Any idea what happened to my Yellow watchman goby? (Pictures) :(

[Zpmada]

Very sad day. I've had my Yellow watchman goby for 3 years, and it is paired with a tiger pistol shrimp (about the same size maybe slightly larger than the goby). This morning I found my yellow watchman goby motionless on it's back or side, occasionally twitching every minute or so.

Other fish in the tank include two clownfish that hang out near the top and never bother the goby, and a royal gramma.

Anything I can do for this poor fish? Maybe a rock collapsed on it? Doesn't look like anything fell but maybe something shifted.

 

[Rummil]

Depends on where you got the goby. They say they live for 3-4 years, but people report 7-15 years on a few.

I would guess old age. The other fish in the tank are fine, and the parameters are good ?


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[Zpmada]

Water parameters should be fine, I did a water change last week. I know salinity is ok but I'll check everything else. Tank is a 55 gallon. Coral, bubble tip anenome, and other fish all look fine and I don't see any other signs of stress.

 

[Zpmada]

I do have a decent size elegance coral in the sand. Is it possible that stung the fish? It was nearby.

 

[Rummil]

Does the fish have any welts? The elegance coral can harm and kill fish.

They start to swell up from the poisons, which will kill them slowly.

How far is the coral from the cave of the goby?


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[Sk8r]

I had mine for 5 years, but he was done in by the pistol shrimp, which grew larger and crankier, and finally took out him and several other fish before I could catch him. The telltale sign was a red spot on the side, on all deceased fish. With the shrimp gone, no more mystery fish deaths.

 

[Zionas]

I had mine for 5 years, but he was done in by the pistol shrimp, which grew larger and crankier, and finally took out him and several other fish before I could catch him. The telltale sign was a red spot on the side, on all deceased fish. With the shrimp gone, no more mystery fish deaths.

That's it. No Pistol Shrimp for me. Yours could have lived well past 10 years if not for the shrimp. I'll be keeping a YWG, Orange Spotted Goby and Pink Bar Goby together in my 180.

 

[Zionas]

Very sad day. I've had my Yellow watchman goby for 3 years, and it is paired with a tiger pistol shrimp (about the same size maybe slightly larger than the goby). This morning I found my yellow watchman goby motionless on it's back or side, occasionally twitching every minute or so.

Other fish in the tank include two clownfish that hang out near the top and never bother the goby, and a royal gramma.

Anything I can do for this poor fish? Maybe a rock collapsed on it? Doesn't look like anything fell but maybe something shifted.

Man, sorry for your loss. How big was your Goby when you got it? Was it a tank or near full size? If so it could have been quite old.

However, it's not hard for these fish to live at least 10 years with good care, as I have read quite a few cases of people having kept their YWGs and other shrimp Gobies for 10 or more years. Rarely lost to disease also.

Maybe something did indeed move.

 

[Zpmada]

I purchased it "medium size" 2-3" from liveaquaria about 3 years ago. It was more gray than yellow so I assume a female.

 

[Zpmada]

Here are a few more pictures. I've since removed the fish, I don't think there are any welts. Looked a little red around the gill or maybe I'm imagining things.

I guess I will leave the tiger pistol in there on their own and let it live its life. I read their expectancy is about two years. I've had it one year so far but medium size when I got it. Pity, the shrimp seemed to be doing so well with the goby guiding it around.

I initially had a red banded shrimp 3 years ago that never paired with the YWG, but this tiger shrimp paired the moment I introduced them... oh well. I'll hold off on a manderine goby or any other bottom dwellers until I know it's safe down there and the pistol shrimp passes away. Maybe a year or so left in it's life.

 

[Uncle99]

When I zoom in on the first pics above, I see some type of mark, about 1/2” left of the tail.
It’s blurry to me but it looks like something, or maybe this is after death damage?

 

[Zpmada]

Yes I see that red mark too. I take it that's unlikely from the elegance coral and most likely the shrimp?

 

[Sk8r]

I'd be suspicious. I hate to report the tiger I kept, though it was a while ago, I believe (unless my memory was foggy) went in with the YWG and outlived his 5 years...I gave him back to the lfs with a warning.