feeding\quikrete playsand goby - safe ?

[mothernature]

Okay first of all,, I gave in and bought violet/dragon gobies from wallmart,, right now they have gravel substrate,, I read on the net that these gobies are sand sifters. So this gives me a few questions, I thought I would go to the best forum on the planet (mfk) and ask some of the smartest people around (guppy!! and others ) so here goes.

I have had the gobies for two days , so it is possible that [like some eels] they will not eat until they feel more at home. Not to mention I added enough saltwater to make the hydrometer read 1.002 [big shock for the first day home.] Two days later they look alot better but will not eat. From what I gather they are wild caught? So I assume they will accept only live foods, and they might not have eaten since they were caught?
[ Wallmart only feeds flakes and they were trying to feed them huge comet goldfish!]These are the things I tried so far,--- live mosquito larvae, live bloodworm larvae, various other live small water bugs,-- the gobies never saw them . I also tried algae wafers, flakes and shrimp pellets,, they did not notice or open their mouths.

These are things I can try--- live brine shrimp, livebearer fry??, live blackworms, live earthworms, live crickets, live mealworms, infusoria, algae???

I can get anything else ?? any suggestions?


Also, the gobies try to dig but they cant move the large gravel. I use quikrete play sand in freshwater tanks, on the bag of sand it says to not breath it in! I want to try the playsand with the gobies. This way they can ''sift'' , will this sand hurt them when they suck it in/''sift''? I figure its safe for children right? Why not gobies? Should I just get the expensive good stuff?

Thanks in advance, all info on violet gobies is the same, im left with questions, my goal is to save these little cuties...

 

[RadleyMiller]

When I had my Violet Goby he ate frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms. Make sure you rinse the sand really well. They may have huge mouths but prefer smaller foods like mysis, brine shrimp, blood worms, ect.

 

[Gypsylion]

My 8" goby ("Ivan the terrible") is in my 75 gal tropical tank with my tetras and angelfish and happy as can be. A friend gave him to me 2 yrs ago as a present, I'm sure he got it at PetSmart or the like, and Ivan's been a FW fish the whole time.

He ADORES frozen brine shrimp (thawed in a film canister of tank water) and really digs shrimp pellets too. He's gotten better at finding food, but I still drop it in right in front of him, or at least in "his" corner of the tank.

He was in a 5 gal for about the first year, with normal-sized gravel, that he was constantly renovating... He would pick up a piece or two in his mouth, and move it to another part of the tank to make his cave deeper. Now he's in my planted tank with med-sized natural colored gravel and still seems pretty happy. He even comes out for a visit every so often.

So, no salt, normal tropical water, and brine shrimp and shrimp pellets and he's about 8" and about an inch around the belly. Definitely doing fine. The only thing I would be sure to provide is a good place for them to hide out. A cave of rocks or a bunch of plants seems to work pretty well

Here's a vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhUMVU6cglw

 

[RadleyMiller]

Nice looking Dragn Gypsylion, makes we want to get another one. Maybe I will now that I have more rockwork to hide in. When he was out in the open, the puffers got to him.

 

[Gypsylion]

Nice looking Dragn Gypsylion, makes we want to get another one. Maybe I will now that I have more rockwork to hide in. When he was out in the open, the puffers got to him.

Thanks

Bummer to have lost yours. Puffers are quite the little gremlins, aren't they?

 

[RadleyMiller]

Thanks

Bummer to have lost yours. Puffers are quite the little gremlins, aren't they?

Umm yea, tell that to the Violet Goby, Blue Cat, Albino Channel, Flounder, my mollies fins, and my Silver Tipped Shark. Luckily the shark is still alive and growing fast. 1 of the 3 mollies is left, one died and the male got eaten!