Getting Dragon Goby to eat

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G

gt1009

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2009
709
1
0
Wilmington, NC
Hello,
My dragon goby does not seem to want to eat. I put sinking pellets and frozen bloodworms in, but he still seems to not want to eat them. I don't know what I should do, maybe turn off the tank lights since they are deep water fish? I put some rosy reds in his tank today as dithers so maybe they will get him more comfortable in there.
Thanks,
Greg
 
How long have you had him.. blood worms are what they like so keep trying.. but give him some time to get use to the tank if you just brought him home.
 
Size of goby? Of tank? Tankmates? They are not good at competing with aggressive eaters. If small use frozen bllodworms or brineshrimp. Try target feeding right near it with the lights off.
 
Do make sure you're keeping him in brackish. To my knowledge, rosy red minnows aren't brackish fish.
In my experience, violet gobies aren't at all reluctant to eat. I've never seen one that refused bloodworms or algae wafers. If those things don't work, try target feeding, and just wait.
Is your goby getting thinner? It might be eating while you're not looking.
 
I feel like it might be eating when I'm not looking, because I put some pellets on a rock and left and they were all gone when I came back. That might be the rosy reds though. I will try target feeding some bloodworms later. I am keeping him brackish. I figured rosy reds were not too big of a loss if they die and I didn't wanna pay for a new fish. He is about 6 inches now and has been in his tank (20 long) for a few days. I give him plenty of rock cover and caves to hide in.
 
Am I missing something? Why would rosy reds help a goby acclimate to a new home? If anything, I'd suggest that they're outcompeting it for food. Violet gobies aren't especially appreciative of company, especially when they mature. Then they're just plain mean, but not really carnivorous.

I really hope you realize that an upgrade will be necessary soon. Some violet goby keepers have experienced a growth from initial purchase size to 12 or 15 inches in a year.
 
try some live worms if the fish store has some in...maybe that will help, or use something like a turley baster to get the food in close to it...it worked well with me for a couple of slow moving eating species like dwarf frogs and fw flounders
 
I have been spot feeding him pellets and bloodworms for the last few days, and I think he is eating them. Just so you all know, I did not buy majestic swan, my brother did, and he figured it would be ok to keep him in a 10 gallon tank. I have it in the 20 now, and if it gets too large it will probably to back to the LFS or for sale because the only other tank I have is my 55g cichlid tank.
 
Impulse buys are always bad.
Can you ship fish? If it gets too big for you, I'd take it. I want to breed violet gobies in my 210 gallon tank. Anything (except euthenasia) is better than returning it to the LFS. LFS's are death traps for fish like this. If you can't ship, try to find somebody near you who could take the goby.
 
Trust me, I would deffinatly try to find someone to take the fish before I return it to a LFS. When it grows too big I will post up on here first.
 
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