New Mandarin Goby

Ok before I get slaughtered, please let me explain.
I went to Petco looking for a tang and found her.
She is on deaths door and so she is my recue attempt.
Yes, I already have a mandarin. He is fat, happy, and eat frozen and pellets.
I have HOB refugium that I see pods in so I know they are there.
I doubt she will recover but in the week that I have had her I can already see an improvement in her color.
So, please don't chastise me. I know it proboly wasn't the best decision and she will most like not make it but I do not feel that by doing this I put my male in any danger of starving.

So anyways, here are pictures. She is very very thin and small. My male is proboly 2-3 times as big as her and about 200% fatter. My male and the new girl have already bonded. I see them sleeping together at night and I hope he will "teach" her to eat frozen and pellets as well.

The female




My male for comparison

 

K+!!

 

One of my favorite reef additions, good for you. If you have a large enough reef for her to graze on and a refugium supplying pods to boot I suspect you may be able to nurse her back to health.

Aside from signs of malnutrition are there any other signs of illness? Clouded eyes, peculiar behavior and the like? Just wondering if you should medicate her as well. I wish you luck on our rescue attempt.

 

I do not see any other signs like clouded eyes. She swims all around the tank and I see her picking at what im hoping is copepods.
When i first got her her skin was a little tattered, like she had been bullied but it seems to have healed up now.

 

That’s great news ! Sounds like the highly educated folks over at Petco had her in an incompatible tank and she was bullied as you suggest. When a fish is bullied they are stressed and do not eat as they should. Chances are Petco moved her to a better environment and now in your tank she’s in the very best environment. I suspect she will do very well for you.

 

i like her i wish you the best of luck you seemm like you know what your doing

 

What a nice thing to do. I myself love mandarins. Hope she recovers and do well for you.

 

Thanks
I really hope she makes it as well but she is very thin and im not too confident she will, unless she starts eating frozen and pellets and I can get some bulk on her.

I couldn't just let her starve in their tanks as you know there aren't copepods in there. She only cost be $12 so I went for it.

 

We're pulling for her to pull through for you too! Agreed, sounds seriously stressed from Petco. Our Petco never carries Mandarins (thank goodness, because the people at our Petco do not know what they are doing). Your girl's in a good home now so in time she should bounce back...you clearly know what your doing...your guy looks great!

Here's hoping for a full recovery!

 

..Good job. I think she will make it. K+

LG