Yellow watchman goby always near the surface

[illuminum]

I just introduced a yellow watchman goby to my new 28g nano-reef and he's been hanging around the surface since he's been in there (24 hours). He's not swimming frantically or breathing heavily, but seeing a watchman hang around on the surface seems unusual. I just added some flake and he didn't seem to interested. It's almost like he didn't even notice it floating around.

Has anyone seen this sort of behavior before?

A little info on my tank. It's new, has been cycled for about three weeks now, has LR, LS, and two blue chromis.

Thanks!

 

[BioCubeGuy]

I just introduced a yellow watchman goby to my new 28g nano-reef and he's been hanging around the surface since he's been in there (24 hours). He's not swimming frantically or breathing heavily, but seeing a watchman hang around on the surface seems unusual. I just added some flake and he didn't seem to interested. It's almost like he didn't even notice it floating around.

Has anyone seen this sort of behavior before?

A little info on my tank. It's new, has been cycled for about three weeks now, has LR, LS, and two blue chromis.

Thanks!

Added the same fish last weekend. Mine did the same exact thing. Give it another day or two and he will be fine. New environment = stress. It's normal.

 

[Betta132]

Gobies are weird.

 

[jeffdenney]

Added a spotted goby to my tank yesterday and he dug a burrow instantly.. already ate mysis twice.. figured he would b super stressed since he was the first fish in my tank... but he looks grumby as all get out and ate well so I think ges gonna b ok..

 

[peasofme]

ywg are notoriously fragile when introduced. just try to get him eating and make sure he has places to hide. make sure your lid is secure.

 

[Stevenliu9]

I've had mine for over a year and except for feeding I've only seen it a dozen times while it spends all day and night in the burrow. The only time it comes to the surface is when I make water change or stir up the sand while water is cloudy.

 

[illuminum]

Quick update for anyone who's interested. After about a week he started settling down onto the sand. I also introduced a tiger pistol shrimp into the tank which he ignored for a few days. I would say about 4 days after I introduced the pistol, they became inseperable. The pistol is always digging and the goby is on watch at all times.

Aside from gobies just beinf weird, I read that he may have had buoyancy issues? Maybe when he was reaching for flake, he was ingesting air as well. I switched to frozen mysis.

So, in summary, three things happened between getting him into the tank and getting him to settle on the bottom: time passed and he got comfortable, I started feeding frozen mysis and I introduced a pistol shrimp.

 

[peasofme]

good to hear