Ruby Dragonet

Ashley13 · Oct 20, 2022

I bought a ruby Dragonet 12 days ago. I have a well established 100 gallon reef with a bazillion pods. I already had a green mandarin in there as well. The first 2 days i see the ruby but i haven't seen him since then, so 10 days ago. A friend spotted him 5 days ago but i wasn't beside the tank to see him. The tank has a red sea net top on it so jumping out is very unlikely but my rock has tons of holes that go up inside the rock that i of course can't see. Is it normally their behavior to take a couple weeks to get comfortable and come out or do you think something else is going on? Tank inhabitants are 2 clowns, hippo tang, yasha paired with pistol shrimp, green mandarin and cleaner shrimp.

slythy · Oct 20, 2022

I have a pink streak wrasse i put in a 2 months ago and have only seen him 3 to 4 times. If your aquascape is good with lots of hiding spots you may rarely see them until they start getting bolder. As long as its not dried up on the floor or in the overflow hes probably just hiding and eating pods safely

Ashley13 · Oct 21, 2022

I've searched both the floor and overflow box and dont see him. But my irobot vacuum runs automatically at 9am everyday so if he was there's a good chance it picked him up without me knowing. Im crossing my fingers he's just hiding in the rocks!

dmsc2fs · Oct 21, 2022

Look for him at night when the lights are out.

SamsReef · Oct 21, 2022

check the sump and the overflow box. They are small and can easily end up there. Also, keeping two mandarin in one is not a good idea in a 100 gallon tank. I used to keep 2 (spotted and green) in a 340 gallon tank and the larger one would constantly chase the smaller one. Good thing is that they are slow and easy to catch even in a tank full of corals. Hopefully you will find it in the sump.
Sam

punchy7080 · Oct 21, 2022

I have a green spotted and red mandarin in my 300g. I see the green spotted within about 5 minutes of looking at my tank. To see the red mandarin I have to watch the tank for quite some time as he stays more within the rocks. In casual observation, I only see him every few days maybe. Both of mine have ended up in the overflow/sump because they fit through my weir so that's definitely something to watch. They also don't always make it very long if they are starved from harvesting/wholesale/retail/tank. Those fish are very small and have to eat constantly. A lot of specimens are already wasting away by the time they are added to the tank and don't last long unfortunately.

xCry0x · Oct 21, 2022

My baby green mandarin basically lives in the front corner of my tank eating pods off the glass and a small rock.

If it chose a spot in the back of the tank I'd likely never see it given how small of an area it happily lives in right now.

Fish Think Pink · Oct 29, 2022

agree that red dragonet may be hiding... Mine would run for cover whenever I would look at him, but sometimes he would fall asleep at night where I could spot him. Only when he was about 1 1/2" long did he start appearing more... and then sadly last week he was killed by pump... NOW I have anemone guards on my MP40s, but that will not bring him back...

this easy lazy banana peel spirulina method is how I credit having grown him from a tiny scrap into the largest red I'd ever seen:

raising tig pods - tiny 2.5g tank experimental culture #2

2nd attempt at raising tig pods is officially underway. Original attempt was outdoor lazy banana leaf method I found online - that is still underway but seems to be failing. Suspect Texas temperature and full day direct sunshine is too much, but that pod culture experiment still underway. 2nd...

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