does a watchman goby need a mate or something to watch?

[RioReefr]

Over the weekend, I finally captured my demonized damselfish and took her to the LFS. In return, they offered me a good-looking yellow watchman goby free of charge. Since getting him, he kind of just sits in the corner looking very lonely. Sometimes I have to tap to see if he is alive or dead and he seems healthy and does on occasion swim up the glass and then right back down. No one messes with him, but just look sad just sitting there on the sand-bed staring into space.

So, does a yellow watchman goby do better in pairs? Does he need some kind of shrimp to look after?

Just seems like he is having a very boring life. During feedings, if some food doesn't literally pass right in front of him, he doesn't swarm to it like all the other fish.

 

[fishy_mcfish]

I have a pair and they live in a pvc tube I made for them under the rocks. They just sit there and occasionally come out 4-5" from their home but not often. They always have a grumpy look on their faces lol. Just the way they are so nothing to worry about


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[der_wille_zur_macht]

You mentioned a sandbed, so I'm assuming it's not a bare bottom tank. That's the most important part for any burrowing shrimp. Eventually, he'll probably find a spot he really likes and dig a tunnel or two in which to live. They are not active swimmers and prefer instead to sit and "watch" whatever's happening.

In nature, they commonly pair with pistol shrimp, and share a burrow. If you want to see it interacting with another creature, get your hands on a pistol shrimp - while you can maintain a mated pair of watchman gobies in an aquarium, IME it's much easier to start with a pair (that was harvested together) versus pairing them up on your own. Shrimp on the other hand, they seem less picky about. There aren't many things I find more interesting than watching a shrimp and goby share a tunnel.

 

[devimik]

Right, they don't need a shrimp, nor a mate. I've had mine for 5 years and he's solo. Eats like a pig.

 

[Rover88]

You only got him over the weekend?

Fish do weird things when uprooted and placed into new homes. He is probably mildly terrified of being in this new place with other fish looming around. Give him time to realize no one is going to eat him and he'll start exploring and find a place to stay around no one else has claimed.

 

[Frost_Hydra]

Mine has a pretty weird personality In my view. Every morning it uncovers its burrow at 6:20 AM (before the aquarium lights turn on), then just peers out till the lights come on a few hours later. Besides simply filtering through the sand and picking copepods from the glass it enjoys constantly refurbishing its home under some live rock, and making sure none of those pesky snails fall in. At 4:30 it completely covers up its burrow and stays out till 6, unless it gets spooked, in which case it will dart through the sand into its covered hole; not to appear again until the next day. I've messed with the lighting a lot to see if this would trigger its schedule to change, but even with the lights off, it still follows the same pattern.

When I first received it, I didn't see it for a few weeks, until I set my phone to record near the glass where I thought it may be, then left the room, 15 min later I got footage proving its existence. For the first month if it even saw me it would hide, now I can get six inches away from it without spooking him.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Mine never completely covers its burrow. He has a couple of entrances to it and just peers out before and after lights out. During the day he is VERY active. He is constantly swimming around the tank sifting every inch of sand every day. He keeps my sandbed completely clean. Definitely the most efficient sand cleaner I have ever owned.

 

[Joe0813]

Give it sometime to get used to your tank

 

[RioReefr]

So its been over 5 days, and still basically the same behavior. Except now he has made the glass-cleaner (inside part) his "home". I saw him swim up there and just sits there staring into space all day. Very little activity.

I have the 1 - 1.5 mm fine oolithe sand from CaribSea and I thought he was "supposed to" burrow holes. He doesn't seem interested in doing that at all. LOL.

If its normal behavior, that is fine. I guess never seen a less-active fish. Every now and again I check to see if he is still alive and see his eyeball moving around and his tail twitches. Who knows, maybe he is still traumatized by the other tankmates -- but for the most part they are all peaceful fish. The female clown if you go near her back left-side of the tank (but that is very small part of the tank) doesnt like anyone going near her territory.

I like the idea of getting some small diameter PVC tubing and putting it in there for him.

BTW, I have a Flame Hawkfish who made my peppermint shrimp a good snack. Would a pistol shrimp meet the same fate?

 

[sfdan]

I've had a watchman goby for about a year that has gone between my old tank and my new tank. In the old tank he had a main burrow, but would occasionally move and make other burrows. At one point I don't think I saw him for a full month and I assumed he had died, and then at some point he appeared with a full belly and seemingly completely fine.

When I moved him to the new tank, he spent about 2 days just swimming around the perimeter of the tank looking very uncomfortable and unhappy. Then on the 3rd day he decided to pick a burrow and from that point on was always in a burrow, but the burrow kept moving around.

A couple weeks later I put a pistol shrimp into the tank, but in the time between when I ordered the pistol shrimp and it arrived the goby had once again disappeared. So I put the pistol shrimp near where the goby had spent most of his time, the pistol shrimp crawled into a rock and I assumed they'd never meet. But lo and behold one day later the pistol shrimp and watchman goby were dutifully working together, and they have ever since.

So the reason I told that whole story is that watchman goby are strange fish and certainly have the most perplexing behavior of any fish I've kept. I think you just need to be patient with them. And my watchman goby was captive bred by ORA so is used to aquariums and still acts strangely.

Will a hawkfish eat a pistol shrimp? If the hawkfish could catch the shrimp, probably yes. However pistol shrimp are very elusive and I think if it were added at night when the hawkfish was asleep both you and the hawkfish would never see it again unless it paired with your goby. So I think you could give it a shot, but I wouldn't add a pistol shrimp until the goby were displaying more normal burrowing behavior, because your best shot to pair them up will be to introduce the pistol shrimp to where the goby is hanging out, but a pistol shrimp will not tolerate being out in the open like your goby is now.

 

[RioReefr]

I already ordered some egg-crate and this weekend I am going to organize my rockwork more in front of the tank to give more passageways and room to roam/ dig.

As of right now, this Goby just likes the glass cleaner and stays there all day. Which in itself sux, because now I have to buy another glass cleaner so as not to disturb his "home".

 

[Sk8r]

They sit and watch. That's why they're called watchmen. They don't swim much. I would not attempt to get a mate, as if you mistake the gender or species, he will kill it. I would also resist getting a shrimp. They can become problems and kill fish, including the goby.

 

[Wannabe29]

I've had my watchman for 6 or 7 yrs, now. He's pretty much just there...chilling out. He never really picked a burrow. Some days he lives on one side of the tank. Some days he's on the other side, or in the middle. I do have a lot of gaps under my rockwork so, for all I know, his burrow could be huge.

He used to be pretty active in his early years, always coming out and hovering mid-water column, waiting for food. I used to have two engineer gobies in there with him. They'd hang out all the time, sharing burrows, and were almost always in physical contact with each other. But, he was never an active swimmer, exploring the tank, etc.

So, yeah....hanging out is pretty much what they do.

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[sfdan]

They sit and watch. That's why they're called watchmen. They don't swim much. I would not attempt to get a mate, as if you mistake the gender or species, he will kill it. I would also resist getting a shrimp. They can become problems and kill fish, including the goby.

I've kept a tiger pistol shrimp before and certainly at their large size I think they could be a threat to other fish. I am highly doubtful a candy cane pistol shrimp (Alpheus randalli) could possibly kill any fish. Certainly tiny hermit crabs or snails, but I can't imagine them having any shot at killing a normal sized fish. My watchman goby is still pretty tiny and you can see in the above picture how much it dwarfs the pistol shrimp in size.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I would also resist getting a shrimp. They can become problems and kill fish, including the goby.

Do you have any hard evidence to support that? I've been keeping pistol shrimp (Alpheus bellulus, the commonly sold tiger pistol shrimp - white with red stripes) with gobies for decades and have never heard or seen of a paired-up pistol killing it's goby (or any other fish, for that matter). There are definitely other snapping shrimp that will kill fish but I've never heard of that happening with a pistol shrimp.

They will slowly eat your smaller snails, and an occasional hermit, which for some people, might be a problem. But to me, that's just nature at work and I don't mind occasionally replenishing snails.

 

[RioReefr]

Well everyone, I woke up this morning and see this same Goby laying on its side at the bottom of tank breathing heavy. At this point, I am going say he is a goner.

All my other fish are peaceful. Not sure what had happened, but apparently this fish never fully acclimated to the tank. I did the drip method for at least 1 hour before putting him in the tank. All water parameters are in check.

He just never seemed "right" to me. Very timid and scared the moment he went into the tank. I decided to take him and put in a little tank with some live rock and an airstone.

I just know a fish laying on its side and panting like a dog is NEVER a good sign.
But, honestly I think the damage (whatever may have been done -- some fish must have picked at him) is already done. It actually kind of looks like part of his front dorsil fin is missing. Do fish grow their fins back??
Also, the area around his head is more whitish-yellow than the rest of his body which is like lemon-yellow. Poor fella.

 

[ROB2005]

He may have been stressed out at the LFS, and I guess the transition to a new home may have been too much for him. Just a fun note, they aren't really sad, it's just how their mouths were designed...lol.

As the others have said, they can do just fine by themselves, and don't seem to do much in the tank, but it is very amusing to watch them be on the lookout while their pistol shrimp buddy does all the hard work of maintaining the burrow.