Weird Firefish Goby's

[AC_Rhino]

So this week I ordered a bunch of inverts from a website. Instead of my order I received about $300 in fish. Long story short they said to keep the fish or donate them as they wouldn't survive a trip back ... so I did. I found all of the fish a home and kept a few.

So my question is about 2 of the fish I kept. They are Firefish Goby's. They spend all of their time hiding together some live rock ... they don't come out to feed ... and I've only seen them a few times. The only other fish I have in the tank are 1 yellow tang, 2 clowns (mated), 4 blue/green chromis, 2 cardinals (also part of the shipment but they are fine), court jester goby (also part of the shipment and it is doing fine), and a green mandarin (which I'm going to give to a friend as I don't know how well it will be able to feed in my tank).

Is hiding like this normal behavior? They have been in the tank since Wednesday ... should I do anything? I feed flake, pellet, misc ground up marine meats (shrimp, scallop, clam, etc.), frozen brine shrimp, and dried nori seaweed. Can I entice them out with something more to eat? Are they just chooches? Any suggestions? The rest of the tank is doing great.

The pics are from one of the few times they came out and about that I was able to see.

I can see their little heads in a cave that they built out of the sand ... can I drop any special food in there for them?

Any other tips on these weird little chooches?

 

[top shelf]

Firefish are very skidish and spook easily. They will take awhile to settle in and get comfortable. Could be up to a week or two, maybe even longer. I would keep trying different foods and see if they find something appetizing. Not sure if you have tried but mine loves frozen mysis but then again it eats whatever I feed. If they are otherwise healthy they will get hungry sooner or later.

My firefish took about a week or so to settle in and now it's always out and about. It still spends most of it's time within 6-8 inches hovering by it's hidy hole ready to dart at a moment's notice. Surprised me but it will even go to the waters surface after pellets that didn't sink. I'm sure it has a lot to do with it but it's only tank mate is a swales swissguard basslet that's about the same size.

If you didn't know already though with having two you will most likely end up with only one. They are very territorial and once established will fight till only one remains.

 

[Bent]

The chances of Keeping both of those is slim. One will be bullied into hiding and starve.

What Size tank is this in?

 

[AC_Rhino]

So the major problem is that I kept them until I found a place I could re-home them to since I didn't order them to begin with ... now to get them out of the tank I literally have to tear the tank apart. I can't scare them out of the hole ... they won't come out ... I wish they would jump out of the tank lol ... I have a feeling my hermits will be feasting on their corpses for months.

 

[ajoe]

they will eventually come out and join the rest of the team. they seem to take a week or two to get comfortable. try keeping your feedings at the same time and they will begin to get into a routine. once they are used to the regularity of the tank they will be swimming around all day. at that time you should be able to remove one from the tank as suggested. took mine about 2 weeks to come out of hiding. now he swims around all day.

 

[AC_Rhino]

I'm going to follow your advice. I had all the fish I wanted in the tank when I got this order of 15 fish sent to me by mistake lol. I'm re-homing the mandarin tomorrow and I will re-home the firefish in a few weeks when they come out (if ever). I figure I will keep the cardinals and the jester ... and thankfully i was able to re-home the rest without having to take them out of their original bag to minimize stress.

And its funny because the order i received was 2 neon goby, 2 blue mandarin, 2 cardinals, 2 firefish goby, 1 court jester goby, 1 ruby longfin fairy wrasse, 1 fire shrimp, and some mermaids tail. That seems like a weird order to me that someone made.

 

[AC_Rhino]

Sorry typo ... meant 11 fish

 

[shred5]

Make sure you have a top they will jump...

 

[Jesterrace]

Firefish and Dartfish in general are arguably the biggest cowards in the saltwater industry. They should eventually come out provided the tang and clownfish haven't bullied them.