Ruby Red Dragonet behavior

[weagle117]

I've only had this little guy for @2 weeks. He pretty much sticks to the rocks and often times I have to look hard to find him. My tank has been set up for @ 3 years. I used sand from my tank that's been set up for @ 12 years to seed it so I believe it should have a pretty good stock of pods. I see them when I move rocks around but I really don't know what constitutes a large population.
Anyway, last night I was checking on the tanks before I went to bed and the little guy was at the top of the tank acting like he was eating or gasping for air. Then he would swim back toward the bottom but go right back up. I watched him for @ 5-10 minutes and thought about putting him out of his misery (in the freezer) but just couldn't do it. I get up this morning and he is scooting around the rocks acting normal.....????? Is this normal behavior for this breed? I've never had a dragonet before. When I bought him I was told they were much easier to keep than a mandarin.... needed brine shrimp to eat but with that he should be fine. From what I'm reading online.... big mistake! But what's done is done and he seemed perfectly fine with the rountine until I saw this last nite. Anyone know if ruby reds gasp for air or eat at the top late at night? Seems like a stupid question but I'm stumped.

 

[carey]

My mandarin used to go up and down sometimes, so I would say its pretty normal.

However, the ruby reds are even more difficult than a regular mandarin. They are actually delicate where as the normally seen blue and red ones are quite hardy. Plus they eat pods and only pods. Its rare for them to go to frozen food, even more rare than the reds and blues going for it.
After only two weeks I would def think about returning him or buying some bagged pods. The sand doesnt really contain the pods, its the rockwork that does. You ve put yourself in a very awkward position unfortunately.