Reef Discussion

[camillo]

i have a coral goby in my tank..been in there for about 3 weeks, and not once have i seen it eat. I've tried mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp, and pellets, and it has never gone for anything..im just watching it slowly get weaker and now it just sits under one of my hammer corals..its alive cause i can see its gills moving but its getting skinnier everyday..is there anything i can do to encourage it to eat?

 

[MTG]

have you tried mixing garlic and fatty acids in with the frozen food?

 

[camillo]

have you tried mixing garlic and fatty acids in with the frozen food?

nah i havnt tried that..id give it a go but i just found my peppermint shrimp eating up the dead body of my coral goby...so looks like i lost him..shoulda tried mixing garlic and fatty acids in the food earlier...hopefully my clown fish turns up so i don't lose two fish in one week..cause id be pretty cut if thats the case

 

[MTG]

what are you water parameters? is the temp stable?

 

[camillo]

what are you water parameters? is the temp stable?

nitrates and nitrites are fine,
pH is 8.3
salinaty is 1.026
temperature is a steady 26..sometimes it can get slightly hotter..but i mean really slightly, like max it will reach is 27, and the last week or so its been good weather here so my temp has been fine.

had my water tested on the weekend at the LFS and everything was within a safe range..

my remaining two fish are fine, and my corals seem healthy...i think it could just be bad luck.

 

[MagicJ]

nitrates and nitrites are fine,

had my water tested on the weekend at the LFS and everything was within a safe range..

Do you know what the actual readings where?

 

[camillo]

both

Do you know what the actual readings where?

my nitrate and nitrate where at <0.2ppm.

just realised that my clown jumped out of my tank and somehow crawled under the tank cabinet. so that didn't die from anything in the tank..coral goby on the other hand, still don't know.

 

[Agent M]

This is common with newly introduced coral gobies - and a whole host of other fish I won't list as it is not relevant to this particular situation. This is just my opinion but I believe it is because they are stressed by being put in a large unfamiliar environment (any other thoughts on this one anyone?). The process of them starving themselves has probably started immediately after collection so the fish you are buying may not have eaten for x amount of time already.

I have always put them in a breeders net first with some cover in which they can hide, such as a bunch of macro or a Xenia. Then offered them frozen mysis shrimp once a day. If you don't get a feeding response, also introduce tubifex worms or live brine at the same time as the frozen food for a bit of movement/stimulus. Keep them in there for as long as it takes until you get an enthusiastic feeding response and they are showing signs of wanting to go out into the tank (ie. feeling cooped up), then release them.

I have not found them to be very long lived - approx a year.

 

[camillo]

This is common with newly introduced coral gobies - and a whole host of other fish I won't list as it is not relevant to this particular situation. This is just my opinion but I believe it is because they are stressed by being put in a large unfamiliar environment (any other thoughts on this one anyone?). The process of them starving themselves has probably started immediately after collection so the fish you are buying may not have eaten for x amount of time already.

I have always put them in a breeders net first with some cover in which they can hide, such as a bunch of macro or a Xenia. Then offered them frozen mysis shrimp once a day. If you don't get a feeding response, also introduce tubifex worms or live brine at the same time as the frozen food for a bit of movement/stimulus. Keep them in there for as long as it takes until you get an enthusiastic feeding response and they are showing signs of wanting to go out into the tank (ie. feeling cooped up), then release them.

I have not found them to be very long lived - approx a year.

this was really helpful. i want to replace the coral goby with another one, cause even though the fish never ate, it was sometimes active, and when it was it was a great fish to watch..so i want to replace it..and when i do ill definitely try your method of putting it in a breeders net for a while first till i get some positive feeding responses..

thanks heaps.

 

[Agent M]

Glad it was helpful! They are a great little fish - definitely worth trying again. Ask the LFS if they can feed them so you can select one that is taking food already and don't buy any skinny ones even if that is all they have (look at their sides). If/when buying two, they will fight if put in a confined space together such as a fish bag or breeders net so best to keep them separate.

 

[VaultBoy]

Im sorry to hear about your bad luck but I hope you have better luck next time armed with the info from Megan :worship

I have had a coral goby in my tank for about 2 months now and at first I didn't see it eat for about 3 - 4 weeks and he started to get really slim, I was very worried... Then I saw him "dancing" on a rock and realised that he was stirring up the junk on the rock to eat the good bits :D now hes fat and happy!

 

[ifishnow]

Yep I say next time see that it eats before getting it...

Touch wood but so far I haven't had any problem with fish eating from day dot...My little Gobie tends to think he is a Bulldog in a Chihuahua's body, yes he is the boss of the tank...at least the other fish let him think this. He has always eaten whatever is put in the tank from flake to mysis to marinara mix...Will even pinch it from corals...Have seen him eat till you would think he was going to burst from the expansion of his stomach.

 

[firebird]

My coral goby also didn't eat for 2 weeks after i got him. .Is a little pig now but I originally got him to eat by feeding him cyclopeeze which fits into his mouth nicely. i also tend to mush up the mysis for him as he battles to swallow the whole shrimp. he also loves rotifers

 

[ifishnow]

Firebird your goby needs to come and live with mine for a while...my little yellow will soon show him how to fit things into his mouth he previously thought impossible...:eek

 

[rosechaser]

Was thinking about getting a two spot sand goby...any thoughts

 

[MagicJ]

Sven, as with most of the sand sifting goby's, the difficulty is in keeping sufficient food up to them - unfortunately most eventually succumb to starvation.

You really need a very large, active, live sand bed to proivde them with an on-going food source.

 

[ifishnow]

And that is why after asking questions and researching I decided on getting a Decorated Goby. Mine is a lovely fish, easy to feed, will eat anything. Keeps the sand clean. Doesn't tend to put much sand on corals that are on the sand bed. In certain lights he also shows up with pink spots. Also he is great with all my little fish and inverts.

 

[camillo]

And that is why after asking questions and researching I decided on getting a Decorated Goby. Mine is a lovely fish, easy to feed, will eat anything. Keeps the sand clean. Doesn't tend to put much sand on corals that are on the sand bed. In certain lights he also shows up with pink spots. Also he is great with all my little fish and inverts.

View attachment 1435

just done some research on this fish and it sounds great. might consider adding it to my tank instead of another coral goby.