Dragon Goby

modelrr

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Hi, I have a dragon goby that constantly goes to the surface and opens its mouth. Looks sorta like he's gasping. Is this a problem? if so, what should I do? the pH has steadily been around 7.2-7.3. It can't be aeration, because I have plenty of it.

All of my other fish seem to be fine, except for one of my black mollies, who is having swim bladder troubles.

thanks so much
 
I did say that the pH was steadily around 7.2-.3. It is not brackish, and I know that dragon gobies are supposed to be in brackish. However, I got the dragon goby from someone who had kept him in fw for around a year.

the tank size is 29 gallons. The other fish are just three black mollies, two platys, a suckermouth, and five tetras (not sure what kind --- possibly diamond tetras).

thanks again
 
yeah, I know about ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc.. I don't have the test kits for them yet. I plan to get them sometime this next week, or this week if possible.

I just put fish (including the dragon goby) in the aquarium a little over a week ago.
 
Yes, it is a new tank. I forget how long I cycled it for, but I am pretty sure it was long enough.

I have been monitering the dragon goby a lot today. He seems to be doing better. Either way, I would like to know what it was if he starts again.
 
I'm assuming by "dragon goby" you mean Rhinogobius duospilus (see picture below).

These fish are subtropical, not tropical. When kept in tanks more than about 24 C they become very sensitive to low oxygen concentrations. In short, they begin to suffocate. When this happens they come to the surface to breathe the oxygen-rich layer of water.

You have three options:

1. Lower the temperature. There is a narrow happy medium of 22 to 24 C where these fish should be fine alongside most -- but not all -- tropicals. While some species, such as peppered cories and danios, do well at slightly cooler temperatures, other fish, notably angels and rams, tend to sicken and die.

2. Improve aeration / reduce stocking. Add an air stone to improve the aeration. Move the filter outlet so it splashes the water some more. The more water turbulence, the more oxygen will diffuse into the water. These fish live in streams, so don't worry about the water current pushing them about too much!

3. Remove the fish. Ideally, tropical fish stores would make it plain that these are not tropical but subtropical species. But since you have them already, perhaps removing them to their own aquarium would be an option. A 10 gallon tank would be fine, and you could perhaps add a few white cloud mountain minnows to keep them company.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. I used this species to mature my current aquarium. They're very nitrite-tolerant and make excellent first fish. In the wild they are quite tolerant of polluted water, which is one reason why they're still common even though they live in densely populated parts of China.

rhinogobius_male.jpg
 
The gulping is the dragon goby trying to feed, they are cheifly filter feeders which seive out tiny organisms and particals of edible matter from the water. I used to feed our dragon goby with frozen cyclops naupli and liquid plankton 3 times a week to fill its need for planktonic foods.
 
I thought about that, actually. He's not really doing it any more. On my next trip to the pet store, I will get some more testing kits and food for the dragon goby (blood worms, tubifex worms, liquid plankton, etc.).

thanks a lot!
 
Ok, I dunno why, but whenever any of my fish go through pH shock, that happens. Could possibly pH shock and now he's just used to the pH. Maybe the water is not arated enough too...
 

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