dragonet HELP PLEASE

[golden69_ca]

i was looking into my tank tonight and all was well went out to the store and when i came back my lights were off as normal so i fired up my red light to do a after dark check . when i noticed my green dragonet sitting still not breathing and verry verry pale . almost no color . i got him into a container to transport him to my 20gal isolation tank and by just touching him he started to breath a litle more and some color started to com back . do these fish loose there color when they sleep ? any help would be greatly apeceated .


Thanx

[Leviathan]

The mandarin i used to have before i moved would half way bury himself in the SB and become almost white. Then would be swimming around picking at the rocks the next day like clockwork when the actinics came back on. I have heard of others doing the same thing. Even yellow tangs will fade in color in the lights out period. As long as he is eating and seems plump I wouldnt concern myself to much with it.

[Leviathan]

BTW- another possibility is its health of course. May I ask what size tank is the mandarin in and how long has it been up and running. Also how long have you had the fish?

[NewJack]

I just try and keep my POD population up. With that, it should stay fat and happy. I haven't seen any color changes though.

[Leviathan]

I haven't seen any color changes though.


I have read about it somewhere and for the life of me cannot remember where. I had mine for about 13 months before I moved then traded him in ( knowing I wouldnt be able to support him in a newly setup system ) Mine would fade out every night and it concerned me and during my search on the matter I read that some do this for a specific reason. Wish I could remember where I read it so I could be more help.:(

[Flanders]

This is normal behavior for mandarins. You need to be more patient. Moving your fish to another tank the second you think something might be wrong is a bad idea.

Also, don't touch your fish.

[kpebbles]

Don't worry! this is normal..
my psychedelic mandarin loses her color when she turns down for the night, too. she chooses her spot, burrows half under the sand and goes to sleep.. she turns realy pale, too.
not to worry..