Dragonet, Not Eating

darkslide820

darkslide820

Member
Hey everyone. I'm a little worried about my Dragonet and not eating.
I had one Dragonet (20g, only other fish was Bluedot Puffer), I was feeding the tank frozen brine shrimp cubes. Puffer enjoyed this, but I never saw Dragonet eating. Finally, after maybe 7 days, I got some live brine shrimp. At this point, Dragonet started eating some, but I guess he went too long w/o eating prior and he died.
I waited about a week and I decided I'd try another Dragonet. Still a little discouraged, I went through with it anyway because now I knew that feeding live brine shrimp, rather than frozen, would be appetizing to him.
So I went and got the second one, this one actually a little bigger and chunkier than my first. Same tank, same tankmate. I've had him for 5 days now, have been putting live brine shrimp in. Problem: this one isn't going after anything! In fact I rarely see him come out of his little cave (I know someone's going to ask, but no, the Puffer does not bother him at all). So now I'm getting worried that, even though I figured out what he likes to eat, he doesn't want to eat 'em and is gonna starve himself.
I actually picked up this month's Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine, which has a cover story about keeping/breeding Dragonets; it has an ad for PE Mysis shrimp. I went to the website, and it pretty much looks like it's for fish dealers, rather than end-consumers.
What should I do?
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
Dragonets main diet are copepods. although some will take frozen foods like mysis and brine without a good colony of copepods most will starve. you can buy copepods at some LFS or online and i suggest you do or return the dragonet. copepods will also need plenty of crevices and rock work to breed in and maintain it's population.
best advise is return the dragonet, get a good colony of pods going and then retry another dragonet down the road. also a puffer will likely eat any fish that will fit in it's mouth and most puffers get fairly large. any puffer in a 20 gal. isnt a good idea IMO.
 
S

smartorl

Guest
See if the store will take him back is what I suggest. You haven't said how long the tank has been running but even given the size I would say this guy stands little chance of survival.
While some may eventually be trained to take frozen food, most need an established tank with a large pod population to survive.
Brine shrimp unless newly hatched and enriched is basically junk food with little to no nutritional value, so the fish would still starve on a diet of brine.
I wouldn't suggest anyone with less than a 55 gallon, well stocked in advance and established, attempting a dragonet. It could be done in a tank your size but would require alot of advance preparation and dilligence.
 
darkslide820

darkslide820

Member
Okay, thanks. I knew about the copepods, but the local store had brine shrimp and the first one did eat them (eventually), so I thought this one would.
Tank's reletively new, been running 6.5 months now.
Re: the puffer, this puffer stays small, only a few inches big, so he's not going to eat the Dragonet. Hasn't bothered him either.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by smartorl
http:///forum/post/3298636
See if the store will take him back is what I suggest. You haven't said how long the tank has been running but even given the size I would say this guy stands little chance of survival.
While some may eventually be trained to take frozen food, most need an established tank with a large pod population to survive.
Brine shrimp unless newly hatched and enriched is basically junk food with little to no nutritional value, so the fish would still starve on a diet of brine.
I wouldn't suggest anyone with less than a 55 gallon, well stocked in advance and established, attempting a dragonet. It could be done in a tank your size but would require alot of advance preparation and dilligence.

+1000
I would also like to add that unless you have a refugium where the copepods can multiply and replenish no matter what size the tank, the dragonet will eat up all the pods and then starve.
 
ernestpolska

ernestpolska

Member
if i bought capepods and put em in my refugium, then would they help in any way in my tank even if i didnt own a dragonet?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by ernestpolska
http:///forum/post/3298695
if i bought capepods and put em in my refugium, then would they help in any way in my tank even if i didnt own a dragonet?

Copepods are good and come on the live rock. Critters like to eat them, some critters like a drgonet eat only copepods and deplete them from the tank until it starves.
 
ernestpolska

ernestpolska

Member
well wat i ment is lols that if i bought copepods when not owning a dragonet while the copepods are thriving would they help in anything in my tank besides food wise .... because i heard that they eat stuff thats bad ... like some kind of algae i forgot the name its start with a D people hate it ... uhh ill find the name...
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Alot of things will snack on the pods. Pods are generally a sign of a healthy system. Not only are the a good food source but also an intregal part in the "balance" within a closed system. While not pretty, I have heard of people using one of those plastic fruit baskets and filling it with chaeto and anchoring it in the display to provide a breeding ground. Others successfully increase their pod numbers by keeping chaeto and other algaes in their sumps or refugiums.
 
tjnitro

tjnitro

Member
I have yet to own a mandarin but i have been building my take to accommodate it. I have a 75 gallon reef tank setup for 1 and 1/2 years now. I have lots of live rock with with caves, pits and holes all threw them. I have selected the best rock to promote pods. I have also filled in a cave with alot of small rubble rock to give a good breeding spot for the pods. I still don't feel that i am ready to have the mandarin that i have always wanted. I have bought pods when i first started the tank to help seed it. My pod population is getting large. I hope that in the next few months i may finally be ready. This is just my 2 cents.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by tjnitro
http:///forum/post/3298973
I have yet to own a mandarin but i have been building my take to accommodate it. I have a 75 gallon reef tank setup for 1 and 1/2 years now. I have lots of live rock with with caves, pits and holes all threw them. I have selected the best rock to promote pods. I have also filled in a cave with alot of small rubble rock to give a good breeding spot for the pods. I still don't feel that i am ready to have the mandarin that i have always wanted. I have bought pods when i first started the tank to help seed it. My pod population is getting large. I hope that in the next few months i may finally be ready. This is just my 2 cents.

Even with all that time just waiting, a mandarin can't survive for a long time. What you need is a refugium where the pods can multiply and not be totally depleted by the mandarin. They are pigs and eat up pods quicker than they can repopulate a refugium will remedy that. Even a hang on the back or in the tank type will do. Nothing fancy…Beaslbob talked about egg crate set up to section off an area for macoalgae and pods to grow.
So look into something on those lines before you get your beloved fish and both of you will be very happy. They are gorgeous fish, and I hope you get a really nice healthy one that lasts for years and years.
 
darkslide820

darkslide820

Member
Okay everyone, last night I ordered 4 "packs," for lack of a better word, of copepods from this website. Should be here tomorrow. Gonna pour 2 of them straight into the tank, hopefully I'll see the Dragonet go after them right away. The others will go either into a breeding basket that I'll fill with a little sand and some shells or into my other sw tank (no Dragonet in there). Dragonet looks like he's strong enough to survive the night.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
they dont eat like other fish, as in you wont really noice them going after the pods. They like to pick them off the rocks. Mine spends all day swimming in and out of the rocks, looking hear and there for pods.
 
ernestpolska

ernestpolska

Member
hhhmmmm .... so if i get a fuge... shove a lot of chaeto live rock and sand in there...... then will the copepods"flourish" ? lols
 
ernestpolska

ernestpolska

Member
oh i also saw on a website, tiger pods, it said they eat algae i forgot the name but ditruitus sounds familiar ... is that right lols....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top