Hi C-C,
Our Mandarin is doing great! I thought that maybe our live food amount had gone down because I was not seeing the little copepods hanging on the sides anymore and had harder time finding them scurrying over the rocks. I panicked and bought some arctipods online...thinking I was getting LIVE pods, but they came in a bottle and are dead ones! But my fish go crazy for them and gives them variety. The mandarin, on the otherhand, has nothing to do with them, unless he may get some that float to the rocks. But that same morning that my shipment was coming, I took another look right after I turned on the lights and the ground was covered in these little crawling things. They did not look like the copepods I saw before...these were much bigger and I could see two antennaes and little feet on both sides...lots of little feet. I thought, oh know...worms! But then thought, well maybe the Mandarin is eating those. When I got the articpods, I realized that other then the color...mine are clear to white and the ones in the bottle are pinkish, they look the same...SO, I have some type of pod in there. When the lights go on, they tend to scatter, but our mandarin spends all day picking over the rock and his tongue is always going out, so he is finding them. The only thing that still I don't have an answer for it the fading of color around his face. He did take a fall...kind of slipped down the sides and landed on an anenome, so I thought that may have done it. He is very lively and has grown so much in the short time we have had him. I think maybe 3/4 to an inch in about a month or so. I guess that means he is getting plenty, even though he doesn't eat anything I serve up.
I did not get the flame yet. Some were stating that our tank was overcrowded as it is, so I am waiting to see how things go. We have two newer specimens, an orchid dottyback and a red longfin basslet. The basslet has been unseen since it's arrival almost a week ago. It came small...maybe about an inch and a half, but you would think it would have shown in a week. We have not seen any remains, but I feel that if you don't see sight of a fish in a week, something must be wrong. And the dottyback, though it has been very shy, had seemed to find its niche. Had a little area of it's own and swam around that area, retreating into a little hole when it felt scared. Yesterday I did not see it come out at all and today is the same. I can see it in the hole and it SEEMS to have rapid breathing and it just laying in the hole. The hole is very small and so is the fish. I checked all my water conditions today and everything is perfect, and has been since it's arrival. The only thing I noted was that to me, it seemed the water felt warmer. Our thermometer just went out, so I don't know the temp for sure. I usually keep it around 76 and it felt pretty warm today, so I turned it down. Will have to get a new one today so we know for sure. My other fish all seem very active and no breathing problems. This dottyback is from the wild and I am thinking that maybe I should have bought the aquarium raised one instead. We'll see. I will have to sneek this one out if it dies because it belongs to my 3 year old and she will be heartbroken. Fish...never thought you could get so attached to them!!!
Would appreciate any other feedback.
Bev  |