Yellow Watchman goby

[grant778]

I have had a yellow watchman goby for about 4 months now. I unfortunately rarely see it and i'm not even sure how it survives because it never comes to get food when I feed the fish. There are also 2 ocellaris clownfish in the tank. Does anyone know a way to get him to come out more?

 

[mohawkninja]

The watchman has probably just established its territory and will rarely leave. How big is your tank? And how much rock do you have? If you are worried about it getting food, use a turkey baster and spot feed the goby with mysis and other frozen foods. If you have a small tank and you added the goby last, the clowns might just be pushing in on its territory. In that case move your rocks around to balance out the territories.

 

[grant778]

It is a 29 gallon rectangular tank. There are 4 decent sized pieces of live rock in the tank and 2 are stacked on top of each other. The goby generally can be found under the 2 that are stacked. I don't think the clowns are bothering the goby because they are usually found in the mid to upper right section of the tank while the goby is under the rocks in the lower left section.

 

[tthemadd1]

This goby is doing what it does naturally. They take up territory in a cave like structure and usually have a symbiotic relationship with a shrimp.
They don't swim in open spaces so you will rarely see it. I know thy are great looking fish but that's it.
In addition the clowns are territorial in a space that small I doubt they will share their space.

 

[grant778]

If I were to get a pistol shrimp would they form a symbiotic relationship or is this unlikely as they were introduced at different times? Also, if they were to form a symbiotic relationship, would the goby feel safer and come out more?

 

[tthemadd1]

You really can't change a fishes behavior. They have instincts just like other animals. We do have some luck with forcing fish so act the way we want by changing the environment. Ie Removing rock work forces the goby to stay out and visible.
The symbiotic relationship works instinctually. Doesn't matter if one is added before or after. It's like clownfish and anemones. They just pair up. That is to say most of the time they will form the relationship. I have had the goby you have and it would only stick its head out but I have a 75 gallon so there was plenty of space for territories to be maintained.
Eventually the goby died. Why? I don't know. It ate but maybe not enough. We can add all types of fish to our tanks but the conscientious aquarist would recommend against buying and dying. Gobies are timid fish that hide that is their nature.

 

[grant778]

Very well.