Who Gives A Fish Forums

hi, i got my spotted mandarin fish about a month ago, i'd done my research on potential eating issues and the lady at the LFS is a mate, she told me which one was the better eater and i checked it out three times that week, it was chomping on brine shrimp like it was going out of fashion, but since i've had it home, i've never seen it eat, it just stares at food and if another fish comes near, it chases them off, but still won't eat, it's lost a lot of weight now and i'm getting worried.

Honestly, I've got a bad feeling about this. I went through the same thing with my scooter blenny - same family of fish, same issues. They're super picky and usually only take live food, I've heard of some exceptions but that's extremely rare. I'd try feeding it something small and live, like copepods or maybe even live bloodworms. To be blunt, when a fish stops eating for that long, the outlook isn't great.

I've known of seveflake mandarins eating frozen food for years, but brine shrimp's nutritional value is pretty low if I recall correctly. They need a decent amount of live pods to thrive too. In the wild, they're mostly on the lookout for pods, I think.

You can actually buy live pods to supplement your tank's population. What's the tank size and how much live rock do you have?

Yeah this is the problem with mandarins, not fluxeonets, I don't think. My experience with a scooter blenny, which I mentioned earlier, is that it will eat frozen mysis but won't compete with the other fish for it.

Try him on frozen mysis, it might just do the trick. Probably a good idea would be to get a small container, like a drinks bottle with the top cut off or a small jar, and put some frozen mysis in this. Then, place it down the bottom of the tank, see if he's got a favorite spot he hangs out in more than others. This way, he might have more of a chance to get to the food before the other fish do.

I've been using frozen mysis along with a mix of other frozen foods, but still no luck. I've got plenty of live rock in the tank, so that shouldn't be the issue. I'm thinking of trying copepods now, but to be honest, I'm not holding out much hope.

ive heard brine shrimp with garlic is a hit with mandarins, mine's gone wild for it, worth a shot maybe

reeledin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 04, 2025 5:36 am hi, i got my spotted mandarin fish about a month ago, i'd done my research on potential eating issues and the lady at the LFS is a mate, she told me which one was the better eater and i checked it out three times that week, it was chomping on brine shrimp like it was going out of fashion, but since i've had it home, i've never seen it eat, it just stares at food and if another fish comes near, it chases them off, but still won't eat, it's lost a lot of weight now and i'm getting worried.

Garlic's an idea, but I'm not holding my breath. Worth a shot, I suppose.

You should try copepods, see if it'll take to those. Not sure if your LFS carries them, but you can find them online.

Water parameters okay, I assume? Just ruling out the obvious.

What else you got in the tank, out of curiosity? Wondering if the other fish'll be competing for the copepods too.

Garlic should be used sparingly though, as I'm pretty sure it can cause liver damage if fed too frequently, and it's not exactly a natural food source for fish either, if I recall correctly.