an eye out and see if there are any more changes.
Does the color come back later in the day?
 
No, it doesn't come back during the day. It's like I can still see the pattern underneath, it's just washed out patches and I noticed that it's actually on almost all of her fins. Nowhere on her body though.
 
Try soaking her food in garlic, selcon and zoe. I soak mine for about 30 mins.
 
Hmmm, well, I would just keep an eye on her. I am thinking it could just be the temp change. I'm not sure how long it should be to lower it from where you had it. Hopefully someone with more experience/knowledge will have a better explination, or suggestion.
 
Okay, this is weird. I got home from work and the spots were still there but they were more of a slight discoloration than white patches. Then, I fed my tank and while she was chasing down mysis, I the spots were bright white again. Could it possibly be a mood thing somehow?

Plus, she isn't eating as vigorously as she normally does and seems to be having some difficulty swimming in high current. Not good signs.
 
Anyone have some thoughts on this? She's eating great now. In fact, better than ever. She chases down frozen mysis now and joins my seahorses at their feeding station. She isn't really having problems in the current as I thought. I might have just caught a fluke event.

She's acting fine...better than fine actually, but those spots on her fins seem to come and go during the day. One minute they are there and VERY noticeable - the next they are barely visible. None of my horses seem to have any problems (yet) and there are no other fish in the system. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
I don't know much abour mandarins and their moods. I do have a blue devil that truns almost black, when he is mad. I also have a 3 stripe damsel that has a white spot on his forehead that changes to black when he gets mad. It could be moods. I would watch to see what events happen to make the color change, like feeding or resting....
 
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