Ruby red dragonet help!!

[Redseadragon12]

I have one of these guys in my tank its a 40 gallon with plenty of liverock, pods, and refugium well established. However he appears to have decimated the pod population and it is not replenishing fast enough to keep up with his appetite. I have tried many times to get him to eat froze food but without success. any ideas on how I can keep this guy alive? Hes already looking a little thin.

[Redseadragon12]

I tried cyclopeeze, brine shrimp frozen, and some meaty mix of krill, mysis and other fillers. He hasnt seemed even remotely interested even when I showered him in it......

[tonysi]

My advice is to either 1, purchase pods on the regular and keep trying to train it to eat frozen, or 2, eventually give up and give/sell him to someone with a large pod population. Eventually he will eat the frozen foods but it will take time and patience. Good luck with your lil fella.

[Redseadragon12]

My advice is to either 1, purchase pods on the regular and keep trying to train it to eat frozen, or 2, eventually give up and give/sell him to someone with a large pod population. Eventually he will eat the frozen foods but it will take time and patience. Good luck with your lil fella.

Where do you buy large quantities of pods? Im guessing this is very expensive are there any common alternatives?

[Fish4udog]

Go to liveaquaria.com they have live pods you add to your system until you get a good population or until he accepts frozen or take him back to LFS its your only option

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[Redseadragon12]

He might be going the route of learn to eat frozen food or else:( because I'm not going to be spending more on his dinner than my own. Are there any frozen foods that are highly recommended for picky eaters?

[makers marc]

Buying pods is futile

[makers marc]

Its gonna die. Buying pods is futile. If your refugium and pods population were as "well established" as you said they were, then either they really werent. Or adding a few hundred from liveaquaria is a waste.

[MondoBongo]

how are you determining that the pod populations are too low? is he starting to lose weight?

what does his physical condition look like? just because you can't see pods on the glass like before doesn't necessarily mean that they've been decimated.

how big is the fish? a smaller scooter should be ok in a 40 for some time, especially if it has a fuge and was previously producing prodigious pod populations. (couldn't help myself).

my immediate advice would be to try hatching baby brine shrimp, and feeding those through a Paul B. style feeder, also get yourself some white worm cultures, and some black worms. both live. the black worms often you can find local, the white worms you will have to order. i have yet to meet a healthy dragonet that turns his or her nose up at live worms.

here is the link to the feeder:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2166449

here is where i buy my white worms:
http://www.angelsplus.com/FoodLiveCultures.htm

how long was the tank established prior to introducing the dragonet? was he eating reliably, i.e. you can see him pecking, or was he not foraging?

how long has he been in your care?

[lifeoffaith]

Bottom line is that frozen is only a supplemental food. If there are no pods in the tank or if there aren't enough, he will not make it long term. I have heard of people who have had success long term with a 40 gallon and a very well established refugium/tank, but for most it requires much bigger.

[UCT]

Before upgrading to a 90 gallon, I had mine in a 40 breeder for more than one year, with a very small refugium. He would eat the micro sized new life spectrum pellets in addition to pods. I used a turkey baster to get them down onto the sand where he was.