Blue Dragon Goby - all information you have needed

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What would you hand feed a BDG with 4 options?

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Q

Queenzerg

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 9, 2008
12
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0
Ontario
Hello, I have had two previous Blue Dragon Gobies, at a later time I will try and post pictures, I have recently received another one.

I am seeking information, advice, tips, opinions, past experiences, anything you have regarding them.

My first BGD was or appeared average when you look up images on google, we called it Violence and 'she' lived about two years once I bought her. She became very sick and nothing worked after a long struggle she past.
We had bought another about a year after her, we called 'him' Squiggle, he was very tiny when we saw him. I had to have him, I measured him when we got home out of curiousity, he was 1 cm in diameter at the larger point and 3 inches in length.
We had him for 3 years before he past away, one morning he had a huge lump on his side, I tried everything, vets pet stores, online help, he lived for a week and a half after that, he went down but he still was acting funny. He was huge compared to the others I have seen and owned. I wish he had lived I bet he would be massive, I hand fed him daily it was the only way he would eat.
When he died he was 18 inches in body length, not tail fin, and his diameter was 5 inches for most of his body. My pictures of him aren't the best but they are pictures none the less. I will post as soon as I figure out how.

I am going to attempt hand feeding this one the same as I did Squiggle
 
OK I'll tell you what I know, and hopefully it helps.
First of all, it's called a violet goby if I know what fish you're talking about. Using that name might get you more information. Three years isn't very long for one of them to live. Ten years or so is more like it. Their basic requirements are a large tank 75+ gallons, hiding places, a sandy substrate, and a specific gravity of about 1.005.
I'd like to know more about your tank. Size, specific gravity (salinity), tankmates, that kind of stuff.
Once one of these gets ten inches long, it might be a good idea to watch your hands. Mine keeps attacking me. I've heard that they can bite, and I've read that their relatives can deliver a nasty bite. Did Squiggle ever do anything like that or display his fins at you?
Did Squiggle's coloration change as he grew? Instead of the original golden bands, mine now has little black dots all over the top of his body, and pictures of 15"+ individuals seem to show a simple countershading. Any pictures you have would be great.
As for feeding, I'd go with bloodworms. I was told that brine shrimp aren't very nutritious, and I don't know what roe is.
 
I have been told that is another name for it.
Mine are all dark navy blue, Violence had gold cheeks till she was 1 year. Squiggle turned light blue once he grew over 15 inches.
I have never been attacked by them, since I was as I stated handing feeding them. They danced alot, showing affectionate, playing, sometimes aggressive. I could not continue feeding them bloodworm after so long, since they refused to eat it, as they aged they become less interested in bloody food.
Around here I have never seen a gold band one of this species, only other gobies, not the Blue Dragon, in they wild they eat shrimp so I can't see how it is bad for them in captivity. Squiggle would not have gotten near the size he got if it wasn't for the shrimp.

The current setup he has lots of tankmates I believe there is 25 mates. Lots of hiding spots, his own cave, as each have had before, small gravel. This one prefers the light instead of darkness, he has eaten fish able to fit in his mouth, he has not been aggressive to the human hand, he does not flare his fins, he doesnt defend himself when attacked by another fish.
 
Hmm...That sounds a little strange. Although, there do seem to be many different color forms to this species. I've seen pictures of individuals whose coloration ranged from a strange yellow-brown with small blotches of black, all the way to the common bluish form with slanted golden bands. If you look around in this forum I'm sure you'll find pictures of mine and some others.
What size is the tank, and what are the tankmates? I could easily have said that I had 25 tankmates with my violet goby a month ago, but they were all guppies, bumblebee gobies, and ghost shrimp.
What's the specific gravity? If you don't know, brackish conditions can only be replicated using artificial sea salt such as Instant Ocean, and the SG is tested using a hydrometer or refractometer.
How do you know what they eat in the wild? I'm just asking, because from what I've read they eat detritus and algae, as well as copepods. If they eat shrimp it doesn't mean brine shrimp is the best choice.
I wonder if we don't have two different species. Do you know the scientific name of your fish?
 
I didn't say brine shrimp was the best choice, I found it out from all the research sites, university site, the goby one I have to find the link, I have so many now.
The tank mates are 1 pink kissing gourami, 1 blue gourami, 1 snakeskin gourami, 2 algae eaters, 1 red finned shark, 1 congo tetra, 5 black skirt tetra, 5 flame tetra, 4 gold tetra, 1 yellow panchax, 2 female red wags, 1 male redwag swordtail.
I have a whole file drawer full of stuff I have printed off, I can't into the room till tomorrow, I invested alot of hours to get the right information.
Mine have never ate algae, I have tried various algae tablets as well, it was suggested when I first got them, however they did not like them. When there was no algae eater with them the algae grew out of control very quickly.
They will not eat any other kind of shrimp, I have tried. This one also loves color enhancing flakes and shrimp pellets, and scallops.
 
Well from what you've told me, you're either keeping the violet goby, a brackish fish, in freshwater, or you're keeping what I'm pretty sure are freshwater fish, in brackish water. You've still yet to tell which of the two, and how large the tank is. Even if you don't know the gallonage, you should at least have some idea of the dimensions of the tank.
Yours seems very different from not only mine, but also the fish described in the first article you provided (which I had already seen before). I don't know if you've just got a variation of G. broussonettii, G. peruanus, or another closely related species.
That your goby eats whatever fish fit in its mouth is very strange. It's kind of typical for gobies in general, but not for violet gobies. Mine doesn't even eat guppy fry. There are clean spots on the lower corners of my aquarium where he has eaten the algae.
Pics would be great, and so would more of your sources. I upload my pictures to Photobucket and then just copy and paste the img code (I think it's img) to my message.
 
I am working on the pictures, there is a storm here right now, interferring with my internet. Roe are fish eggs also. My first two did not eat other fish unless they were dead, this one I just got has ate a few recently, neon tetras. From my research Blue Dragon Goby is a freshwater and saltwater fish, brackish can be simulated in either environment. The gobies resemble the first article very closely except this supposed gold band, Violence had gold cheeks. The tank is 35 gallon. He was in a larger tank but was acting funny and appeared very stressed. All fish have different personalities, not always acting the same, they can not be predicted as people think. Everything evolves for its survival.
 
Brackish water can not be simulated in freshwater or saltwater. That makes absolutely no sense. The reason is, brackish is a mix of the two. Brackish fish need a certain salinity for the very same reason that you cannot keep a saltwater fish in freshwater. It will lead to death.
Aside from that, your tank is too small, even if there were no other fish with it. What size tank was Squiggle in?
Ask anybody else on this forum (which at times is very inactive), and they'll tell you the same.
 
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