Orange spotted goby.

[Hetfield6j]

I have a 14G biocube that has been up for the last 2-3 months. It has a few corals in it, 3 snails, and an orange spotted goby. My problem is i can not get the goby to eat well at all. He is the most seclusive fish i have ever had. When he comes out, he perches at the entrances to his burrows and will dash in at the first sign of movement.

To feed i turn off all the pumps and drop in very small amounts of frozen mysis/krill,ect directly in front of him. The food needs to fall within 1-3 inches of his face to actually go after it. Sometimes a piece will land on his back and scare him into his hole He is very skinny and not getting enough food. I am over feeding the tank and getting cyno now because i'm so worried about the amount of food he is getting. I have noticed him hunting pods, but the tank has not been set up long enough and is not big enough to support a good pod population. Someone help me feed this thing!!!!

 

[SecretiveFish]

Your fish is obviously insecure in his tank (how long has he been there?). If this was my tank, I would want to add another out in the open type nano fish or cleaner shrimp with the reason for this specific shrimp type being they are out in the open type shrimp and may encourage your goby to chill out. The hope would be with the addition of another creature that would not overreact to your presence in the room, your goby would calm down and actually eat.

This will add bioload to your tank so make sure you watch your tank even more closely and keep up your regular water changes.

 

[Hetfield6j]

I was thinking of adding a cleaner shrimp or something similar, but i am worried that the cleaner shrimp will out compete the goby for food

 

[SecretiveFish]

It's always something isn't it? But is not like the goby is really eating right now anyway

An aside if you want to go the shrimp route, I would definitely try a cleaner shrimp. I would not do a fire shrimp as they tend to hide alot, likewise with a coral banded shrimp (with the added bonus that this guy may actually eat your fish as it gets bigger!), and likewise with peppermint shrimp. I really think that you need something that hangs out in the open to get your goby to chill out.

You could always just hand your cleaner shrimp a chunk of krill or something to keep him occupied while you feed the goby (I have NEVER, ever, ever done this before).

 

[JennyH]

I have a orange spotted goby and he ADORES the cleaner shrimp! I would think its worth a shot. Also, have you tried a sinking food? Mine eats from the water column and thebottom but a sinking food might let him take his time to get to it a little more.

 

[SushiGirl]

Make sure the cleaner shrimp isn't larger than your goby LOL. Mine kept trying to get the peppermints to clean him so I bought a cleaner (they only had large). He was terrified of it until I bought a smaller one. That one sometimes gets to clean him.

Mine RARELY eats in front of us, he hides in the back to eat, but he's clearly very fat so he's definitely getting enough to eat. I started with a mix of mysis and brine shrimp because he wouldn't eat just the mysis at first. That got him started eating and now, judging by the belly, eats like a pig. I've even seen him go after flake and pellets at times when he thinks I'm not looking. I have a ton of different kinds of frozen food in the freezer that has been turned down, so be prepared LOL.

 

[Hetfield6j]

Thanks for the responses! I have been doing some reading and thought about maybe getting a pistol shrimp that may pair with him. Has anyone with a paired pistol/goby noticed the goby become more "at ease" with a pistol around?

 

[Matthew91]

My lfs has a goby and a pistol shrimp pair. too bad it is in their beautiful display tank

 

[SushiGirl]

I introduced the goby and a pistol at the same time (February). They haven't paired up yet LOL. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes not.