1st ever jumper, Engineer goby!!!!

sufunk

New member
I can't believe it!

I feed my 36g tank a little while ago and dont see my engineer goby. Not unusual as he often doesnt come out for meals but this is his favorite pellets and he always comes out for these. I thought it odd and went to look for him under his normal rock but when i went to the side of the tank to look, there he was, dried out on the floor!!!:(

Ive had this guy for just over 2 years and LOVED him(even though he would attack me when spot feeding my sun coral). He was an awesome fish, lots of personality. This is the 1st fish ive lost in almost 2 years and 1st to ever jump. Its so weird, he NEVER, never even goes remotely close to the top of the tank???? I dont think ive ever seen him within 6 inches of the top even during feedings. Never in my wildest dreams would i have thought he could jump out. He was always at the bottom of the tank under the rocks in one of his many burrows. I'm so bummed, i cant believe it.

Can't figure out what would make him jump after 2+ years:confused: And on my Birthday no less, although from the look it was probably yesterday or last night at the latest. So weird.
 
Last edited:
sometimes, fishes jump when other fish is agressive and attacking fishes. Or maybe when the tank change like water currents, light time, and others.
 
He was about 7-8 inches. Long but not real wide yet. He was probably my favorite fish:(

Nothing in the tank changed as far as parameters, lighting , current, etc... I did add a small rock with some orange carnations on it a few days ago but cant imagine that had something to do with it.

The other fish in the tank are a false perc, a midas blenny and a hippo tang. These four have been together in the tank for over 2 years with no problem. Its weird because even if another fish decided to attack him out of the blue, i would have assumed he would go under the rocks and hide not jump out:confused: He had a burrow under every support rock at the bottom of the tank to hide in(at least 5-6) and like i said, seriously in 2 years i dont think i ever saw him within 6-8 inches of the top of the tank even during feedings. He was always at the very bottom of the tank or hiding under the rocks.

Its so weird, i'm so bummed and my 5 year old daughter will be VERY upset tomorrow! Its really gonna suck telling her.
 
That's too bad, Sufunk. Try to get some eggcrate or other cover on your tank so you don't lose more fish down the road.
 
I'm considering eggcrate but REALLY hate the way it looks. I went open top about 18 months ago to help with someph and temp issues and was very worried at the time. I have an awesome Midas blenny as well and everyone say he was a major jumping risk. I took the chance because i figured the midas was the only jumper and the tank is kind of covered. Between the coralife light fixture, skimmer, filter and powerheads near the top, there is VERY little room to jump out. It was actually a pretty impressive jump to make it out the little opening he did. The light fixture covers about 75% of the top and i always figured odds were in my favor that they would bounce back in if they ever tried jumping. Unfortunately that chance cost me my little buddy:( so i guess eggcrate it is.

Never even imagined that the Engineer would jump being a complete bottom dweller. Anyone else ever heard of a engineer goby jumping???
 
If my engineer goby ever jumped, that would definitely be a sight to see....he is easily 10 inches long. Never heard of one jumping. Mine is rarely completely out of the rocks, even when feeding.
 
Same here travdixon. In 2 years i dont think my wife has ever seen the entire engineer. I look at the tank ALL the time and only see his entire body about every 2-3 months. How long have you had yours?

I cant get over how weird it is that he jumped. People with engineers can probably relate, it just seems so unlikely given his behavior and patterns for the last 2 years. Cant figure what made him do this:confused: My only guess is maybe a pellet was floating over there at the surface and he made a dash for the pellet but vastly overestimated his speed. Ive never seen him do anything like that for ANY type of food but cant think of anything else????

p.s.-daughter cried semihysterically for about 20 minutes when she found out he was gone. She wants me to take her to get another today after school but i already know that none of my lfs have any. I hit them all this weekend trying to find b-day pesents for myself.:(
 
I've had mine for over 5 years. I swear sometimes I think he's blind cuz he won't venture out for anything but food, and even then just eats what floats by his gulping distance! You do know they look very different when young, right? I'm waiting for mine to stick his head out and just open and close his mouth all day, because he is almost identical to an eel.
 
Well, FINALLY got my replacement today! I didn't want to order one and none of my lfs had gotten any engineer's in forever.

Today, i walk in one of my lfs and the chalkboard says "SALE- Engineer gobies $8":D

My daughter was so happy when she came home and saw him acclimating. She ran to my wife and started screaming "MOMMY, MOMMY, an Engineer, an Engineer!!!"

He's probably only 1.5" long and still has his juvenile markings. He's hiding now but when he comes out, i'll try and get a pic of him.
 
I hope you did'nt give the new one the same name as the old one, or am I the only one who names fish? I love the looks of the engineer goby I kinda want one when I get the new tank set up, but I'm going BB and I don't know if they NEED sand to servive. Anyone know?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10435099#post10435099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sufunk
Well, FINALLY got my replacement today! I didn't want to order one and none of my lfs had gotten any engineer's in forever.

Today, i walk in one of my lfs and the chalkboard says "SALE- Engineer gobies $8":D

My daughter was so happy when she came home and saw him acclimating. She ran to my wife and started screaming "MOMMY, MOMMY, an Engineer, an Engineer!!!"

He's probably only 1.5" long and still has his juvenile markings. He's hiding now but when he comes out, i'll try and get a pic of him.
They grow so quickly.
 
I have one who's been trying to jump for over 2 months, on and off. I moved, and got a new tank, which has finer sand and much less live rock. The guys who put it together didn't listen when I told them there was an engineer so they should put liverocks on the bottom, not on top of the sand, so he's been tunneling and repeatedly having cave-ins. I think he's stressed when that happens and goes on a 2-3 day spree of repeated jump attempts (I have eggcrate).

Here's my solution-in-process: I've built a grid of 1" PVC pipes - 4 squares using slip-fit unions with extra openings. Not only will this support the live rocks above the bottom, but once he tunnels into one of the openings, he'll have a complex tunnel system to navigate!

I'm hoping he likes it, just a few more pieces of PVC to cut/sand/clean and I'll try installing it, which will be a project since there's like 4" of sand in there that has to come out, all with an engineer who will have to be bucketed to prevent jumping.
 
Back
Top