# Inactive dragonnette



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

I have a red dragonnette that's been in a quarantine for a month. while it used to be active it is not so active now. I was wondering if it was dead, but it moved. I thought maybe it will get more active hunting pods in the DT and moved it there. and it's still sitting in the same place I dropped it. what might be wrong with it? should I fish it out and put it back into quarantine? It has no external signs of being sick.


----------



## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

My guess is it's too weak from lack of food. Check for a sunken belly and then you'll know for sure.


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

yeah he's a bit flat in tummy. He moved a little bit last night. so some pod probably ran into his mouth.


----------



## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Unless you know for sure there are plenty of pods where you have it, chances are it might not make it. Think about separating and/or target feeding.


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

yeah that's what I'm worried about. I see pods moving about on glass near sand edge or under yumas. is that enough? or should I move it to my nano that's got plenty of rocks macro algae and lots of pods. but he'll have food competition from 2 small damsels 2 peppermints and assorted snails and hermit crabs.


----------



## TRUONGP15 (Apr 25, 2013)

I would put it in a main display with sand live rock and other fish. I quarantined my mandarin (psychedelic) and they hardly moved around at all. After a few weeks I thought it looked super thin and wouldn't pick at anything in the tank... As my last attempt to save it I put it in my main tank... It was happier then ever! Got nice and fat and even started to eat the mysis shrimp I was feeding my other fish! Since then I added 2 new new mandarins (a pair of greens male/female) and they started eating mysis too! I guess monkey see monkey do? Now all 3 of them are happy in the tank and goes crazy over frozen foods and sometimes even eats flakes.


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

This one is a red scooter and it was eating flakes inqt. Ill move it 2 nano w lots of pods.


----------



## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

I've read various sources that quarantining a mandarin or scooter blenny of the dragonet family is unnecessary because they naturally have a slime coating that is very thick and somewhat toxic therefore they are virtually immune to things like ich. That's why it's advised that if your tank gets ich from other fish and you have to remove all livestock to medicate, the dragonets can remain in the DT because they virtually can't get ich.

However in the past I've quarantined mine for about a week not so much for fear of parasites but to train them to eat and make sure they're not in shock after travelling before releasing them into my DT. They didn't move much in quarantine but when food came they'd at least had an appetite.


----------



## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

Bayinaung:

I've been lurking on this board for some time, and have read a lot of the threads here and while the user postings and general content is great, I find myself aghast at some of the stuff you do or even attempt to do with your very young (ie. not-even-close-to-mature) tank.

You have a lot of enthusiasm for the hobby, and that is something to be commended. But that is all but cancelled out with your lack of patience and research into the animals you try and keep and methods you try to employ re: sugar dosing, looking for "pest-free" chaeto???? ...counting on algae and mangroves to take over the job of GFO and carbon? omg

Yes, i've read your 'stacked tanks' thread from beginning to end, and it's this post that really acts like a knife in my heart



Bayinaung said:


> I'd sell them or trade them in once they get bigger and or uncomfortable or I get bored. This hobby is one with all sorts of guilt associated with it. so unless it's extreme, I'm comfortable being outside of the conventional definitions of space needed for fish.


fish are not disposable creatures. You may think a PBT is fine coz he's small, but acquiring him in the first place, when all you have is a 35gal tank loaded with rock is a huge mistake. im very sorry to read he died, though.

you can't play god in this manner. You can mitigate the guilt associated with the hobby by being smart and compassionate, not selfish: you might be comfortable ramming fish into a small tank for your enjoyment, but think about the fish...they are not going to thrive...they will just be alive..think about it.

RE: Your dragonette issue

1. One month in a quarantine tank is too long, especially for such a sensitive, high-needs fish. You're failing to see the bigger picture. Without ample food over such a long period puts incredible stress on such a small animal, which further weakens him and makes him susceptible to disease and illness.

2. Pods from your overflow won't cut it, it's not enough and more importantly, not a sustainable source

3. SEEING pods in your tank in no way means there are enough pods to sustain the life of a dragonette! The only sure fire way to keep a dragonette is to ween him onto prepared foods like what TRUONGP15 did *OR* get a large tank + large refugium + lots of rock + over a year for it to mature

3. A tiny 35gal display tank with a 30gal fuge, both only 5-6months old, is not even close to being capable of sustaining a specialized fish like a dragonet

3. Amphipods are much too large, as someone already mentioned



Bayinaung said:


> sigh... this hobby is harder than keeping a dog LMAO.


no one said it was easy, so you might as well read up a *lot* more than you are, take *less risks* instead of going off on your own trying to re-invent the wheel

PS. Say hi to R2O Ryan for me


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

hey patwa, thanks for paying that much attention to my threads!

I'm following the conventions. 4 weeks in quarantine. I'd rather lose one fish than lose the entire DT. I'm not doing hypo in my DT again. Judge me for all I care. People are taking different paths to this hobby successfully. Losses are part of it. I accept that now. 

This dragonette was at BA scarb for a few weeks. It was eating frozen food and flakes in my QT. It's only in the last few days before moving it to DT that it's gone inactive. 

I have a few other setups that aren't on this forum. There's a 5G nano. there's a 25G "holding tank" with live rock. I have a three year old very mature nano with corals macroalgae and chaeto which isn't on this forum. It's full of life, I never do water change, all parameters are stable, fish and corals are happy. one time I didn't have any fish in it, and the pods were running all over it day and night visibly. I could have put the dragonette in there and it would have been fat and happy in there. Thanks for your interest and contribution! Debate is always welcome.


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

marblerye said:


> I've read various sources that quarantining a mandarin or scooter blenny of the dragonet family is unnecessary because they naturally have a slime coating that is very thick and somewhat toxic therefore they are virtually immune to things like ich. That's why it's advised that if your tank gets ich from other fish and you have to remove all livestock to medicate, the dragonets can remain in the DT because they virtually can't get ich.
> 
> However in the past I've quarantined mine for about a week not so much for fear of parasites but to train them to eat and make sure they're not in shock after travelling before releasing them into my DT. They didn't move much in quarantine but when food came they'd at least had an appetite.


That's good to know! this little guy was active in QT, and would compete for food. climbs the walls. It probably got finicky for live food.


----------



## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

Bayinaung said:


> hey patwa, thanks for paying that much attention to my threads!
> 
> I'm following the conventions. 4 weeks in quarantine. I'd rather lose one fish than lose the entire DT. I'm not doing hypo in my DT again. Judge me for all I care. People are taking different paths to this hobby successfully. Losses are part of it. I accept that now.
> 
> ...


no probs...just my advice, take it or leave it, but whatever you do, think of the welfare of the fish/coral before you purchase it and research, research, research. God knows i was stumbling myself when i was getting started in this hobby many moons ago.

For what it's worth, the mandarin dragonette was one of my first fish, ever, and it, too, went into a 30gal and was sold to me by a dolt at Big Als who never cared to mention its needs to me.

imo, if they eat prepared foods, great, otherwise they should be left in the ocean.

ORA carried captive bred dragonettes afew years ago....hopefully they'll sell a batch one day again and I can once again enjoy watching them

z


----------

