Dragonet

[chrisyew]

I've this Picture Dragonet or Spotted Mandarin (whatever name it is - confused hehe), and it always seems to be eating or biting off my blue sponge and yellow polyps.

It's pretty active and hop around the sandbed and live rocks.

Do yours have such problem of it eating sponge and polyps?

When I first bought the Blue Sponge;

Now what's left after the dragonet feast on it;

See the skeleton shown! Finally decided to let the sponge go....

[chrisyew]

Also bought this, wonder if it's the same Dragonet family called the Starry Dragonet. It usually burried itself in the sand at night;

When it's active;

At least this one doesn't bite the blue sponge or polyps and seems much 'peaceful' than the Picture Dragonet.

Some called it Scooter Red Blenny right?

[iantoh]

hi there chris. i really dont think your dragonets, boith the mandarin or occelate are responsible for the sponge damage. sponges are comprised of hundreds of intricate holes through which they siphon water with the help of minute flagellae. and according to research and what the recognised site slike wetwebmedia.com say, sponges cannot be exposed to air if not the holes through which they feed will become blocked. your sponge looks more like its progressively degenerated one way or the other. cause sponges dont get much care and are often exposed to air at the lfs and though transit. all the same, pls do reply me if you truly watch your dragonet ingest the sponge because that way i can be sure not to add sponges to my tank.

cheers,

ian

[chrisyew]

hi there chris. i really dont think your dragonets, boith the mandarin or occelate are responsible for the sponge damage. sponges are comprised of hundreds of intricate holes through which they siphon water with the help of minute flagellae. and according to research and what the recognised site slike wetwebmedia.com say, sponges cannot be exposed to air if not the holes through which they feed will become blocked. your sponge looks more like its progressively degenerated one way or the other. cause sponges dont get much care and are often exposed to air at the lfs and though transit. all the same, pls do reply me if you truly watch your dragonet ingest the sponge because that way i can be sure not to add sponges to my tank.

cheers,

ian

Hi Ian,

That's what I was told too. But everytime when I'm out in the hall, I saw this picture dragonet either pitching on the blue sponge or yellow polyps. Before the addition of this dragonet, the blue sponge is fine. Since then, each day passed by the blue sponge seems to be getting lesser and lesser and same goes for my yellow polyps.

Though I didn't see it eating the blue sponge or yellow polyps as whenever I go near, it will juz scoot away. Anyway, I'm rather stubborn guy and may try again to see if it's true with another sponge in future.

[chrisyew]

I think I have enough of this fellow;

First my blue sponge, then yellow polyps and now my pink tip plate. If I still don't get rid of it, I'm worried about my clam too.

Any idea how to catch a dragonet? I've been waiting and playing hide and seek for the last 1 hour already - and now it's missing in action. Hiding behind some rocks.....

Any takers? If you can catch.

[Gouldian]

Dear Chris,

The 1st picture you have is a Synchiropus picturatus and the 2nd is a Synchiropus stellatus.

The Synchiropus AKS Dragonets live in sandy bottom foraging for benthic invertebrates. Unlike most fishes the Dragonets needs to constantly forage and hunt for live foods to sustain themselves.

It is not uncommon to see them foraging around sponges as the holes in the sponge may play host to copepods that the Dragonets are hunting for.

If your sponge is dying it may not be due to the Dragonets but rather may be due to other reasons such as your water conditions and also the handling of the sponge during and after purchase.

I can't help but to notice that you are quite new here? Is your tank new too? For Dragonets are reccomended to tanks that are minimum 6mths and above. This is due to the above feeding requirements. So tanks that are more than 6mths and above generally will have more bio-diversity to sustain these beautoful fishes.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as possible if you are unsure or you may choose to PM us.

[Gouldian]

By the way, the don't feed on corals and are considered reef safe. Thus it is not true that they are responsible to the demise of your corals.

I believe there are other reasons to the lost of your corals. The most common reason for corals demise in both captivity and the wild is water conditions, not predatory.

[iantoh]

hi chris, i share gouldian's sentiments. seriously dont think your corals are degenrating due to the dragonet's activities. do check your salinity, ph, kh, and nitrates, and maybe you can share with us the test results, and from there we can better ascertain the more likely cause of your coral loss. far more often than not, coral loss is due to poor water quality, and its only through time and experience that one realises just how true that common advice is.

cheers,

ian

[woverine]

yap agree with everyone in regards to d " Mandarin Fish".

IMHO it is a one of beauty in d ocean and yet very "safe" in our aquarium.

Agreed only if ur tank is "mature" MF is suitable.

surprisingly mine abt 8 months already eating my pallets food.

[chrisyew]

Thanks to all the valuable advises. Really appreciate that and I'm new, very new to the hobby.

Yep, my tank started on 28 March this year and is probably less than 2 mths old. Actually I'm looking for a algae eater fish but due to the fact that (even though after looking thru the internet and forum) when I reached the lfs, I always can't differentiate which is which when I look at the real thing. That's the problem with me.

I do feed my corals with that cyclopeez and Phytoplankton. I also dose iodine, calcium and hydro trace into my tank.

I really think so that the dragonet is nibbling on the coral like blue sponge, yellow polyps and now the pink tip plate. The obvious sign is the 'broken' polyp of being nibbed effect. When it always at that coral, that coral wil show such sign of being nibbed. Hopefully I'm wrong as I still have the red spotted one. The brown dragonet (whicjh is the culprit) has been caught with the help of my friend after 8 hours of waiting and I've given it to him.

See if there is still any more signs of being nibbed after the removal of this dragonet. Hopefully no hehe.

Thanks to all once again.

[FuEl]

Hmmm...could there be a confusion between nibbling and pecking? Most polyps after being pecked will shrink, and probably waste off if the pecking continues to stress them out. But they don't really get ingested by the animal in the process.

[chrisyew]

Hmmm...could there be a confusion between nibbling and pecking? Most polyps after being pecked will shrink, and probably waste off if the pecking continues to stress them out. But they don't really get ingested by the animal in the process.

Do you mean Pecking as in 'harrassing' without 'biting'? Maybe, if that's the case.

[Gouldian]

No offense Chris, I think you better get some senior to assist you with you tank stocking.

2 months + tanks if not careful will experience "crash'. (Touch wood).

But seriously, kindly consider the above.

[RawKnMetaLNemO]

the there's the Mandarin dragonet isn't it?

there's another type of dragonet named "Peter"....is that the picture dragonet?

[reef garden]

Did anyone buy the red scooter dragonet from Sea Life recently? They are beautiful but dragonets are difficult to keep unless one has lots of pods etc in the tank, isn't it? I hope someone can share their experience on keeping this fish.

[Snoopyhamburger]

I kept one before.It lasted a few months before he let go...Interesting fish.At night,He would swim up to the top of the tank,then stay there for a while,Then he swam down again.He would do this repeatedly many times...After I watched discovery channel's documentary on reef fishes,(it has dragonets)I wanted to get him a companion,even before I had a chance to ask parents to get another,he died.

[KELVINx3]

Did anyone buy the red scooter dragonet from Sea Life recently? They are beautiful but dragonets are difficult to keep unless one has lots of pods etc in the tank, isn't it? I hope someone can share their experience on keeping this fish.

yes they feed on pods. unless you can pallet train them

[reef garden]

I wonder how many of the red scooter dragonets from the Sea Life batch would make it eventually? Sad to think they would go one by one.