Ruby Red Dragonet Help

[noahJT]

To preface, I have read the Dragonet sticky and tried a few of the tricks that it details.

 

 

I bought/saved this dragonet from a particular LFS yesterday. I knew that he would be a bit challenging to care for, but I figured that he'd be better off in my hands. It didn't hurt that he was priced the same as a normal Red Scooter! As shown in the convenient picture (thank you, Randall's Goby), he is ridiculously small. 1" long, tops. Not skinny by any means, but not fat either. I wouldn't say that I have an overflowing pod community in my tank (24g nano), but it is definitely substantial enough to feed him until I can wean him onto frozen food.

 

Note the should, he's not eating -____-

 

I saw him make a few pecks when I first introduced him, but that's it. Now he just slowly moves from spot to spot throughout the tank without eating. Ammonia/Nitrite/Phosphate all at 0. Nitrates under 5. SG 1.024. Temp at 78-80F. Drip acclimated him for 30 minutes. No one is pestering him.

 

Since he won't eat pods, I herded him into a mason jar and rained Nutramar Ova and frozen mysis on him. Left him in there for an hour, no luck. I'm ready to pick up a bottle of Tisbe and pod overload my tank at this point.

 

Is there anything else I can try? Are these Ruby Reds extra picky or difficult? Is day 1.5 too early to worry? Obviously, he isn't tank raised. I could always drop him off at a LFS or give him to a local reefer with a pod-heavier tank, but I figure if he ain't eating in mine he probably won't eat anywhere else. I did not see him eat in the LFS, but I bought him anyways because I am a stupid sucker. Yes, I'll admit it.

 

Any advice? Experiences? Moral support?

[Acielot]

I'd give it a few more days. Only having a fish for a day and a half and not eating isn't cause for concern although it is definitely favorable to get a fish that is eating immediately.

 

If it continues to not eat I suggest trying to use garlic soaked pieces of Mysis/Cyclops/BBS. Although live versions should be enticing enough to a dragonette.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Try live blackworms and live bbs.

[GHill762]

I agree, even normal non-picky fish can take a few days to eat in a new tank.. Like shadow said, he may enjoy some live foods. You can pump up your pod population with a pod bag from almost any supplier, but that'll only be a temporary fix.

 

That's a gorgeous fish btw, I hope you can get him eating.

[noahJT]

I'm definitely going to track down a bag of Tisbe tomorrow, I called around today and none of my LFS had them. I'm in Los Angeles, though, so SOMEONE must have a bag. I'll try the BBS, too.

 

He is definitely a beautiful fish. He has raised his dorsal fin a few times, and it is stunning! I saw him from across the store and new exactly what he was. I was absolutely shocked when they told me he was $20!!!! My tank is full of amazing deals, but he is by far the best...if he stays healthy.

[metrokat]

Tisbe, try tigger pods too. Tigger pods will get eaten faster because they do not hide whereas tisbes do.

You can also try to have the photo period reduced to give him more dark tank time to get comfortable.

Don't herd him into a jar again, that will stress him further. Try garlic.

[FrontMan]

Tisbe, try tigger pods too. Tigger pods will get eaten faster because they do not hide whereas tisbes do.

You can also try to have the photo period reduced to give him more dark tank time to get comfortable.

Don't herd him into a jar again, that will stress him further. Try garlic.

 

Tigger pods swim (they actually don't swim, but I don't want to get too technical so let's just agree that they don't crawl on surfaces). Dragonets eat things off sand and live rock, not out of the water column. Tisbe is the better choice, but that fish needs like 2 bottles a day just to survive. That $20 fish will cost you hundreds to feed for just a few weeks.

[metrokat]

Tigger pods swim (they actually don't swim, but I don't want to get too technical so let's just agree that they don't crawl on surfaces). Dragonets eat things off sand and live rock, not out of the water column. Tisbe is the better choice, but that fish needs like 2 bottles a day just to survive. That $20 fish will cost you hundreds to feed for just a few weeks.

agreed, but tigger pods get eaten faster because they're easier to see. other fish of course will eat them before lil scooter gets to it. But the very visible swimming and color of these guys are attractive.

[noahJT]

All of my LFS have tigger pods, but I know that they will be picked off by my other fish before the Dragonet even sniffs them. If he eats through my pods before I can train him onto frozen, he will be on his way to a more suitable tank! But, he isn't even as big as some of my dwarf hermit crabs so I know I will have more time than if I bought, say, a fat 4" Green Mandarin.

 

 

First thing's first, though, getting him to eat anything at all. If he perks up, I have no problem throwing together an old crap tank of mine to culture pods in.

[RayWhisperer]

I had a pair of those when they first brought them in. They were about the same size as yours. They did fine in the 40b they were in, though I never got them to eat anything other than the pods in the tank. After a few months they would spawn almost every night. Then, one day they were gone. To this day I have no clue what happened to them. It wasn't starvation. I think they may have jumped and the dog decided they were a tasty treat. That's just speculation, though.

 

Just give yours some time to adjust to it's new surroundings. It'll probably start eating in another couple of days. As was suggested before, shorten your photoperiod. Maybe even try lights out for a day or two. Don't try the jar trick again. That was probably pretty traumatic for the little shit. A thought on those tigger pods. If you dump the whole bottle in cold, many of those pods will drop to the rocks and glass and just sit there. the rapid temp change really stuns them. That would give it a chance to nab a few. However, I wouldn't try it until you've actually seen it eat.

 

As far as getting it on prepared foods... Personally, I wouldn't even try. If I ever found them again, I'd put them in my main tank with all the other fish. Something about the sight of other fish eating... I've seen a lot of fish just start eating prepared simply because, I guess, they wanted in on the feast.

[noahJT]

I had a pair of those when they first brought them in. They were about the same size as yours. They did fine in the 40b they were in, though I never got them to eat anything other than the pods in the tank. After a few months they would spawn almost every night. Then, one day they were gone. To this day I have no clue what happened to them. It wasn't starvation. I think they may have jumped and the dog decided they were a tasty treat. That's just speculation, though.

 

Just give yours some time to adjust to it's new surroundings. It'll probably start eating in another couple of days. As was suggested before, shorten your photoperiod. Maybe even try lights out for a day or two. Don't try the jar trick again. That was probably pretty traumatic for the little shit. A thought on those tigger pods. If you dump the whole bottle in cold, many of those pods will drop to the rocks and glass and just sit there. the rapid temp change really stuns them. That would give it a chance to nab a few. However, I wouldn't try it until you've actually seen it eat.

 

As far as getting it on prepared foods... Personally, I wouldn't even try. If I ever found them again, I'd put them in my main tank with all the other fish. Something about the sight of other fish eating... I've seen a lot of fish just start eating prepared simply because, I guess, they wanted in on the feast.

Thanks for all that advice! I will definitely trim my light schedule. If he doesn't eat tomorrow I will dump in a bottle of pods for sure. My tank has a decent population, but a pod explosion couldn't hurt.

 

I was really hoping that he would take Nutramar. Not just because I called all around town and then drove 15 minutes to go pick up a pack, but because the internet would make it seem as if Ova is Dragonet crack! It actually got my pistol shrimp to come out of hiding for the first time in a month, and all my other fish went batsh*t insane for it. But no luck with the dragonet.

[RayWhisperer]

Can't find the video I took of them spawning. I'll have to call a few people I emailed it to.

[AMAYEU]

Thanks for all that advice! I will definitely trim my light schedule. If he doesn't eat tomorrow I will dump in a bottle of pods for sure. My tank has a decent population, but a pod explosion couldn't hurt.

 

I was really hoping that he would take Nutramar. Not just because I called all around town and then drove 15 minutes to go pick up a pack, but because the internet would make it seem as if Ova is Dragonet crack! It actually got my pistol shrimp to come out of hiding for the first time in a month, and all my other fish went batsh*t insane for it. But no luck with the dragonet.

Are you turning off all the flow when target feeding esp the frozen. Blasting on rocks next to him. I feel mandarins and scooters are poor hunters on really fast moving targets.

 

Btw. Beautiful fish.

[noahJT]

Are you turning off all the flow when target feeding esp the frozen. Blasting on rocks next to him. I feel mandarins and scooters are poor hunters on really fast moving targets.

 

Btw. Beautiful fish.

Thanks, he is stunning! I did turn off my powerheads when spot feeding him. He just let the Nutramar and Ova bounce off his head. Probably could have buried him completely if I used enough food!

[noahJT]

UPDATE!

 

I dumped a bagful of Tisbe and assorted pods into my tank. It's overflowing with pods, but he finally started pecking the rocks and sand. Fingers crossed that he keeps eating...

[Based]

I just recently bought a ruby red too, I'm betting yours came from the same wholesaler as mine. Today was the first day I tried to feed mine and he didn't eat. I'm sure mine and yours will begin to eat frozen food once they get used to the tank life and not being in the wild. If not hopefully my mandarin will show him the ropes..

[Snow_Phoenix]

I was assured that my dragonet would eat pellets, but it didn't. Either way, I'm trying to wean it onto frozen. I heard that starting off with live brine and live worms in a breeder box and daily alteration of the food composition to frozen helps to 'train' them.

[noahJT]

I just recently bought a ruby red too, I'm betting yours came from the same wholesaler as mine. Today was the first day I tried to feed mine and he didn't eat. I'm sure mine and yours will begin to eat frozen food once they get used to the tank life and not being in the wild. If not hopefully my mandarin will show him the ropes..

Yeah, mine is definitely just acclimating in general. He's a bit more mobile now. The first two days he pretty much just stayed put right in the same place all day. Now he's moving around and not as skittish of the other fish.

 

Of course my Purple Firefish took a nip at him an hour or so ago, though. Luckily he's still eating. Saw the firefish go after my goby and try to nip my Maroon Clown. Must be the firefish from hell!!!! (Hellf-richi?) He's been in my tank for a week, but that SOB is going back to the LFS tomorrow.

[Tamberav]

Yeah, mine is definitely just acclimating in general. He's a bit more mobile now. The first two days he pretty much just stayed put right in the same place all day. Now he's moving around and not as skittish of the other fish.

 

Of course my Purple Firefish took a nip at him an hour or so ago, though. Luckily he's still eating. Saw the firefish go after my goby and try to nip my Maroon Clown. Must be the firefish from hell!!!! (Hellf-richi?) He's been in my tank for a week, but that SOB is going back to the LFS tomorrow.

 

Any update?

 

I have one of these guys and of my 4 mandarin's.. he was the hardest to get on prepared foods even though scooters are supposed to be easier. He was VERY emaciated/starved when I got him though so that could have been part of it. I want to say it took a good 2-3 weeks to get him to eat ova.

 

Hopefully you have better luck. I have a 20g fuge that is swarming with 1000's and 1000's of pods and even my 29g mandy tank has pods crawling all over the glass and macroalgae. If it wasn't for that, mine would have died but yours looks to be in good health so you should have awhile to get him eating.

[noahJT]

Any update?

 

I have one of these guys and of my 4 mandarin's.. he was the hardest to get on prepared foods even though scooters are supposed to be easier. He was VERY emaciated/starved when I got him though so that could have been part of it. I want to say it took a good 2-3 weeks to get him to eat ova.

 

Hopefully you have better luck. I have a 20g fuge that is swarming with 1000's and 1000's of pods and even my 29g mandy tank has pods crawling all over the glass and macroalgae. If it wasn't for that, mine would have died but yours looks to be in good health so you should have awhile to get him eating.

Mine is grazing like a normal dragonet now! Hopping from rock to rock...pecking around....etc. He's still pretty skittish, though, so I'll probably wait a little bit before trying to feed him ova again. The second he sees my baster he runs for cover

 

OH, and because he started eating, I actually went back to the LFS and got his little friend! I know that two of them will wipe out my pod population quickly, so I threw him in my tank at work which is more than big enough to sustain him indefinitely until I get around to training them both on frozen.

[noahJT]

DAMN I jinxed it. The one in my aquarium is fine, but the other one that I introduced to my work aquarium passed sometime today. He was actually smaller than the original guy that I purchased. The tank he was introduced to is 60 gallons, full of pods, and free of any aggressive fish. Actually more mature and stable than my home aquarium. He was very small, so he might have been just less capable of handling the stresses of being transported internationally, held in very poor conditions at the LFS (in a bare bottom, no live rock anemone tank), then transported to my work aquarium

 

EDIT: I purchased the 2nd one Friday. He made it one day. I never saw him eat, but was less concerned because the one in my home aquarium took 2 days before he began eating.

[Tamberav]

Were they both male? Two males may fight btw so if you get a 2nd... get a female.

[noahJT]

Were they both male? Two males may fight btw so if you get a 2nd... get a female.

 

They were both male. That's another reason why I kept them in separate tanks. I probably would have kept him in my work tank until upgrading my home one to a 50-60g long. I will definitely keep an eye out for a female!

 

I'm preeeeeetty sure my home tank scooter took some pecks at Nutramar Ova today. It was hard to see, but I turned off my pumps, shot some in his direction, and he started to peck at something. Couldn't tell what exactly he was pecking at, though...

[noahJT]

After 2 weeks, my dragonet doesn't show any weight loss. He gorges on Nutramar Ova until the annoying Fire Shrimp sniffs it out and goes crazy trying to scarf it all up. I have 80 gallons worth of tank and refugium on my living room floor right now, so a new bigger home with even more pods is right around the corner!

[Caronte]

I saw three of them at my LFS today and definitely get in love with them; and probably I get one this weekend. Did they accepted any frozen food too (Mysis, brine, etc.)? or just live pods?