Alrighty, I have a freshwater aquarium. I recently bought a Dragon/Violet Goby from the local Petsmart. He's a wonderful fish, and a delightful addition! When I bought him, I had white gravel, however, after learning they prefer sand I went and bought sand, and redid the entire aquarium with sand, keeping old water and currently a bag of old gravel sits in there also, to transfer bacteria from what I've read. He's adjusted well, and the moment I put him back in he went crazy re-arranging my nice, even sand. Now I've got hills. Silly fish.
The tank is cycled, and is also home to 2 Gourami's, 3 Platys, 6 Harlequin Tetras, and a couple of ghost shrimp I'd bought to feed the Goby with. Only after doing research did I realize the chances of him eating them are slim (although I haven't seen them in a day or so. HmMMmm?). He's got a nice cozy little cove he stays in during the day, after digging out the sand beneath the root ornament. I even set up a broad, fake leaf over the front so it seemed more secluded to him. He's very active at night from what I've seen. During the day, he normally just rests and ventures out every once inna while. He's somewhat protective of his spot also, and chases the Gourami's away when they get too curious.
After the introduction, now it's time for business. I don't know if he's eating. I've tried frozen bloodworms, but the damn gourami's and tetras tear them up before they ever get to him. I've tried frozen shrimp thingies, same thing. I have also tried algae and shrimp pellets, they fall to the sand and I usually try and get them to fall near his little cove, if not in it. He doesn't seem to show interest in them. Once, and only once, I -think- he -may- have tried to eat one of the shrimp pellets, his mouth opened up and gaped but if he tried to suck it in it didn't work. The Gourami's (who pretty much master the tank), usually find the pellets within a few minutes and begin picking at them, knocking them all around the tank. I check back after an hour or so and the pellets are gone, but I don't know if either the Gourami's ate them, if the Dragon ate them, or if they just got buried in the sand.
I -have- noticed that the ghost shrimp seem to have disappeared. I saw one today, there used to be three. The sand -is- white though they could behiding, or maybe he buried them when he was digging around. Is it possible he might've eaten those? I've read the Dragon Goby has a small throat, despite his large mouth. How can I be sure he's eating? Some have said to try and hand feed him, but I honestly don't know how. Everything I put in that tank is gobbled up before it gets to him, and what does get to him he doesn't really go after. In fact, he usually swims away from my hand. He doesn't go to the surface, like some have said theirs do. He doesn't really cling to the glass either, only once in awhile and even then only for a few seconds. Any advice on that would be appreciated!!
Now here's another part of my inquiry. Like I said before, I have 3 Platys, 2 Gouramis, and 6 Harlequin Tetras. I -really- like this Dragon Goby and I'm fully willing to make the FW aquarium into a Brackish one, I've read the Platus can tolerate the salt level that he needs, 1.005 I believe. But what about the Gouramis and Tetras? Will they be alright with that sort of salinity? If I do go with Brackish I will start small, probably adding in salt once every week or so until it reaches the salinity needed for the Goby to be comfortable. I'm just worried about my other guys, because they were there first and they're all very delightful to watch.
Sorry for the tremendous reading in this post.
I just want to do this right and keep my Goby healthy and happy, but also not neglect my other fishies. Oh, and the tank is a 20 gallon. I know he's going to need a lot more room, and I'm planning on eventually getting anywhere from a 50-70 gallon hopefully by the end of the year, which will end up being fully brackish I think, and a nice new home for him. But until then, like I said, I wanna make him as comfortable as possible.
The tank is cycled, and is also home to 2 Gourami's, 3 Platys, 6 Harlequin Tetras, and a couple of ghost shrimp I'd bought to feed the Goby with. Only after doing research did I realize the chances of him eating them are slim (although I haven't seen them in a day or so. HmMMmm?). He's got a nice cozy little cove he stays in during the day, after digging out the sand beneath the root ornament. I even set up a broad, fake leaf over the front so it seemed more secluded to him. He's very active at night from what I've seen. During the day, he normally just rests and ventures out every once inna while. He's somewhat protective of his spot also, and chases the Gourami's away when they get too curious.
After the introduction, now it's time for business. I don't know if he's eating. I've tried frozen bloodworms, but the damn gourami's and tetras tear them up before they ever get to him. I've tried frozen shrimp thingies, same thing. I have also tried algae and shrimp pellets, they fall to the sand and I usually try and get them to fall near his little cove, if not in it. He doesn't seem to show interest in them. Once, and only once, I -think- he -may- have tried to eat one of the shrimp pellets, his mouth opened up and gaped but if he tried to suck it in it didn't work. The Gourami's (who pretty much master the tank), usually find the pellets within a few minutes and begin picking at them, knocking them all around the tank. I check back after an hour or so and the pellets are gone, but I don't know if either the Gourami's ate them, if the Dragon ate them, or if they just got buried in the sand.
I -have- noticed that the ghost shrimp seem to have disappeared. I saw one today, there used to be three. The sand -is- white though they could behiding, or maybe he buried them when he was digging around. Is it possible he might've eaten those? I've read the Dragon Goby has a small throat, despite his large mouth. How can I be sure he's eating? Some have said to try and hand feed him, but I honestly don't know how. Everything I put in that tank is gobbled up before it gets to him, and what does get to him he doesn't really go after. In fact, he usually swims away from my hand. He doesn't go to the surface, like some have said theirs do. He doesn't really cling to the glass either, only once in awhile and even then only for a few seconds. Any advice on that would be appreciated!!
Now here's another part of my inquiry. Like I said before, I have 3 Platys, 2 Gouramis, and 6 Harlequin Tetras. I -really- like this Dragon Goby and I'm fully willing to make the FW aquarium into a Brackish one, I've read the Platus can tolerate the salt level that he needs, 1.005 I believe. But what about the Gouramis and Tetras? Will they be alright with that sort of salinity? If I do go with Brackish I will start small, probably adding in salt once every week or so until it reaches the salinity needed for the Goby to be comfortable. I'm just worried about my other guys, because they were there first and they're all very delightful to watch.
Sorry for the tremendous reading in this post.
I just want to do this right and keep my Goby healthy and happy, but also not neglect my other fishies. Oh, and the tank is a 20 gallon. I know he's going to need a lot more room, and I'm planning on eventually getting anywhere from a 50-70 gallon hopefully by the end of the year, which will end up being fully brackish I think, and a nice new home for him. But until then, like I said, I wanna make him as comfortable as possible.
