Need Some Guidance

[Stephensd30]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and fishkeeping in general. A friend that I have known had a 30 gallon tank with fish that she no longer wanted (not sure the exact reason). I would always sit and watch her tank when I was over at her house so she asked me if I would like to buy it. I jumped at the idea, but never having kept fish, it has been a major challange. She moved the tank from her house to my office and after a couple of weeks the fish started dying. Long story short, I saved Willow, the violet goby and Cookie Monster, the ACF.


She had the goby for 2 years that I know of and said she bought it when it was about 2-1/2 - 3 inches long from a freshwater tank. She had always kept it in freshwater and he's been in freshwater for the few weeks that I've had him. He eats well, swims around, hides in his cave, appears to be doing good.

My question is do I need to change him back to brackish water? or would it be okay to leave him in the freshwater setup. Right now his home is far from ideal because I had to cycle the big tank and he is in a 2.5 gallong tank with my frog. They are getting along ok (thank goodness) but that is the only stable tank I had to put the two surviors in while I did a fishless cycle.


Logic says leave him the way he is in fw but I don't want to cause any damage/hurt for him because of lack of knowledge. I look forward to hearing from those with more experience then myself. The forum has been a great source of learning and knowledge for me.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

im glad to see that your doing a fishless cycle, most newbs dont understand why no matter what anyone says and they want fish now so they do it with fish, then they end up with a tank full of dead fish! but anyways i say put him in brackish water because they are naturally brackish water fish and do better in it, but a lot of people have had success in FW. Brackish water would also be no good for the ADF. So really the choice is up to you. And violet gobies grow to 24 inches long, meaning your 20 and 30 gallon tanks are far too small. Minimum tank size for a violet goby would be a 75 gallon, but obviously bigger is better.

 

[Stephensd30]

im glad to see that your doing a fishless cycle, most newbs dont understand why no matter what anyone says and they want fish now so they do it with fish, then they end up with a tank full of dead fish! but anyways i say put him in brackish water because they are naturally brackish water fish and do better in it, but a lot of people have had success in FW. Brackish water would also be no good for the ADF. So really the choice is up to you. And violet gobies grow to 24 inches long, meaning your 20 and 30 gallon tanks are far too small. Minimum tank size for a violet goby would be a 75 gallon, but obviously bigger is better.

Thanks for the feedback I know that I will have to get a 75+ tank for him eventually. I have been looking at sales but I really would like to master this fishless cycle and keep some fish succesfully before I get into any more tanks. I did lose all of the fish that came in the tank excpet the goby & adf. When the friend I bought it from moved it to my office, she took all of the water out and refilled it and put in a new filter and then put the fish back in. Needless to say it wasn't pretty but I didn't know about fishless cycles or anything else at that point. Since she had had the tank for a couple of years I figured she knew what she was doing

Anyway, I'm trying to learn to be a responsible fish owner. I really love watching them.

 

[nmonks]

Hello Dawn --

There are actually several species sold as 'violet gobies' so it's difficult to know exactly which you have. They're all fairly large, eel-like fish with big mouths and small eyes. While often said to be predatory this is the case only if starved, and they actually prefer very small invertebrates plus some green algae. If you visit the Brackish FAQ you'll find some links to the Fishbase pages of the most common species so you can identify your species, as well as some general notes on them.

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/brackfaqpart6.html

Yes, the goby would probably be happier in brackish water. The optimal set-up for these fish is a tank with a sandy substrate (they like to dig), some large caves (they like to hide), and salty water. Exact salinity doesn't matter, but around 1.005 or so would be fine. At a salinity this low, a fishless cycle is probably redundant because the filter bacteria will be identical to those in plain freshwater. You may as well simply change 5 to 10% of the water in the tank with each water change, using brackish water. Over a few weeks this will not only raise the salinity to 1.005 but it will also adapt the bacteria safely.

Fishless cycling is a very good idea in tanks where you are introducing new bacteria, e.g., taking a freshwater tank to a strongly brackish salinity (SG 1.008 or more).

The frog will die in brackish water. Move it to another tank.

A few other comments on violet gobies. They grow fairly large (~55 cm), as others have said, though seemingly never to maximum size in captivity. They don't need a deep tank, but if you can, plan on giving a fully grown adult an aquarium at least 120 cm long so that the fish can swim comfortably. Obviously younger specimens will get by in smaller tanks, but you may as well bear this in mind. They are territorial, and so if you want to keep several specimens don't overcrowd and ensure each has a cave of its own. Because they have poor eyesight they compete badly for food, so choose tankmates with care. They will forage at night, so it's a good idea to offer bloodworms and algae wafers once the lights are out.

Cheers,

Neale