I have had my sand sifting Goby in my AP12g for almost a year. He lives with a pair of false black ocellaris, a pseudochromis, and a red spotted Blenny. Everyone has always gotten along great, and I have never seen any agression in the tank, other than the dominant/submissive dance by the ocellaris. This morning I noticed that there was a huge chunk of the Goby's tail fin missing. I does not seem to have gone into the actual "body" of the fish. He is still sifting away, and does not seem to be in any distress. Is ther anything I should do for him? Who would the likely culprit be who all of a sudden decided to bite him?
Goby problem...
- Thread starter macperry
- Start date
Shagsbeard
New member
It could be rot, rather than agression of tank mates. Do some reading into "fin rot" in the disease forums. I don't know much about it, but would guess that over fin nipping.
The tank has a Red Sea HOB skimmer, a Phos-Ban reactor, a Koralia 1 pump, and the MJ1200 upgrade to the stock output pump for added flow, and I do 25% water changes every two weeks. It doesn't look like fin rot, and why do people immediately jump to the conclusion that a 12g tank with more than a couple of small fish in it is overstocked?
JokerGirl
Whistler's Mother
That looks more like fin rot to me than it being nipped. If the Goby was being harassed to the extent of the tail being that bad, you'd know it pretty quickly. Fin rot is generally caused by bacteria and you generally see it more in tanks that are overstocked.
It might get better on its own, but if you start seeing any red streaking there I would pull the goby and give it an antibiotic treatment in a QT.
I agree with everyone when they say your tank is overstocked.
It might get better on its own, but if you start seeing any red streaking there I would pull the goby and give it an antibiotic treatment in a QT.
I agree with everyone when they say your tank is overstocked.
JokerGirl: Thank you for the response. The Goby seems to be behaving the way he always has....nobody obviously picking on him. I would think that I would have noticed fin rot long before it got that advanced. Maybe he just startled somebody last night, and they bit him by mistake. On a different issue....why would you agree about the overstocking concensus without even knowing my water parameters? You seem too knowledgeable to jump to conclusions.
Shagsbeard
New member
I still say it's most likely rot. If you have the bucks for it, or you can borrow/rent one, try running a UV sterilizer on it and see if there's any improvement a month from now.
JokerGirl
Whistler's Mother
Mac,
I only said that I agree with overstocking based on the number of fish that you have in a relatively small area as far as swimming room. As long as they aren't fighting at all and your tank is stable it shouldn't be too much of a problem though.
Fin rot generally happens quite quickly since that part of the tail is relatively thin tissue. I've found that it occurs in tanks with poor water quality and often when the tail has been torn. It is possible that it startled someone through the night, or that it got its tail caught on something. I would keep a close eye on it and if it continues to get worse then you'll need to give it some antibiotics.
Otherwise, it should grow back no problem.
I only said that I agree with overstocking based on the number of fish that you have in a relatively small area as far as swimming room. As long as they aren't fighting at all and your tank is stable it shouldn't be too much of a problem though.
Fin rot generally happens quite quickly since that part of the tail is relatively thin tissue. I've found that it occurs in tanks with poor water quality and often when the tail has been torn. It is possible that it startled someone through the night, or that it got its tail caught on something. I would keep a close eye on it and if it continues to get worse then you'll need to give it some antibiotics.
Otherwise, it should grow back no problem.
