Violet Goby at Petsmart... Is this fish brackish or FW?

[psariandras]

petsmart has two violet gobies. I want to get one, but I only have a 29g tank. At petsmart, they say 20+ tank is fine. The internet says about 4 or 5 different things.

Petsmart also said that the violet goby is a FW fish.

Can I get a Violet goby to keep in 29g tank or is that too small? I don't want to get the fish if the tank is to small. Tank is 30Lx12Wx18H.

[Squawkbert]

I think they're brackish and they're "needy" because they're pretty well blind and defenseless. You may well have to hand feed it and keep only the most peaceful of other fauna with it...

Hey - look what I found: our very own species profile! (http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0488&view_records=1)

What I was typing... pretty much correct. What I forgot - they get very large. 22" according to the AC profile. Even with their sedentary habits, I would think 55g and up for a fish this long (AC profile suggests min. of 80g of 68-74°F water).

[Ruben Tolon]

They are brackish fish, and will require target feeding in most cases, due to their inactive lifestyle.

[Pufferpunk]

Hers's the article I wrote on them:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/misc/theres-a-dragon-in-my-tank/

[psariandras]

great article! I enjoyed it, very informative.

It pains me that pet chains do not give proper instructions for the fish they sell. I was told the fish was FW and that a 29g tank is plenty big enough.

I really like this fish but I guess I will have to get one another day. : ( I only have a 29g aquarium, and I don't want to limit the fish's potential by putting it in an aquarium that is to small. I wonder though if I had a 55g tank would that suffice?

thanks for the advice all, I appreicate it.

[kryptic4l]

Ive been looking into getting one of these things myself... And I have found alot of conflicting information reguarding them Things such as water temp etc..

[musho3210]

oh, thats what petsmart says, well they do say pacus (30 inches) can fit in 30 gallons, then they say bala sharks can fit in 30 gallons, i would never even consider petsmarts tank guides, its the thing i hate MOST about them.

[Pufferpunk]

There are certain species of dragons that prefer colder water. The more commonly sold ones, are generally not that species.

[necigrad]

I think PetSmart i in the process of updating/correcting their labels. I was in there the other day and saw something (can't remember what though) labeled as brakish. I'd never seen that in a PetSmart before then.

[mooosic]

I have one of these dragon gobys. And yes, it will need a 55g or large tank. Right now, mine is in FW. In the wild they are FW when born, and as they mature, move more to a BW area.
How big is the goby at the store now? If its small enough, you could get it and put it in the 29g, and get a bigger tank later on.

Size-up to 2'
Rec tank-55-120g
pH 7.5-8.0
Temp 64-82F (depending on species)
KH 10-20

[mooosic]

PufferPunk,
Is that your goby in the article? It looks kinda.......i wanna say.....skinny.
The one i have looks like that, but its more roubust and the color is blue and gold(more gold than blue), with a much bigger, almost fan like, dorsal fin. An the teeth is more visible on mine. (not trying to put yours "down") im just curious if i have the rare dragon.

[dedangel]

I have 2 dragons and well i bought them at walmart. I unknowingly bought huge fish...yeah i have a ten gallon with 2 of these fish and they don't mind fresh water or brakish...they're really hardy fish so long as the ammonia and stuff is down. i keep my tank around 80F and they swim around, feed and well they don't have any problems. just keep an area in your tank with fine sand. that way they can sift the sand and eat. i don't target feed them i just crush up some flake food and let them eat. my gobys wouldn't eat and it was because they couldn't fit the gravel in their mouths.


My gobys are 6.5 in and 7.5 in...anyone selling a tank thats atleast a 50g?? I'm willing to pay shipping. My poor babies...

[psariandras]

Dedangel, what is the behavior of your gobies like? I think the fish look very interesting. Are they fun to watch?
Petsmart still has some and I want to get one. Petsmart still says you need only a 20g tank to maintain this fish- I don't know about that.

[Ruben Tolon]

I have 2 dragons and well i bought them at walmart. I unknowingly bought huge fish...yeah i have a ten gallon with 2 of these fish and they don't mind fresh water or brakish...they're really hardy fish so long as the ammonia and stuff is down. i keep my tank around 80F and they swim around, feed and well they don't have any problems. just keep an area in your tank with fine sand. that way they can sift the sand and eat. i don't target feed them i just crush up some flake food and let them eat. my gobys wouldn't eat and it was because they couldn't fit the gravel in their mouths.


My gobys are 6.5 in and 7.5 in...anyone selling a tank thats atleast a 50g?? I'm willing to pay shipping. My poor babies...

They do need brackish water, and I would start slowly raising the salinity in during water changes. Since you need a bigger tank, just go to the same walmart you got the fish and purchase a 55 gallon kit, which already brings the filter and hood, etc. It probably would be rather inexpensive.

[dedangel]

well my gobys can get "playful" but fr the most part they never leave the bottom of the tank unless there's food around. then they swim up the sides of the tank and around the whole tank to find the best feeding spot. they are very timid though. i was trying to clean out a dead tetra and both of my gobys freaked. but that may be from them jumping out of the water thing when the walmart guy was fishing them out....But other than that they are beautiful. half of their body is gray with gold irridesence and the belly is pink with gold.


about the tank...I will hopefully be getting one a soon as i get paid. the poor things are getting territorial and a little agressive. not to the point of hurting each other just nipping then running. walmart has a 20g tank with everything included for about 50-60 dollars..I was thinking of that until they get a little bigger...

[Nolapete]

I saw that at Petsmart this week. Crazy looking fish. Was pretty active though.

[psariandras]

the 55 gallon kit is 160 at walmart.

[psariandras]

I read on of the links from this thread that the goby can live in its teens. That is cool. I bet that a 10+ year old fish would develop some neat habits.

[trouble247]

Pufferpunk's article is very good IMO. I have had 2 Violet Gobies in a 55 gal. with 2 Raphael catfish and 4 corys for several years now. The smaller one is 10" and the dominant one is about 14" long. I keep the salinity 'borderline-brackish' [...for the comfort of the other occupants] and the temp. stays at 80 degrees, and they are very healthy looking, confident and active, especially at feeding time. I feed frozen bloodworms, beefheart, spirulina enriched brine shrimp and large algae wafers in the early morning and late night when the main tank lights are off, and only the LED moonlights are on. They do squabble when feeding, but stay out of each other's way the rest of the time. They have separate 'caves-homes' that I made out of 2 inch PVC pipe fittings, aquarium gravel and silicone. I also use floating plastic plant vines to limit the light they get, and they seem more comfortable.

Originally, the tank had a gravel substrate, but I changed it to sand during the first few weeks because I found they seemed to have difficulty feeding... Now the food bounces around on top of the sandy substrate and they just gulp it down, they are gluttonous, and I can easily see if I overfed them, then I will skip a feeding, and by the next feed they will have cleaned up the leftovers. I also have a lot of separate, small pieces of smooth driftwood in the tank and they appear to take great pleasure in digging through the small piles of wood. I love my Gobies, they are weird and fascinating in their behavior.

I think a 30 or 40 gal. long would make a nice home for 1 or 2 respectively, but any more and a 55 might be too small even. Tank footprint seems a lot more important with these guys.

[bluekrissyspike]

these guys sound really cool..i'v wanted one for a while... might get one someday..it's on my list of wants... it's not that hard to find second hand tanks for cheap... i got a 50 g a couple months ago for $100, and that included everything, filter, decorations, gravel....and a new one will be here next friday.. an 80g for $150 that has a stand and everything else with it too

[Water>_<Dragon]

aren't the tanks at walmart cheaply made?

[Pufferpunk]

As far as the gobies pictured in my article--they aren't mine. The catfish mentioned in a post previously (a cory & raphael) will not appreciate any salt at all, especially the amount if salt needed to be added even to make light BW (roughly around a cup of salt/5g to make the water 1.005). They may tolerate it for a while but certainly won't thrive in it. Same with the dragons. They can live in FW but won't thrive in it. In my article I mention my 1st one living in FW--lived to 8 years. It developed tumors early in it's life though & eventually died from one developing inside it's mouth, preventing it from eating. Shame... woulda like to have seen it into it's teens.

[Gangstafish]

Here are mine. They live in a salinity of 1.010. And PufferPunk,here's how the GSP looks right now.

[Pufferpunk]

Pretty chunky waistine your puffer has! Must be a fairly large tank for all those fish. Eventually, many of those species will prefer marine conditions or close to that. I don't have any literature on how the drragons will fair in a SG that high--long term.

[Gangstafish]

75 gallon tank. Two cannister filters,an AC/110,18watt uv,RO/DI water. How's that?