Diamond Goby

[jtrzerocool]

i had a Diamond Goby once and it died. i would really like to get another one but i am afraid that it will die again! the last one that i had died of starvation i belive. it got really skinny and eventually died.

i dont know why it died of starvation because i would feed it every day and it ate more then the other fish in the tank!

can anyone give me some pointers on keeping this fish alive? any help is appriciated!
BTW it was in a 50g reef tank

 

[jtrzerocool]

n-e 1????

 

[skipperdz]

i have a 55g tank. i have/had a diamond goby. i say this because ever since i put him in i cant find him. i recently took out all lr and scrubbed off hair algae. and still i couldnt find him in just the sand. personally i will never get another one.
do you have a qt tank? you could start him in there to make sure hes eating. or make them feed him at the lfs to ensure that it eats.
what fish do you currently have? anything that will be territorial? if so you may want to rearrange your rock work to throw off the fish, so you can add the new one

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by jtrzerocool
i had a Diamond Goby once and it died. i would really like to get another one but i am afraid that it will die again! the last one that i had died of starvation i belive. it got really skinny and eventually died.

i dont know why it died of starvation because i would feed it every day and it ate more then the other fish in the tank!

can anyone give me some pointers on keeping this fish alive? any help is appriciated!
BTW it was in a 50g reef tank
I have one, I absolutley love it and everthing it does for me keeping my ls sparkling clean, Dont know what could have happened to yours IF you saw it eating, I had one Golden Head Sleeper die on me,, I tried everything to keep that bugger alive.

 

[jtrzerocool]

well i have
4 damsels(soon to be traded)
and a maroon goldbar clown.
i am poastive that i saw it eat both at the store and also in my tank. as for the agressive damsels, i never even once saw them go after the goby. and no i dont have a qt tank. i know that i should get one but i have yet to have the time to set it up. nor do i have an extra tank to do this with yet.

 

[gmford1979]

my carpet anemone ate mine

 

[cdfodor]

Diamond gobies can be tough, once properly acclimated to the new environment they are awesome at sifting sand. I have had several over the years, you must have a tight fitting lid when acclimating. These fish will flee agressive fish and can jump through small openings. Most likely your fish is behind your tank on the floor. I had a large one that died after a few years, I guess of old age. However, the last two both have managed to jump through the small openings in a piece of "egg crate" that I have covering the open area of the top of the tank.

 

[cdfodor]

I guess to answer the original question, the DG gets most of its food/ nutrition from organisms in the sand. You must have an established tank w/ lots of live sand for it to sift. Kind of like a mandarin goby, they only survive when there are copepods and microbials to eat. Aggressive fish prevent them from sifting the sand because they are in hiding. Damsels are useless except for helping to cycle a new tank and giving you something to look at while your tank is aging. I would trade them back to the LFS if you can catch them, they will make introducing any new fish tough because the are very territorial.

 

[jtrzerocool]

thanks for the comments. as for the damsels i plan on trading them to the LFS soon. i am afraid that i will have to tear appart my rockwork to catch them. my tank is about 8 months old now but when i had the diamond goby it was about 3-4 months old. i belive that he died when the tank was abour 6 months old. he was eating mysis, flake, and sifted sand alot. but he got very skinny and eventually died.

 

[am00re34]

my diamond goby was an absolute delight. kept my sand amazingly white. The only think i didnt like was the sand got everywhere because he would sift it and the powerheads would pick it up and cover everything.
what was said about jumping is very true. I have eggcrate coving my entire tank and somehow he got out. His body was almost as big at the opening so he must have had a perfect shot. I think plastic mesh will be in place next time i get one, but i'm just afraid i'll be preventing light from passing if i get something with to small of holes.