No QT for gobies?

M

MellowReefer

New member
I ordered a court jester goby online and put it in QT on Saturday. It is not eating anything (mysis, brine shrimp, squid, EmeraldEntree, etc.) and hiding and looking very skinny. So I called the place I got it from and the guy I spoke with said to put it in my DT right away. He said gobies don't come down with crypt (aka marine ich) because of their thick slime coats and they don't allow the adult crypt to form so they can't give it to other fish. He said anyway every fish carries a small amount of crypt and there's a small amount of crypt in my tank no matter if I had the fallow period and treated all fish or not. So he's on the side of the fence that says "œyou can never eradicate crypt/ich from your tank". He said the reason I got crypt before was because something happened to trigger it like a water change that went wrong, temperature fluctuation, temporary decline in water quality, etc. and you just have to feed well and keep a stable environment and they'll be fine.

Anyway, I have been very strict with QT and treating every fish with cupramine for 4 weeks and I'm determined to keep crypt out of my tank. So to just throw this goby in there goes against everything I've been doing. This guy has 20 years experience and was very convincing. Anyone want to discuss, talk me out of putting this goby straight into the display tank?
 
Gobies have thick slime coats, which makes them Crypto "resistant", but not 100% immune. And no amount of slime coat can protect a fish from Crypto (or Flukes) in the gills. I would not put him in your DT; the fact that he's not eating could mean the fish is possibly afflicted with a disease. So it's not worth the risk. Are you medicating with anything? Most fish meds also have side effects (appetite suppression being the most common).
 
I had not used any medication until last night, when I put in Prazipro because I suspected possible flukes on the other fish. Yes, forgot to add that I have a 2” two-spot bristletooth tang in there with it. I noticed last night some erratic swimming with the tang so wanted to add Prazipro. The tang is eating well. This is a 30 gal (long size) QT that’s been established for over a year constantly occupied.
 
MellowReefer said:
I had not used any medication until last night, when I put in Prazipro because I suspected possible flukes on the other fish. Yes, forgot to add that I have a 2" two-spot bristletooth tang in there with it. I noticed last night some erratic swimming with the tang so wanted to add Prazipro. The tang is eating well. This is a 30 gal (long size) QT that's been established for over a year constantly occupied.
Click to expand...

Prazi is not as harsh as, say, copper, but can still suppress appetite. If it's only been since Saturday, I wouldn't push the panic button just yet. Did the guy you spoke with say if it was eating before he sold it to you? If so, what?
 
I didn’t ask if it was eating. This is an online vendor and I don’t think I should say their name if I’m saying anything negative. But I don’t think I’ll order from them again. They supposedly have a good reputation. But so far I’ve noticed the following:

First, I called after I placed the order to ask what salinity they kept their fish because I wanted to match my QT. The guy I spoke with acted like that was a weird thing to be concerned about (as long as I followed their acclimation instructions) and said he didn’t know what it is, some of their tanks are higher than others. He also said I could put the fish in the same bucket for acclimation. I am so glad I did not listen to this advice because when I tested the water from each bag, and the first was 1.028 (!) for the tang and the second was 1.021 (the goby) . Very different and most likely I would think the goby would have died had I combined them. BTW my QT was 1.020 which I target because many LFS seem to keep fish around this level.

Second, my order had a third fish, a scissortail dartfish, which was so DOA that when I opened the bag it smelled so bad I wanted to puke so it had been dead a while. Now of course I know this may happen occasionally through no fault of theirs, I am just adding it as part of the situation.
 
I regret buying this goby now that I have researched more about how they don’t fare well in QT. I hope I can get it to eat. But I don’t know if I’m willing to risk letting crypt into my almost fully stocked tank with 9 fish I have so diligently quarantined over the past 14 months.
 
I wouldn't order from them again either. The guy who told you, “you can never eradicate crypt/ich from your tank” is full of crap BTW. If Crypto never finds it's way into your tank then your fish can't possibly be infected by it. I've actually done both in my lifetime - managed Ich and eradicated Ich. By management I mean I knew I had Ich in one of my tanks so I planned everything around it. I only kept fish with thick slime coats, I ran a UV, I kept my temp/SG very stable, soaked my fish food in vitamins; anything I could do to help my fishes natural immune systems keep the parasites at bay. I got tired of it. I knew I was only one prolonged power loss away from losing everything. So, starting with my current DT, I QT and prophylactically treat everything, I'm very careful not to cross contaminate, etc. And I sleep easier at night knowing I won't wake up one morning to a nightmare. At least not an Ich nightmare anyway. ;)
 
MellowReefer said:
I regret buying this goby now that I have researched more about how they don’t fare well in QT. I hope I can get it to eat. But I don’t know if I’m willing to risk letting crypt into my almost fully stocked tank with 9 fish I have so diligently quarantined over the past 14 months.
Click to expand...

Do you have access to any live foods? Most gobies are quite fond of live brine and/or live blackworms. I would call that guy back up, and ask him what was it eating before he shipped it to you. Or at least he should know what types of foods they would normally feed a Court Jester goby.
 
no qt advice is just nuts

no qt advice is just nuts

As if ick was the only reason to quaranteen a fish. NEVER SKIP QT
READ MY SAYING AT THE BOTTTOM OF PAGE .Its a fact. I wont take any advice from that guy :eek1:
There maybe some relevance about the difficulty of eradicating ick from a once infected dt. THE NEW FISH STILL NEEDS THE BENEFIT OF CONDITIONING before being placed in a competitive environment for food and shelter. try hikari blood worms , reef nutrition R.O.E. AKA real ocean eggs , nutramar prawn eggs and frozen cyclopeeze target fed . If you feed mysis pe mysis is the best there is
 
Yes, I will try live food next. Of course I will not cut short the QT. It’s not worth risking 9 healthy fish for one fish. I was not really considering it but wanted to see what you guys thought about this guy from a well known online vendor saying this. It’s NOT LiveAquaria BTW but another one I think is fairly popular.

This guy was way off what I have come to believe. He said you should never keep a fish in QT more than 2 weeks if you see nothing wrong with it, and certain fish like gobies and wrasses not more than a few days. He said he hears people say a fish died a few days before the end of QT, and they think it must have had a disease and are glad it didn’t make it into the display, but that the fish died from stress from not being in it’s natural environment with LR/sand. He also said you shouldn’t treat prophylactically and most fish should not be treated with copper at all. I guess if the fish dies I won’t ask for a credit because he will say he told me to move it into the display tank. I asked him if he was one of the owners and he said no, just an experienced fish guy.
 
You should feed it live food (brineshrimp, blackworms, pods, etc). And I think usually people get the fish to eat at QT before adding meds, since meds will sometimes depress their appetite.
 
wonderz said:
You should feed it live food (brineshrimp, blackworms, pods, etc). And I think usually people get the fish to eat at QT before adding meds, since meds will sometimes depress their appetite.
Click to expand...

I plan to go tomorrow to get live food, or try to catch some from my refugium or invert QT tank. The goby is out swimming more tonight so that's encouraging but it still didn't any different frozen foods I've tried.

I usually do get fish to eat first. But I was worried about flukes because of some jerking movement by the tang, and I once had a fish that did that in QT and died before I put the Prazipro in (because I didn't know the symptom of flukes).
 
MellowReefer said:
I plan to go tomorrow to get live food, or try to catch some from my refugium or invert QT tank. The goby is out swimming more tonight so that's encouraging but it still didn't any different frozen foods I've tried.

I usually do get fish to eat first. But I was worried about flukes because of some jerking movement by the tang, and I once had a fish that did that in QT and died before I put the Prazipro in (because I didn't know the symptom of flukes).
Click to expand...
Do you have refugium? If so, cut a piece of chaeto or whatever marco algae you have, there are bound to be some pods in it, and put it in the QT. The goby is pretty good at getting picking what it likes off surfaces.
 
wonderz said:
Do you have refugium? If so, cut a piece of chaeto or whatever marco algae you have, there are bound to be some pods in it, and put it in the QT. The goby is pretty good at getting picking what it likes off surfaces.
Click to expand...

Great idea, thanks. Or try to trap some in a net using pellets as bait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
help with new dracula goby
Replies
5
Views
397
leebca
L
BigEZ77
Urgent Help Requested - Wrasses Won't Come Out - CB Blue Tang Arriving Today (NO QT)
Replies
8
Views
619
rrrrob
rrrrob
D
Coral beauty Sick - how do i treat
Replies
3
Views
1K
leebca
L
BigEZ77
How Many Days To Run UV When Adding A New Fish?
Replies
3
Views
540
leebca
L
P
50 Gallon Stocking Help
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
Urka
U
Back
Top