Long story short, this is a rescue mission. I was upgrading my tank from a 13 to a 30 gallon, and while I have 1 semester of school before I start the transfer, I have the tank set up.
The tank was a 9 month old system FULL of pods and liverock, so I skip-cycled and went to my LFS for a damsel and came out with a malnourished dragonet. It was so sad to see the little guy pecking at rocks but never getting any food. Yes, I know the chances of recovery are slim, but I saw that he was actively hunting and trying to feed and would be the only fish in the system so there is no competition, so I negotiated the price down and am giving the guy a shot. So far this is my 3rd day with him. On day 1 I just let him acclimate and get used to the tank (which he has still not left the right side of the tank),
day 2 I put him in a breeder and "force fed" frozen brine to try and set up a mandarin diner.
Today is day 3 and he spent almost all day inside the jar feeding on the Selcon-soaked brine. This gives me a lot of hope because he wants to eat and is making it easy on me.
Already I can see some life in him rather than hopelessly sitting around the bottom, he crawls all over the rockscape. I plan to add a fuge to increase the pods, but let me know any other suggestions I can take to ensure a healthy recovery. Are there better foods I should get him on? When do I replace the food in the diner? And what can I do to help him explore the rest of the pod-filled tank? Heres some pictures and I hope to be posting some fatter ones soon!!!
day 2 I put him in a breeder and "force fed" frozen brine to try and set up a mandarin diner.
Today is day 3 and he spent almost all day inside the jar feeding on the Selcon-soaked brine. This gives me a lot of hope because he wants to eat and is making it easy on me.
Already I can see some life in him rather than hopelessly sitting around the bottom, he crawls all over the rockscape. I plan to add a fuge to increase the pods, but let me know any other suggestions I can take to ensure a healthy recovery. Are there better foods I should get him on? When do I replace the food in the diner? And what can I do to help him explore the rest of the pod-filled tank? Heres some pictures and I hope to be posting some fatter ones soon!!!