sleeper goby

kimberlya18 · 02/09/2009, 02:28 PM

I just purchased a gold-headed sleeper goby yesterday. He's about 5" long - a nice fatty. In the store, he hid in the gravel. Once I got him home, he started sifting sand all over the place - and I fell in love with him!
Today, he's laying against a rock - in between 2 live rocks that form an arch. He doesn't look too good.

Any possibility he's still just acclimating? I'll be so sad to lose him!
I have passive fish in the tank and no one's bothering him. It's a 75 gallon- ph is 8.4; salinity is 1.022; all levels are 0 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate); about 77 degrees-

Help!

epstein · 02/09/2009, 03:09 PM

hes prolly just spooked and will be fine......give him a day or 2...

kurquhart1 · 02/09/2009, 04:03 PM

thats weird. i have a diamond goby and although there not the same there similar and i never had a problem like that.

how did you introduce him to the tank?

VacavilleFC3S · 02/09/2009, 05:55 PM

how long did your LFS have it before you purchased it? i've gone through several gobies and i believe it's from improper catching and acclimation, this last one same species as yours, i kept an eye on for 2 weeks at work before purchasing him,

unfortunately i've also heard if you can't get them eating frozen or prepared food it will most likely starve to death.

kimberlya18 · 02/09/2009, 06:12 PM

The store got him on Thursday, I waited until Sunday to pick him up (yesterday); so for half a day he was swimming around and picking sand;
I just got home and he's still pretty hidden - although I did see him sift a couple of mouthfuls; I also saw him cower when my dwarf lemonpeel angel came around; the dwarf doesn't pick on anyone, but he goes around all day just picking on rock and sometimes seems to mindlessly go toward my flame hawk when he's on the bottom and in the way and now my goby when he's on the bottom.

I put in some mysis today and he hid; tomorrow I'll buy some blood worms or live food or something just in case he's hungry (although I'd imagine my sand is loaded with stuff);
no visible skin damage anywhere.
Could he simply be acclimating?
I just floated him in his bag for about 20 minutes, then added 1/4 cup of my tank water every 15 minutes for about another half hour;

VacavilleFC3S · 02/09/2009, 06:37 PM

well if he was only in the store 3 days i'm assuming he was still really stressed out from shipping and possibly being caught, i usually try to wait till a fish has been in the store atleast a week if not 2.

most sand sifting gobies don't do well in home aquariums, very similar to having a mandarin or scooter blenny but they have much larger mouths and can process 100x more substrate a day, where mandarins and scooter blennies just peck at the pods themselves. also it's extremely difficult to get them to eat other food

kimberlya18 · 02/09/2009, 06:52 PM

I actually just floated some mysis his way - he ate 2 or 3 - then the others came and he hid under a different rock.

Could he still be acclimating?

VacavilleFC3S · 02/09/2009, 06:58 PM

in this hobby "acclimating" is usually referring to when you first purchase it and are matching the temperature and salinity of it's previous tank.

if you mean "getting used to it's new environment" it's possible but seeing as your said it's sitting on the bottom pushed up against a rock that doesn't sound good and most likely it's going to die soon

do you have any corals or is this a fish only tank??? 1.022 salinity is a bit low. and what is about 77F?? any lower and i might be alittle worried about that too. i keep my tanks at 78-80

kimberlya18 · 02/09/2009, 07:00 PM

It's a FOWLR; think I should raise the temp?

VacavilleFC3S · 02/09/2009, 07:10 PM

hmmm seeing as it's fowlr i suppose your alright with the salinity,
if it was my tank i would raise it a degree or 2. 77 is definately on the low side for me but it really shouldn't be too bad.

i'm going to assume he was just overly stressed during catching and shipping this is very common, we lose quite a bit of livestock each week during acclimation at my work

02/09/2009, 02:28 PM	#1
kimberlya18 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 61	sleeper goby I just purchased a gold-headed sleeper goby yesterday. He's about 5" long - a nice fatty. In the store, he hid in the gravel. Once I got him home, he started sifting sand all over the place - and I fell in love with him! Today, he's laying against a rock - in between 2 live rocks that form an arch. He doesn't look too good. Any possibility he's still just acclimating? I'll be so sad to lose him! I have passive fish in the tank and no one's bothering him. It's a 75 gallon- ph is 8.4; salinity is 1.022; all levels are 0 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate); about 77 degrees- Help!

02/09/2009, 03:09 PM	#2
epstein Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: NYC transplant now in CT Posts: 1,501	hes prolly just spooked and will be fine......give him a day or 2... __________________ I'd Rather be a failure at something I love , Than a sucess at something I hate . George Burns Current Tank Info: 150 DD Cube / 100 Gal Sump(basement) 30gal cube frag tank plumb Panworld 250ps return/ Reef Octopus SRO3000 Skimmer/ Bubble Magus Doser/Lumenmax reflector with 400 watt Radium bulb Ice Cap Ballast Apex Controller 2 MP40wes 2 gyre 150

02/09/2009, 04:03 PM	#3
kurquhart1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: hamilton ontario canada Posts: 141	thats weird. i have a diamond goby and although there not the same there similar and i never had a problem like that. how did you introduce him to the tank?

02/09/2009, 05:55 PM	#4
VacavilleFC3S Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Vacaville California Posts: 2,613	how long did your LFS have it before you purchased it? i've gone through several gobies and i believe it's from improper catching and acclimation, this last one same species as yours, i kept an eye on for 2 weeks at work before purchasing him, unfortunately i've also heard if you can't get them eating frozen or prepared food it will most likely starve to death.

02/09/2009, 06:12 PM	#5
kimberlya18 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 61	The store got him on Thursday, I waited until Sunday to pick him up (yesterday); so for half a day he was swimming around and picking sand; I just got home and he's still pretty hidden - although I did see him sift a couple of mouthfuls; I also saw him cower when my dwarf lemonpeel angel came around; the dwarf doesn't pick on anyone, but he goes around all day just picking on rock and sometimes seems to mindlessly go toward my flame hawk when he's on the bottom and in the way and now my goby when he's on the bottom. I put in some mysis today and he hid; tomorrow I'll buy some blood worms or live food or something just in case he's hungry (although I'd imagine my sand is loaded with stuff); no visible skin damage anywhere. Could he simply be acclimating? I just floated him in his bag for about 20 minutes, then added 1/4 cup of my tank water every 15 minutes for about another half hour;

02/09/2009, 06:37 PM	#6
VacavilleFC3S Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Vacaville California Posts: 2,613	well if he was only in the store 3 days i'm assuming he was still really stressed out from shipping and possibly being caught, i usually try to wait till a fish has been in the store atleast a week if not 2. most sand sifting gobies don't do well in home aquariums, very similar to having a mandarin or scooter blenny but they have much larger mouths and can process 100x more substrate a day, where mandarins and scooter blennies just peck at the pods themselves. also it's extremely difficult to get them to eat other food

02/09/2009, 06:52 PM	#7
kimberlya18 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 61	I actually just floated some mysis his way - he ate 2 or 3 - then the others came and he hid under a different rock. Could he still be acclimating?

02/09/2009, 06:58 PM	#8
VacavilleFC3S Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Vacaville California Posts: 2,613	in this hobby "acclimating" is usually referring to when you first purchase it and are matching the temperature and salinity of it's previous tank. if you mean "getting used to it's new environment" it's possible but seeing as your said it's sitting on the bottom pushed up against a rock that doesn't sound good and most likely it's going to die soon do you have any corals or is this a fish only tank??? 1.022 salinity is a bit low. and what is about 77F?? any lower and i might be alittle worried about that too. i keep my tanks at 78-80

02/09/2009, 07:00 PM	#9
kimberlya18 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 61	It's a FOWLR; think I should raise the temp?

02/09/2009, 07:10 PM	#10
VacavilleFC3S Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Vacaville California Posts: 2,613	hmmm seeing as it's fowlr i suppose your alright with the salinity, if it was my tank i would raise it a degree or 2. 77 is definately on the low side for me but it really shouldn't be too bad. i'm going to assume he was just overly stressed during catching and shipping this is very common, we lose quite a bit of livestock each week during acclimation at my work