Hey guys, I just got a blue Mandarin dragonet last Thursday. It was aquacultured and employees said they've been feeding it Calamus, algagen pods, and flakes. I bought the same foods to replicate and have been spot feeding. The problem is that it's so small that I can't hardly see if it's actually searching and picking out food when I spot feed it. It's only about 3/4 of an inch long. And now I see him laying on his side in his usual spot, breathing still though. It's just a baby and I'm not sure if there is something wrong or if it's behavior I'm not familiar with? I also did a water test with Nitrates <10, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, PH is 8.1 and salinity 1.025.
Very young dragonet not doing well?
- Thread starter Bucnasty
- Start date
Can't really tell anything from your picture, but if he is actually on his side breathing irregularly then he's in trouble. Try getting a look at him using a magnifying glass and see if you see any injuries or details about abnormalities. Is he in the tank with other fish and perhaps experiencing aggression from tank-mates?
Can you post another picture it’s very hard to tell?? If a fish is on its side breathing it’s not normal and shouldn’t happen, what other fish are in the tank with him?
Unfortunately, he did pass shortly after this picture. There's no aggressive fish in the tank, or atleast nothing aggressive that I've seen, no one is bullying. Theres 2 ocellaris, bicolor blenny, coral beauty angel, yellow watchman, a tiger pistol shrimp, and a hoevens wrasse. No one has ever really picked on each other or been aggressive that I've seen. The little guy had been aquacultured and raised in tanks, and I had replicated the diet that he was on and spot fed twice a day, but I'm assuming the stress just didn't allow him to calm down enough to eat? I just wish I could have known what the actual cause was.
Dragonets are not easy fish to keep and are better suited to large well-established reef tanks or tanks with lots of live rock and plenty of natural food sources. He's a juvenile and could have been harassed without you becoming aware. It is not uncommon to have to observe for a very long time before picking up on subtle aggression. And observation needs to be without your fish aware that you are nearby observing. Yeah they do pick on your presence and that results in behavior changes.