goby in trouble... Need Quick Answer

busymom

busymom

Member
I have a 29 gal with 25 lb of live rock. I run a skilter 400. I am at
Amm - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - .125
PH - 8.2
SG - 1. 025
temp - 78
Alk - was a little low, added builder over the weekend, have not tested again since.
These test results were confirmed by my LFS on Sat
I have a lyre tail cromis, mandarin goby, coral banded shrimp, star serpent, emrald crab, 10 blue leg hermits, 4 snails (3 diff types).
I added a yellow watchman goby last night. I drip acclimated him til his water doubled twice over. About an hour and a half. He did fine at first but the cromis didnt want him going near his "area" and would drive him away. In the night I checked them and the goby was hiding in a crack behind a rock. Still looked OK, i figured sleeping, when a crab crawled near him he fluttered to a higher spot. This morning he was still there, his tail and fins eaten up. I got him to swim out from behind the rock, added some food for him and he didnt even turn his head. The cromis came and ate the food, gave him a peck, and the goby swam to the other side of the tank. Still sitting pretty lifelessly right now.
What did I do wrong this time??
How can I help him??
Should I get the cromis out and take him back to the LFS right now??
Would that give the goby a chance or is he done for??
Last weekend I lost a pistol shrimp that I added, we came to the conclusion that it was my salinity but after testing my water with a borrowed refractometer it was my hydrometer that was giving the wrong reading, now I think that it may have been the cromis who did in the pistol shrimp too??
:help: :help: :help:
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
I have 5 chromis, never saw them bother a thing,but I have a much bigger system than you but I believe they are very peaceful.Do you have a QT and if you do maybe you can move him there. Acclimation sounds fine. Maybe he was sick all along,other fish seem to sense this and torment them.Good luck
 
busymom

busymom

Member
New development, the LFS where I got him is closed on Mondays, so there is noone there I can talk to... He has moved himself back into the crack between a rock and the glass.
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
Im asuming that you have no Qt, if he is near the top of water and breathing heavy that is not a good sign, if he is just by the top, he is probably stressed.If he is being picked on you have no choose but to get him out or he will die.If you just got him yesterday he may have been harbouring a diease that is now coming outand if that is the case he needs to come out also.Is he eating?if so try to give some garlic to boost immuinty.
 
busymom

busymom

Member
Its true I do not have a QT tank. Although I have an empty 5 gal that I could pull some of the water out of the main and a pice of rock and get the filter running on it, I have a light for it and I could go get a small heater really quickly..... Yes he is sitting on the branch like piece of LR very near the top. Once I saw him swim to the water line and gulp air. He has not eaten today. I could try again.... There is a section on his side that now looks like it has lost its colour, not like something is growing on him.
Can I assume that it is the others picking on him?
Thanks for your help.
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
My watchman got pounded by my dottyback and damsels/chromis. It took a few days of him hiding, but the other fish eventually forgot about him and he pulled through ok. Short of taking him or the chromis back to the store there isn't really anything to do but wait.
 
busymom

busymom

Member
Originally Posted by wax32
My watchman got pounded by my dottyback and damsels/chromis. It took a few days of him hiding, but the other fish eventually forgot about him and he pulled through ok. Short of taking him or the chromis back to the store there isn't really anything to do but wait.

Thanks that is a little encouraging. I am going to try netting the cromis now. Maybe that will give him a fighting chance... How do you catch a fish??
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
Take all the rock out and then net him.

Or if it eats from your hand you can put the net in the water and then lure him into the net with food... this could take some work, getting him used to the net.
 
busymom

busymom

Member
The goby is now swimming more, but he is going upward to get air at the waterline. Doesn't that mean that I am not well enough oxiginated? my filter is turning 400 gal per hour, and I can see the current all over the tank. He has yet to eat. hmmm...
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
Could be he is adjusting his swim bladder. Mine took a long time to eat, the other fish make him nervous. You can try putting some pellets down near his hidy spot right after lights out.
 
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