Rainsford Goby

[Homburger]

I bought a Rainsford Goby about 5 days ago. I have yet to see him eat! I tried to tempt him with live copepods, frozen mysis shrimp, flakes, pellets, you name it. I fear he may starve to death as his belly is slowly shrinking. Can they pick food off the water or is sand sifting the only way they get nutrients? Does anyone have any experience with this fish? Is it easy to care for? It is a beautiful fish but I try to avoid "hard to feed" fish.

btw, I highly recommend a royal grama.

 

[amstar15]

how much live rock do you have? how long has your tank been running? I have found that my goby will not eat anything but copepods. i have a large amount of live rock, a hang on refigium and a mudd sump that allows a great area for copepod reproduction. as far as trying to feed him live copepods... thats good. however the rainsford goby likes to "pick" at rocks and searches for its food this way. i have had mine for almost a year and i have maybe seen him take plankton once that i was feeding the main tank. good luck and dont give up

 

[Aquascaper]

The Rainsford Goby (Court Jester Goby) is an omnivore that grazes for food on live rock and live sand. It requires a mature tank with a good source of pods.

There's no point going on about the mistake you made as you've already realised that (from one of your previous threads - copepod eaters), all you can do now is learn from that and keep trying with different foods. A suggestion would be to finely chop up brine or mysis and put that in, although the fish may not eat straight away it may graze on the leftovers later on.

Did you see it eat at the LFS? It is always best to ask the LFS to put a little food in the tank as a healthy fish will always eat, this method is especially helpful when there's more than one fish as it helps to determine the healthy from the runts.

 

[Homburger]

I have 36 lbs of live rock. The only time the copepods come out is at night. In the day time, the aquarium looks bare.

I purchased the rainsford based on the "easy to care" designation given by the vividaquarium.com website. In my opinion based on what I know, I would upgrade this fish to difficult!

This forum is the only opinion I truly trust. thanks guys!!!

 

[Aquascaper]

You have to bear in mind the source of the information they use to come up with the ratings. Is it 'easy' for all or just someone with more specialist equipment, how many people gave their opinion to come up with the rating - is it one guy at a desk or the compilation from various sources.

There's nothing like having firsthand testimony from another person as to the care requirements, the more the merrier (and diverse), which is why a lot of members take it to heart when their advice is thrown back with comments like "it says here......." or "my LFS said......."

At the end of the day any research is better than nothing so always read up about fish/corals before buying as you have done but its always a good idea to ask around as well.

 

[Navarre]

I dont have a rainsford goby but i do have a hectors goby (same fish/diffent colour). Never yet seen it eat from the live rock, its purely a sand sifter.

 

[Aquascaper]

"Want That One!"

 

[Opcn]

I had a hectors goby before my crash and it only ate algea from the rock, loved watching it sift sand though.