A little background before I provide any advice on what might help your little dude. My 77 gal just turned 7 years old & I've had a Psychedelic Mandarin Dragonet in there since a month after setting it up January 2007. I was a newb who bought a used system & didn't know any better, but despite my lack of experience this little guy flourished in there until last month. Some time ago I noticed him getting skinny on me. He stopped roaming & hunting. What's up with that after so many years? I had a significant GHA issue for quite a number of years while the used LR & sand gradually became purged of all the junk that was in there. It almost seems as if the Dragonet preferred a 'dirtier' tank since there appeared to be many more pods in my system until I got the hair algae & nutrients under control a couple of years ago.
Not sure what caused him to stop hunting & eating, but seems like my pod population declined since the tank slowly cleared up of hair algae. Might also have something to do with the switch to LEDs? Seems far fetched, but I'm grasping at straws as well. Even without pods, he still shouldn't have starved, since he learned to take first Cyclopeeze granules, then Omega One small pellets (sinking). He really used to go after the pellets once he figured out they were food, so I always made sure the auto feeder had a good supply of those. I didn't train him to eat pellets, he got it on his own. Once I noticed he wasn't getting enough food, I tried daily spot feedings with the Omega One pellets. This worked for a while, but I had to monitor things since other livestock got wise to this & were raiding the feeding area! Finally a couple of weeks ago I found him expired in the corner, RIP. One of my first & favourite critters in the tank, tough to watch him waste away slowly, but what can you do? He lived for over 7 years. I don't know the average lifespan, perhaps he was a senior? You win some & lose some.
Hoping your situation turns around. As mentioned by others, it's early in the game for yours & you still have some time, don't throw in the towel just yet. Not a good sign when they get lethargic & totally ignore anything that resembles food, but all you can do is keep trying. I realize you've tried just about every type of food now, but won't hurt to give the Cyclopeeze granules & Omega One small sinking pellets a shot. Good luck.
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