HELP! Ruby Red Dragonet not eating, lethargic and sleeping?

[leilanastasia]

I just bought my ruby red dragonet yesterday. It was in the fish store for a week before taking it home (I put it on hold). I’ve been preparing for dragonets in my tank for awhile now (I have a culture hatchery established) and was finally ready to bring one home. I didn’t notice until he was already acclimated and welcomed into my tank, that he has a majorly sunken in belly. Not at all rounded, I immediately put in a load of copepods- but he hasn’t eaten any. I have a very very well established isopod colony. They mainly hide in my coralline rocks along with some amphipods. There’s a couple isopods right in front of him right now and he isn’t eating. I have copepods living in my filter/refugium area as well which aren’t in the main tank. He is alive and breathing but I’m worried there’s something wrong. He is pretty small as well since he’s pretty much a baby. Does anyone have advice on what to do? He is clearly starving, even when food is right in front of his face

my arrow crab touched him and yesterday when I brought him home he did not like anything touching him or near him.. he didn’t respond to the arrow crab nor did he move. I’m wondering if he’s on a weird sleep cycle or something.. maybe it’s me making up excuses for my new baby dying

 

[Brady4000]

Sorry to hear this, you come to the right place for advice. Welcome to the forms, I am sure someone here can help you. [HASH=10531]#reefsqaud[/HASH]

 

[Fred2482]

Welcome! Hopefully someone experiences with dragonets will help you shortly. Unfortunately I have never been brave enough to have one.

 

[Bepis]

[HASH=1]#reefsquad[/HASH]

I would go to your local fish store and get some pods, eco pods or something with a large variety, and get him eating those.

was he qt’d and what did you treat him with?

 

[leilanastasia]

[HASH=1]#reefsquad[/HASH]

I would go to your local fish store and get some pods, eco pods or something with a large variety, and get him eating those.

was he qt’d and what did you treat him with?

What does qt’d mean? New to some of the reefing lingo abbreviations. I treated w cyclops and tigger pods.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Welcome to R2R!!!
sorry to hear about your fish. Reef squad will help for sure

in the meantime, qt = quarantined

 

[Crashjack]

What does qt’d mean? New to some of the reefing lingo abbreviations. I treated w cyclops and tigger pods.

Quarantined (often referring to quarantining using prophylactic medications).

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[leilanastasia]

Oh I think you mean quarantined, and no. No fish were in that tank except one six line wrasse before the dragonet

[HASH=1]#reefsquad[/HASH]

I would go to your local fish store and get some pods, eco pods or something with a large variety, and get him eating those.

was he qt’d and what did you treat him with?

 

[leilanastasia]

Quarantined (often referring to quarantining using prophylactic medications).

Thank you! Any medications you recommend?

 

[leilanastasia]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Thank you!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Welcome how long have you had him?

 

[MERKEY]

Hello and welcome to R2R!

 

[maceto]

Welcome!

 

[leilanastasia]

Welcome how long have you had him?

1 day

 

[vetteguy53081]

I just bought my ruby red dragonet yesterday. It was in the fish store for a week before taking it home (I put it on hold). I’ve been preparing for dragonets in my tank for awhile now (I have a culture hatchery established) and was finally ready to bring one home. I didn’t notice until he was already acclimated and welcomed into my tank, that he has a majorly sunken in belly. Not at all rounded, I immediately put in a load of copepods- but he hasn’t eaten any. I have a very very well established isopod colony. They mainly hide in my coralline rocks along with some amphipods. There’s a couple isopods right in front of him right now and he isn’t eating. I have copepods living in my filter/refugium area as well which aren’t in the main tank. He is alive and breathing but I’m worried there’s something wrong. He is pretty small as well since he’s pretty much a baby. Does anyone have advice on what to do? He is clearly starving, even when food is right in front of his face

my arrow crab touched him and yesterday when I brought him home he did not like anything touching him or near him.. he didn’t respond to the arrow crab nor did he move. I’m wondering if he’s on a weird sleep cycle or something.. maybe it’s me making up excuses for my new baby dying

View attachment 2107689

How was this fish acclimated/introduced and for how long?
What is age of tank and your:
Ammonia
nitrate
ph
salinity
tank temperature?
What test kit(s) are you using?

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Suohhen]

What does qt’d mean? New to some of the reefing lingo abbreviations. I treated w cyclops and tigger pods.

Qt does not require medication but is highly recommended to qt regardless so that fish can be given a safe place away from other fish and to be able to slowly acclimate to you, seeing you as the feeder rather than a threat. Also as the name implies if the new fish does happen to be sick you will keep it from introducing the pathogen to your mt.
It is totally normal for new fish to be listless for a while after being added to a tank. The best thing you can do is leave it alone however if it is being harassed you should get it into qt immediately. I don't have any experience with this fish so I can't make any sort of diagnosis about a possible infection. This is made extra difficult as fish can appear very bad off when they are in the overwhelmed state. So what does "leave it alone" mean? Observe from a distance to make sure it is not being harassed but stay away from the tank and do not attempt to feed the fish. If you feel like you can easily catch the fish feel free to move it to qt asap. If you don't have a qt set up you can use a combination of live nitrifying bacteria and seachem prime to make the tank safe just keep on top of dosing and do around 20% water changes every day or two.
Oh and welcome! I am sorry for your troubles.

 

[Pistondog]

1 day

Let him settle in, if there are Pods available for him, he'll have find and eat them. Not much you can do, assuming he's acclimated and the wrasse is leaving him alone. They're skittish and may take time to begin feeding.

When I purchased mine, the lfs guy threw in Pods with him so I could see him eating. Your guy might be skinny if he hasn't been fed correctly.

Make sure he has a lot of rock to scour and hide in.

Hard to qt mandarins or dragonet.