ruby red dragonet

[FishN00b83]

I saw one of these at the LFS and I asked them to hold on to it for a few days for me. I'm trying to figure out how to feed this thing in a QT for a few weeks. it's a male about an inch long and I just need to know what he would eat. they have zoo plankton in a container would that work? I just don't think he'd be able to eat a pod right now, maybe I can. put a few in and see what happens? I'd love to pick this guy up I just need to know how to QT him first.

 

[JollyFish]

I just got mine couple days ago from live aquaria. Its a very nice fish and full of character. Mine just roam around the rock to look for food. Nice color too!

 

[FishN00b83]

how are you handling QT?

 

[JollyFish]

how are you handling QT?

I did not QT it. Its from divers den and pretty much i trust them. It looks very healthy, swim around the rock and eats the sinking pellet. Its a very cool fish.

 

[fearyaks]

Well they eat pods right? So you could try buying pods and just dumping them in your QT for a bit. Is your QT bare or does it have rock/sand?

I have read somewhere on this site that some people just gamble and dump the dragonets into the DT without QT as they allegedly have a thicker coat and seem to be less prone to ich.

Please don't take that as advice though. More of an idea to do a bit more digging on this site about them.

Good luck!

 

[FishN00b83]

yeah he looks too small to eat pods though. I'm gonna pick him up tomorrow and see what they say. I just don't know how to tell if he's eating if you put zoo plankton in there or something. also how do you know the live food just isn't getting sucked up into the filter?

I would never take a gamble with a fish again. he's going in QT and he's going through the process like everyone else.

 

[Betta132]

He's a dragonet, he eats pods. He needs to eat mostly pods or he'll starve, frozen won't work.
If you want to see if a fish is eating, you put food near it and watch.
Put a lot of chaeto into the QT, introduce pods, and use a sponge filter to avoid them being sucked up. Also, keep a close eye on him. If he starts losing weight, put him in the main tank.
You're going to need a well-established tank of at least 55g, with no major pod eaters.

 

[snorvich]

I did not QT it. Its from divers den and pretty much i trust them. It looks very healthy, swim around the rock and eats the sinking pellet. Its a very cool fish.

Never trust anyone except yourself to quarantine a fish. Divers Den advises quarantine of their fish for very good reasons.

 

[trigger40]

while the fish is your qt why not train it to eat frozen food? i know a guy who has had success target feeding Nutramar to their dragonet.

 

[JollyFish]

Never trust anyone except yourself to quarantine a fish. Divers Den advises quarantine of their fish for very good reasons.

Yea, but I don't have a quarantine tank.
He is the only fish in the tank anyways besides the cleaner shrimp. I have a 35 gallons tank, I guess I have to wait to put another fish and continue to monitor him. He is doing great, eat and very fun to watch

 

[JollyFish]

while the fish is your qt why not train it to eat frozen food? i know a guy who has had success target feeding Nutramar to their dragonet.

The dragonet I have eats the frozen mysis and the small pellets I put. What pods should I give him? I have no idea about pods.

 

[trigger40]

The dragonet I have eats the frozen mysis and the small pellets I put. What pods should I give him? I have no idea about pods.

if it eats mysis you dont need to give it pods.

 

[rssjsb]

if it eats mysis you dont need to give it pods.

Yeah, that's not necessarily true. Even a dragonet that eats mysis will continue to hunt all day long. I don't think you can assume that a scooter will get enough calories from a once-daily feeding of frozen foods, especially in a smaller newer tank. Dragonets that eat prepared foods are likely getting enough to supplement its natural feeding behaviors.

To the OP, how big is your tank? Do you have a refugium? If the tank is a decent size, well established, and doesn't have any major competition for pods (some wrasses, for example), you may have a sufficient pod population that it'll be ok.

 

[trigger40]

Yeah, that's not necessarily true. Even a dragonet that eats mysis will continue to hunt all day long. I don't think you can assume that a scooter will get enough calories from a once-daily feeding of frozen foods in a smaller newer tank.

haha thats why you feed them more than once a day. (2 to 3 times+)

 

[rssjsb]

haha thats why you feed them more than once a day. (2 to 3 times+)

Still not enough. A dragonet will naturally eat a pod about once every 8 seconds. All day long.

 

[trigger40]

Still not enough. A dragonet will naturally eat a pod about once every 8 seconds. All day long.

then how come my pale keeps 8 in one tank and doesn't ever feed pods to his mandys? there are countless examples of people who keep dragonets with great success that dont feed pods.

 

[snorvich]

if it eats mysis you dont need to give it pods.

I disagree. Dragonets metabolism forces them to eat constantly. With insufficient copepods, long term success is unlikely.

 

[jason2459]

I disagree. Dragonets metabolism forces them to eat constantly. With insufficient copepods, long term success is unlikely.

I agree with disagreeing. There are countless number of ora dragonet's that are supposed to be trained to eat pellets yet still starve to death in people tanks that do not have a sufficient amount of pods for them to eat.

Pellets, ova, mysis, etc are just supplementaries. It would be like someone trying to live on 50 pieces of candy a day.

 

[jason2459]

then how come my pale keeps 8 in one tank and doesn't ever feed pods to his mandys? there are countless examples of people who keep dragonets with great success that dont feed pods.

Curious, what is your standard for success? 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, a decade or more?

 

[snorvich]

Success with copepod eating fish is normally considered to be one year.