When is it time to Euthanize?

[MizTanks]

It is breaking my heart to see Dilly wasting away He is no longer even eating the blood worms like he once was. Without him eating there's no way I can even get medicine into him if he does has some sort of internal parasite.
Today he took one lil worm but yesterday he took nothing. I don't know what to do, I'm so sad, hurt and angry.

[jimsflies]

I'm just throwing this out there...but is it possible that you are paying "too much attention" to Dilly? I think of mandarins as being fairly reclusive...as such perhaps he is a self-conscious eater and doesn't like to do it in front of you.

My advice is to let nature run its course, then you can remove the body...although nine times out of ten I never find the body.

[tazzy695]

I agree with jim let nature run its course

maby he decided to finally take a taste of the pods in your tank and is eating them

[MizTanks]

Thanks guys...this is way harder to watch then I ever thought possible

[slapshot]

Yep, agree. Some things you just can't fix. It could be a cancer or anything that no matter what you do it's its time. Sorry! The best thing you can do is put it out of your mind, know you did what you could and get another.

[MizTanks]

I'm going to set up a small 5g qt tank. Treatment will consist of Maracyn 2. I've got to know I've done ALL that I could....

[schminksbro]

It is also possible that while he may eat bloodworms they aren't meeting his nutritional requirements. That combined with the extremely fast metabolism and probably a lack of pods to eat in between your feedings could be leading to starvation.

[MizTanks]

My tank has plenty of pods! In the 14wks since I've had Dilly I've seeded tank/fuge with over 3000 pods! Dilly won't touch them!! I sit two feet from my tank and spend at least 8hrs a day watching him off an on. He has NEVER even so much as pecked at a pod. They're on the LR/Glass/SB. Ocean pods/Tigger pods/Tisbe and Amphipods. My fuge is loaded also. This fish is NOT normal. He never perches. He hoovers most of the time, except for at night where he then rests right in front of a swarm of tigger pods. Which he totally ignores.
I've tried just about every food I can acquire.
There is NOTHING in my tank that competes with him for food. He literally sits in front of the glass, which is covered with pods and ignores them, or he just don't see them or more likely he don't know what to do with them.

[jimsflies]

I'm going to set up a small 5g qt tank. Treatment will consist of Maracyn 2. I've got to know I've done ALL that I could....

So much for my suggestion...

I don't see a good outcome with putting dilly in a small un-cycled qt tank and medicating him. But I hope you prove me wrong.

I think mandarines eat the smallest of cocopods...basically difficult to see without a magnifying glass. Is it possible the variety you have aren't the ones they normally go for?

[estanoche]

is all I have to say... I'm sure Dilly is appreciating all your efforts though!