Mandarin Dragonet Fin Damage

[Daniel266jz]

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone who owns mandarins has had one with an injured fin. My dragonet swims perfectly all over the tank and is constantly hunting. I cultivate my own tisbe pods and add tigger pods every so often to the display, and my dragonet also eats frozen brine/live brine when they sink down the tank during feeding days/times. The dragonet does not seem bothered by it and it has a big appetite. It is the big display fins that they use to perch with(they have nice coloration and open up pretty wide), the pectoral perching fin on my mandarins left side is always closed and never opens even when perched it only uses its right fin. When it "crawls" around my rockwork its always slanted because its only perching on one. Any ways i can help my dragonet? Will it heal up? No other fish in my tank pick on it, I have a list below of the fish I have. I bought it from a local fish store and it seemed fine there but it wasnt opening either fins and i put it off as it was stressed and well see them open later.

Fish List
2) Clownfish (Oscellaris)
1) Firefish Goby
1) Bangai Cardinal
1) Mandarin Dragonet ("Ruby Red")

Tank Info
- 5 Months Old
-78.6-79.3 Temp
-1.026 Salinity
Every other param is zero except for 10PPM Nitrates and somewhere between 0-0.25 Phophates on API test which is probably off a bit and id say they're on the lower end but still there.
I do not dose anything and all I run for filter media is filter floss. Weekly 5 Gallon Water Changes are done religiously.

Thanks for the help! Ill post a picture of my Dragonet in the next post.

 

[Daniel266jz]

Pics

 

[Daniel266jz]

#reefsquad BUMP

 

[Daniel266jz]

Anyone?

 

[Daniel266jz]

Anyone?

Anyone???? BUMP

 

[BeMoto]

I dont think you can do much for him. Just keep keep your tank stable and your fish eating healthy.

 

[35ppt]

The fish pictured is a female Ruby Red Dragonet, not a Mandarin Dragonet. I don't see anything in the photos that would denote any specific issue. It's my understanding that clamped fins is a sign of stress but not necessarily and one specific disease. The 0.25 Po4 should be reduced to ~0.08 - 0.1ppm but I don't see that effecting fish. I would agree with the above, just do your best to keep they happy and hopefully it will recover.

 

[BeMoto]

Is this your 32 gallon tank? Doing 60٪ water changes every month is alot. You are getting rid of some of the bad with water changes but also some of the good stuff.

 

[Daniel266jz]

This is my Biocube 32- I do 5 gallon water changes every week. I have corals popping multiple new heads and fish and inverts are loving it. Check my thread out to see exactly what I have been doing with my tank. So far everything seems to be doing very well! I follow @brandon429 ’s advice since I started my tank.

Cycling a new Biocube 32

How would you rate his tank based on current coral health, fish activity, algae balance, feeding and water change dedication, light cycle control, clean up crew balance, order of animals added, future predictions of how algae will manifest + planned actions for it It seems we're well past...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Phycodurus]

torn fins are typically superficial and will heal on their own. torn fins however may indicate another fish is acting belligerently towards the ruby red dragonet. you’ve seen no aggression?

 

[Daniel266jz]

torn fins are typically superficial and will heal on their own. torn fins however may indicate another fish is acting belligerently towards the ruby red dragonet. you’ve seen no aggression?

I have seen no aggression from any of my fish. I believe we bought this way from the beginning. It was shy and wouldn’t flat it’s fins up like it does now so we never really noticed until now that everything works except for that fin. I watch my tank very closely. I believe it happened at the LFS. That being said I was just wondering if anyone had the same issue and what the outcome was or if there’s any advice here on what will happen to that fin.

 

[OrionN]

It would hep if you take picture of the damage part. From your description, your Female Ruby Dragonet (not Mandarin Dragonet) may had injury to the pelvic fin on the L side before. If the damage is just on the soft membrane, then it will grow back. If the damage was damage to the rays, the bony part, then it may not grow back. If this is the case, your Ruby dragonet will always look like she does right now. Still beautiful but tilted to the side.
Give her character.

 

[Daniel266jz]

It would hep if you take picture of the damage part. From your description, your Female Ruby Dragonet (not Mandarin Dragonet) may had injury to the pelvic fin on the L side before. If the damage is just on the soft membrane, then it will grow back. If the damage was damage to the rays, the bony part, then it may not grow back. If this is the case, your Ruby dragonet will always look like she does right now. Still beautiful but tilted to the side.
Give her character.

I will try to get a better picture and a picture of her fun close up for you. Are you able to sex them from this small of a size? I don’t really care much if it’s a female or male just wondering... Sorry about the name mix up I keep seeing it everywhere online called a mandarin that I forget it’s actually a Ruby Red Dragonet lol

 

[35ppt]

I will try to get a better picture and a picture of her fun close up for you. Are you able to sex them from this small of a size? I don’t really care much if it’s a female or male just wondering... Sorry about the name mix up I keep seeing it everywhere online called a mandarin that I forget it’s actually a Ruby Red Dragonet lol

They are easy to sex from the dorsal fin. Females have small ones, males have the big ones.