Ruby Red Dragonet question

[Sierra_Bravo]

I have twice kept a Ruby Red male in the past, the last who unfortunately found a large enough space to get out and carpet surf. Missing the little guy, I brought a male/female pair through QT and introduced them together into my display about three weeks ago.

Female was shy, but visible, the first week and soon was doing all the typical dragonet "stuff" - exploring the bed and rocks for tasty treats throughout the tank. However, I have not seen the male since I first introduced him.

Question is: I know many fish hide when first introduced, but I have not experienced this behavior with Ruby Red's and would think that it is in their nature to need to roam and hunt pods as soon as possible. Has anyone experienced a dragonet disappearing for weeks and then had them reappear?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Bump for the evening readers

 

[Mariette]

How big is the tank? I’d suspect he’s a goner

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

How big is the tank? I’d suspect he’s a goner

120g established 2 years, tons of liverock, and a bazillion pods. That's kinda what I'm thinking since the others I've had are usually out and about hunting after a day or two.

 

[Jay Z]

Somedays I won’t see mine at all in the front of my tank. He will switch between front and back, then work that area for a day or so. My mandarin will do that also, always in caves, crevices, and back of the rock work.

Not sure if they follow the pods groups around or not.

 

[Mariette]

120g established 2 years, tons of liverock, and a bazillion pods. That's kinda what I'm thinking since the others I've had are usually out and about hunting after a day or two.

Could explain a disappearance of a day or two. Maybe a bit longer. But, as you know, they’re usually an out-and-about kinda fish

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Of all the dang luck, this morning I found that the female somehow got through my new, tight lid and was dried out on top of the netting. Wow.