chipz Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Wow, beautiful photos and I love all your dragonets! They are always one of my favorites to watch hoover around the bottom of the LFS tanks but I've never worked up the courage to try one. What do you feed them, and how do you keep your pod population up with so many hungry little mouths? 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 6 minutes ago, chipz said: Wow, beautiful photos and I love all your dragonets! They are always one of my favorites to watch hoover around the bottom of the LFS tanks but I've never worked up the courage to try one. What do you feed them, and how do you keep your pod population up with so many hungry little mouths? The rubys are still very new, so they'll need training. I feed them a mix of things: NLS pellets, Formula One pellets, Hikari Marine Seaweed pellets (this is mostly for the blennies), frozen BBS, frozen pods, frozen adult brine, frozen mysis & frozen flower crab roe. I usually add Selcon to the frozen food before feeding though. And I feed heavily everyday. I have a refugium full of different types of macro in the sump tank - one whole compartment full of LR and different types of algae (and a spider decorator crab in there). I used to feed live mosquito larvae and live grindal worms, but I stopped. Now I only stick to pellets and frozen stuff. There are many other fish in the tank, so I have to overfeed to make sure each fish gets enough to eat. I'm a bit worried about the Rubys though. The male looks and acts fine, but the female doesn't move much and has a sunken belly from the store. Hope motivation kicks in and she accepts some pods - eventually. 😕 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Cleo made it through her first night in the reef: 🤗 She's still not as active as my male, Icarus, but I'm mostly glad that they are *both okay. 😊 Also, can you spot the little dragonet? : My cleaner shrimp also molted overnight. Doc is *huge now: 😮 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Icarus finally decided to explore the rockwork just now: He's getting braver and has become even more active than before, which is good: And he has also started to forage for pods: Meanwhile, Cleo is still sheltering near the bubble coral and refuses to move. I'll try to target-feed her some frozen pods later - hopefully that'll entice her into moving, or better yet, eating. 👍 4 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 This thread needs to be re-titled "Here be Dragons" Gorgeous little fish, and the tank looks great 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Ratvan said: This thread needs to be re-titled "Here be Dragons" Gorgeous little fish, and the tank looks great 'Dragon's Den' or 'Lair of the Dragons' was another two options I was looking into. 😉 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 I love the sailfins that male scooters have - pic is blurry because Icarus raised it for only a sec and my fingers trembled (sorry!) : Also, I have a few interesting updates about the ruby pair. Cleo is still very timid, but she perked up a little when I broadcast-fed the tank some frozen pods mixed with phyto, zoo and selcon. I still haven't observed her actively moving about and eating though. Here's Icarus accompanying Cleo under the bubble coral: An even more interesting development - Icarus tried out some pellets on his own, and tentatively, he *appears to like it: I was worried the pellets might have been too large for his mouth, but he appears to be handling it quite well. He had a full belly after eating as well, which was good: The corals were quite happy with the mix of frozen and dry food today too. 😊 My cynarina actually has these cool neon green tentacles around its mouth: Yellow yuma looked good too: 👍 Bonus update incoming! 🤗 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Alright, so here's the bonus update. It was quite amazing to watch the dragons get together to eat at one of the hotspots in the tank: Poseidon was very hungry today: 😅 I'm actually learning a lot from the way different types of fish interact with other in this tank during the feeding session. Their behavior and adaptibility is also something that amazes me constantly. 😊 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Cleo's asleep out in the open, but Icarus is *missing: Do these guys bury themselves in the sandbed like regular scooters do at night? I'm not sure. 🤔 I'll check the back chamber of the overflow, *just in case. They're so tiny that they can squeeze between the gaps of the overflow. I'm a little bit worried - but hopefully Icarus will pop up again tomorrow morning. He was doing very well today. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Found him! 😊 Used a torchlight and caught him faded out on the sandbed, behind some rocks. 👍 Also found my Saron, which is honestly freaking huge now and has very noticeable cirri down his back (indicating that the shrimp is indeed, a male). I believe he officially turns 2-years-old on July the 15th. Which is a little bit crazy, because I've never had such an old shrimp before. 🤔 Spotted an old molt tucked away behind the bubble coral too. Judging by the mottled pattern on the exoskeleton, it looks like my Saron has recently molted as well. 👍 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Update #1: The green blasto coral is recovering very well - it was skeletal after the crash, but nice to see it regrow again: Rainbow yuma looked very happy this morning: 🥰 I'm not sure what this is exactly, but I *think it's a small mussel/clam. It hitchiked on the rock amd started off very tiny, but it keeps growing now: 🤔 A couple of shots of Poseidon today morning: 🥰 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Update #2: Found Icarus and Cleo in a shadowy spot today morning: Icarus is doing okay - active as usual, and still up for exploring the tank: Cleo barely moves, and has a sunken belly. I'm definitely worried for her. Rubys ship extremely poorly here, and most of them come in very sick and lethargic. Cleo doesn't appear sick, but she definitely is very lethargic, and is not making any effort to forage for pods: 😔 This does concern me greatly, because I've seen dragonets waste away because they simply refuse to eat. If you scroll back on this very same thread, you will recall how much I struggled with trying to feed a very emaciated blue mandy that I picked up from the store, in hopes of rehabilitating it. 😔 I'm worried Cleo is going down that same path. Her body condition is not great, but at least I can't see her lateral lines *yet. I will keep trying to target feed her daily though. It's a bit difficult because she hides so well under the bubble coral, and the only way to access her is to poke the bubbles gently to get it to retract a little so that she'll be exposed for feeding. 2 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 16 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: Alright, so here's the bonus update. It was quite amazing to watch the dragons get together to eat at one of the hotspots in the tank: This is one of the coolest things I have since on NR in awhile. Thanks for sharing😊 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: This is one of the coolest things I have since on NR in awhile. Thanks for sharing😊 Thanks, FishnChix. 😊👍 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 A small update on little Cleo - her condition is slipping downhill. 😞 She's now curled up under one of the rocks in the back corner of the tank, and barely moving. Buying dragonets is always a risk because they usually arrive very stressed or downright skinny here. And Rubys are the most expensive/sensitive of the lot. My only consolation is that Icarus is behaving and foraging normally. Still, I wouldn't consider him totally stable until I've had him for a couple of months at a healthy body weight. I'll do my best to motivate Cleo to eat/move - although I'm unsure how I'm supposed to *reach her. Earlier, she was seeking refuge under the giant bubble coral, and I could still see her clearly somewhat. Now, she's tucked away under the rockwork and too well-hidden. I don't think my 45cm long feeder tube can even reach her. So I'll have to figure out a way to gently coax her out of hiding, in hopes of getting her to eat as soon as possible. 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 I followed Icarus around for a bit after lunch - tried to catch him raising his sailfin, but he flashes it too quickly for my phone's camera to catch: 😕 Cup coral under heavy whites from the AI Prime: Thinking of tweaking the prime to increase the blues and UVs a little. I'm not sure why, but some of my shrooms are *still stretching for light, which is odd to me. Granted, the R60 covers the right half of the reef while the Prime covers the left half, and most of the shrooms are located on the left half. Will definitely adjust the settings to increase the light's intensity, a little bit at a time. 🤔 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Found the Big Guy perched on the nem box when I got up to turn on the pumps again after feeding the tank: It's so weird how the 'blue' in the shots differ when I take a pic away from the glass vs. a pic with my phone pressed up against the glass. Oh, well. 🤷♀️ 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Took a few topview shots of the tank today for a change. The Mushroom Mountain & Yuma Bridge are still recovering: Mummy eye's chalice is slowly turning green again too: The Malayan rainbow acans have lost most of its colorful stripes and remain an almost-solid red: This is the only SPS left in the tank - a small chunk of red pavona, which is surprisingly growing, and hasn't lost its colors: 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 These are the other coral pieces that are doing well in this reef: Trumpet coral & chalice: Green cup coral: 🥰 Orange cynarina: Pearl bubble coral: Regular bubble coral colony: Topview of tank atm: A *lot of work needs to be done to get this tank back on track. I doubt I could return it to what it once was, but perhaps if I stock up on corals *slowly, I can fill it out again with a different mix of corals. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Took a few topview shots - this time during the evening, where both my lights are on heavy blues: 🤗 I think the blues really makes some of the coral colors *pop, especially the orange of the cynarina. 😊👍 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Icarus & Poseidon: Loving my 🐲🐉. 🥰 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Poseidon on the move today morning: 🤗 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Size difference between the largest and second smallest dragonet in the reef: Photobomb! 😅 : 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Big update coming through - pic heavy! Cynarina was very round and puffy today evening: But tbh, I was more preoccupied following Icarus all around in hopes of getting him to raise his sailfin. Got one shot, so I took it: But he made a duck-face, so...🤦♀️. Anyhow, here are more pics of Icarus - enjoy! 🤗 : 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Update #1: Icarus flaring his fins today morning: 🥰 Bubbly: This is Illaron. It's usually hard to film him because he scoots around very quickly, and sticks to the rocks at the back of the tank: His body form isn't fantastic. Although his belly isn't sunken, and his lateral lines can't be seen, he could definitely use some fattening: From a dorsal-view, it looks awful. But I monitor him everyday and his belly is not sunken. Unlike Poseidon, Bella & Icarus, who have adapted to a captive diet quite well (*Icarus is still adjusting), Illaron isn't completely sold on pellets. I wanted to share his progress with all of you, because I don't want anyone thinking that I'm magically keeping all this wonderful fish at 'perfect' condition. Dragonets are a lot of hard work, and it can be very exhausting. What I'm currently doing is a far cry from success - simply because none of my dragonets have been with me long enough. Also, what works for me, might not necessarily work for someone else. I take shortcuts and risks - but I've always reefed that way, and it has blown up in my face a couple of times (case in point, the dead-sea-hare-debacle few months ago). Just wanted/needed to clarify this, because I received a few curious questions regarding my fish on SM a few times. Also, I'm trying to catch Cleo. Yes, she is still alive, but no, she's not doing well at all. Hardly moving, not eating & staying well-hidden. I'm trying to find a way to gently remove her from behind the giant bubble coral, and then isolate her in a breeder box, where I can concentrate on blasting her with pods in hopes of enticing her to eat. Quite frankly, she looks very weak. My cleaner shrimp stepped on her head just now and she didn't even swim away from him. 😔 2 1 Quote Link to comment
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