Dragonet help?!?!?!

Hi,

Just got this dragonet about two days ago and she looked great until tonight... I'm not sure what she has on her but it doesn't look good. She was very active and fluttering around everywhere first two days... I also inspected her very well before adding her as well as a lengthy acclimation. Please help cant figure out what is wrong... here are a couple pics only from my phone.. working on params...

 

Mandarins in general are ignored by other fish I have seen mine however get slightly bullied when it entered my yellow tale blue damsels home. Nothing extremely violent more of a reminder that that's her turf.

This what I'm thinking is happening to yours especially since you mention you only recently added her. What other fish do you have? The marks on the tail and fins seem from nipping.

Also how old is your system and have you seen your mandarin eat prepared foods before you bought it? Mine solemnly eats the little live critters on my rock and never touches the fish food I make and if had the little guy for over 2 years now, so it's not indispensable to buy one that eats prepared food ( though it does increase chances of survival). If it does not eat prepared foods then you need to have an oldish (at the very least 6 months) system with a healthy copepod population, this will ensure that your mandarin has plenty to eat without exterminating the pod population.

 

look like bullying/nipping/slapping or even a sting from a coral of some sort.

 

I've seen this also after being stung by an MM

 

Wow well unfortunately she didn't make it through the night... The tank she is in is about 1 year old, with a pink stripe pseudochromis, blue and yellow damsel, pajama cardinal, 2 ocellaris clowns, six line wrasse... It may have been bullying but it would have had to have been the pseudo if it was because all the other fish hang out on the opposite side of the tank. No stinging corals just some yellow polyps and clove polyps... I do have a pincushion urchin but I don't think that he could/would have done anything? It's too late now but this can all be helpful for next time..

Thanks all for your input..

 

mandarins pass all day swming around the whole tank, so the argument "they hang out on the end of the tank" doesnt really apply. if I had to point the finger at anyone i would point it at the 6 liner. i have one myself and he is a little aggresive bugger, plus they both compete for the same food. or the female clown, i have seen my true percula give a push to a mandarin that came a little too close to her nem, but again nothing lethal or violent.

another possibility is that you bought a specimen that was weak/near death and a hermit got him? how lively was he when you bought him?

 

six line seems to fit the bill imo

 

Ya I'm guessing maybe the six line too, ours is a little fatty so it may have been protecting its food source.

Also there are no reliable fish stores near me so I was trying out live aquaria for the first time(although I still believe they are reputable site I will never order from them again. After most of the fish from the my first order were dead on arrival I called and asked for a replacement order... Second order more dead fish... Last order another dead, 3 of 11 survived, only about 5 seemed healthy on arrival but the mandarin and a clown(different tank) died surprisingly after a day) so it may have been that the mandarin was unhealthy. This one was only swimming (somewhat lethargically) around in about 1/3 of the tank whenever I saw it so maybe it wasn't feeling well the whole time and therefore was not as lively...

As for hermits I've seen a firefish in such a situation and i don't think it was the same thing. The mandarin seemed perfectly capable of getting away from a hermit, even in its last hours and I never saw a hermit near it... My guess was bullying and mainly stress