Mandarin Dragonet Bloated

Cole_Voeller

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Hello all!
So I have a pair of mandarin dragonets, and I’ve had them for about half a year. I wanted them to get a big larger before introducing them into one of my other tanks (wow do they grow slow), so I currently have them in a 10 gallon quarantine/temporary tank. I say “Temporary” as if they haven’t been in there for months. Well lately my female has begun to get a bit bloated. She has always been a complete pig, but she’s never gotten like this until fairly recently. These pictures are from a few days ago, I will update this post with a good picture today if she decides to let me get one, as I do think the tummy has gotten larger. Is it possible that she has eggs? Or do I need to cut back on feeding? Or something else? It doesn’t seem to be affecting her at all, but I always like to be as safe and careful as possible with my little dorks.
I keep this tank at 1.025, ph of 8.1, 78 degrees, 0-5 nitrates, as it is literally only them in the tank. I feed them pellets and live baby brine shrimp, the baby brine shrimp I started pretty recently. They mostly just eat pellets, but I add the brine shrimp as a snack for them to hunt, sort of a supplement for copepods. Currently still trying to get them to eat mysis, but they are incredibly stubborn.
Any insight would be awesome, if additional info is needed please let me know!

FE8B2D14-E959-4C1B-988B-EBE5F8FC8D50.png B16CA20B-483F-46B2-92C0-B965BFEA53FE.png
 
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Cole_Voeller

Cole_Voeller

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Not perfect, but she doesn’t want me to get any better pictures right now.
 

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argiBK

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How large are they right now?

I had a Biota Mandarin who also plumped up like yours once she reached ~2”. She never slimmed down, but she was healthy and eating (until I lost her in a tank crash). Always wondered if she was gravid.
 
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Cole_Voeller

Cole_Voeller

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How large are they right now?

I had a Biota Mandarin who also plumped up like yours once she reached ~2”. She never slimmed down, but she was healthy and eating (until I lost her in a tank crash). Always wondered if she was gravid.
Pretty dang small still. If I had to guess I’d say just over an inch.
 

Beau_B

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Reabsorb? She’ll release the eggs… they won’t survive… she’ll get preggers again. Repeat infinity.

Only real concern is if she gets egg bound, but I’m not aware of any method to prevent.
 
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Reabsorb? She’ll release the eggs… they won’t survive… she’ll get preggers again. Repeat infinity.

Only real concern is if she gets egg bound, but I’m not aware of any method to prevent.
I’ve been reading a lot of threads online, and I have read MANY different things haha. Is being egg bound when the eggs aren’t released, and they eventually rot inside of her?
 

Beau_B

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I’ve been reading a lot of threads online, and I have read MANY different things haha. Is being egg bound when the eggs aren’t released, and they eventually rot inside of her?

Correct.
 
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I kept a few pairs of dragonetts and all my female mandarins and scooters ended up looking like they ate a grape just like that. I never could figure out if it was just ample food supply or a constant belly of eggs. Im guessing eggs because my pairs would spawn near dusk.

Its pretty common, and only seen when they are in good happy.
 

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