Nikko
Active Member
I have a 90 gallon tank with a mature tank full of live rock packed with corraline algae. Very healthy parameters and has been going great. My tank has the following inhabitants which have all been in the tank 9-12 months and have been very very healthy.
Two frostbite clownfish
Hawaiian bristletooth
Yellow tang
Yellow watchman goby and his pistol shrimp buddy
Bicolor blenny
Cleaner shrimp
Rainbow wrasse
A week ago, I purchased a green mandarin dragonet which came from Vivid Aquariums and was chunky and healthy as can be upon arrival. I acclimated him for an hour and all was well. I did not QT him - maybe I should have, but I wasn't worried about diseases because I understand their coat resists most diseases. Maybe I should have, but I didn't....
The first few days, he/she was moving around quite a bit, but developed this weird habit of just hanging out on the sand or in the corner without a lot of motion. I didn't want to bug him, but wasn't sure if he was still alive and well, so I would try to target feed him. He'd eat a little, but then would swim up on the rocks to get away and I let him be. His movement suggested he was pretty healthy, but I know that can be deceiving when a fish is stressed. Last thing in the world I wanted to do was stress the poor guy, but it was stressful to me, because I didn't know if there was something wrong with him.
Couldn't find him today when I got home from work, until I looked under the tank and saw he was with the pistol shrimp and yellow watchman goby in their cave (Its the one spot under my tank I can see activity because pistol shrimp man dug down to the glass there). My first thought (and maybe this is the case) is that he died and the pistol shrimp dragged him in
His color was still vivid, but he wasn't moving. My understanding is they aren't the most desirable food out there with their slimy stinky coat and all, and he didn't seem like he was on his deathbed by any means the night before, so this came as a depressing surprise. I had a yellow watchman goby die about 6 months ago and the hermit crabs were much more opportunistic and were on him in hours so it seems weird to me that he would die and the pistol shrimp would pull him in so quickly. So, I come back to check in about 15 minutes and the yellow watchman and pistol shrimp are still chilling, but the mandarin is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! Is there any possible way the other two dudes would let him chill with them without violence if he invited himself in, or is that just unrealistic wishful thinking? The only other thing I can think of is the pistol shrimp dragged him to a different spot in the cave once I flashed the light from under the tank, to protect his food. And I know pistol shrimps are strong, but to move him out of sight in five minutes, given he was pretty still pretty hefty, would have been an amazing feat. Plus, I still think I would see remnants of his color even if he moved him a bit.
Has anybody heard of this type of situation? My gut tells me has died, but this is a really weird situation... And I want to believe this is just and odd occurrence. Thoughts people?
Two frostbite clownfish
Hawaiian bristletooth
Yellow tang
Yellow watchman goby and his pistol shrimp buddy
Bicolor blenny
Cleaner shrimp
Rainbow wrasse
A week ago, I purchased a green mandarin dragonet which came from Vivid Aquariums and was chunky and healthy as can be upon arrival. I acclimated him for an hour and all was well. I did not QT him - maybe I should have, but I wasn't worried about diseases because I understand their coat resists most diseases. Maybe I should have, but I didn't....
The first few days, he/she was moving around quite a bit, but developed this weird habit of just hanging out on the sand or in the corner without a lot of motion. I didn't want to bug him, but wasn't sure if he was still alive and well, so I would try to target feed him. He'd eat a little, but then would swim up on the rocks to get away and I let him be. His movement suggested he was pretty healthy, but I know that can be deceiving when a fish is stressed. Last thing in the world I wanted to do was stress the poor guy, but it was stressful to me, because I didn't know if there was something wrong with him.
Couldn't find him today when I got home from work, until I looked under the tank and saw he was with the pistol shrimp and yellow watchman goby in their cave (Its the one spot under my tank I can see activity because pistol shrimp man dug down to the glass there). My first thought (and maybe this is the case) is that he died and the pistol shrimp dragged him in
His color was still vivid, but he wasn't moving. My understanding is they aren't the most desirable food out there with their slimy stinky coat and all, and he didn't seem like he was on his deathbed by any means the night before, so this came as a depressing surprise. I had a yellow watchman goby die about 6 months ago and the hermit crabs were much more opportunistic and were on him in hours so it seems weird to me that he would die and the pistol shrimp would pull him in so quickly. So, I come back to check in about 15 minutes and the yellow watchman and pistol shrimp are still chilling, but the mandarin is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! Is there any possible way the other two dudes would let him chill with them without violence if he invited himself in, or is that just unrealistic wishful thinking? The only other thing I can think of is the pistol shrimp dragged him to a different spot in the cave once I flashed the light from under the tank, to protect his food. And I know pistol shrimps are strong, but to move him out of sight in five minutes, given he was pretty still pretty hefty, would have been an amazing feat. Plus, I still think I would see remnants of his color even if he moved him a bit.Has anybody heard of this type of situation? My gut tells me has died, but this is a really weird situation... And I want to believe this is just and odd occurrence. Thoughts people?
