Dragon Goby Biotope Discussion

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clsanchez77

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Jun 3, 2005
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Hello everybody.

I am breaking my 90g reef tank down for a couple of years (long story ending in Hurricane Gustav). I would like to do something simpler for a few years until we move out of the apartment and into a house.

While debating about either a planted freshwater tank or a brackish water tank, I came across some information regarding Gobioides brousonnetti, aka the Dragon Goby or Violet Goby.

Information for this fish is limited and generic. Nonetheless, I was able to put a few ideas together and was wondering if anybody on this board was at all familiar with this fish. The tank would be an approximation of a brackish estuary/riverene.

1) Tank: I would re-use my reef setup, which includes 90g tank, 30g sump.

2) Lighting: I would keep my VHO and MH combo. The VHO bulbs would be changed to 110w daylight bulbs. The MH bulbs would be changed to 175w 5500-6500K bulbs.

3) Filter & Equipment: The main tank circulation is only 500 gph (5.5x). The skimmer is removed. In its place, I am thinking to retrofit the sump to a wet-dry. I will continue to run the chiller and the dual carbon chambers.

4) Substrate: The substrate is controlled by several factors. First, the dragon goby is sand sifting. Second, I want to be able to grow brackish water tolerant plants, so the substrate must be plant nourishing. Third, I would like the substrate to have some buffering capacity. Finally, I would like the substrate to be a dark grey-brown mud or similar. I will likely use primarily Eco-mud or similar mixed with some aragonite to buffer and lighten the color. I am not sure what I can use to provide a brown coloration. Would silica sand (play sand or pool filter sand) work or is this too hard for the goby? Any recommendations?

5) Aquascaping: Plenty of driftwood and some occasional large stones. I would like to arrange it to appear as though there are three old tree stumps with some branching near the top.

6) Plants: This is an area of big question for me. Obviously, I need to stick with brackish tolerant plants. I also would like to stay true to South/Central American/Gulf of Mexico plants. The only one I can come up with is Sagitaria sp.. Any other suggestions?

7) Tank mates: Again, staying with the brackish and Gulf of Mexico requirements, I am thinking of a school of mollies. Maybe 7 black mollies and 3 red mollies. Overall fish load will remain light. Any other suggestions?

8) Final issue is the dragon goby itself. If possible, I would like to keep more than one. However there is no information as to whether this is doable or not.

I appreciate any input that could be provided.

Thanks.
 

Mudfrog

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Jan 17, 2005
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Roanoke, VA
Hey, good post. I've kept dragon gobies for years so hopefully I will be able to help you a little.

They do good with a salinity that varies between 1.010 - 1.012. I would raise or lower the salinity just a little bit once a month, I heard it helps with their immune system but I really can't say for sure, but mine did great :D

Pool filter sand will be fine for the violet gobies, decor wise just make sure they have some type of caves, and they generally will each need their own cave.

You can house multiple VG's together, although it's better to keep a minimum of 3 as opposed to 2. I kept 6 in a 50 breeder. They are fairly mellow, although the largest of the group will show it's dominance during feeding.

Mollies would be a great tankmate. I used Clay gobies with mine. VG's cannot fight back so just be sure to choose a tankmate that will not nip their fins and you will be fine. Bumble Bee gobies will also work. People claim VG's will eat small fish but this is not the case, their throats are way to small to swallow a fish, and their eye sight is horrible.

Probably not a huge help but if you have any more Q's just let me know.
 

Sploke

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I have had my VG for a few years now - your plan seems to bee pretty good so far. With that much light over the tank, make sure you provide some good cover for the fish, as they're mostly nocturnal and I don't think they're huge fans of bright light. I kept mine with bumblebee gobies and mollies, and my mudskipper. The mudskipper nipped its fins until I made to some more secure caves. As far as plants go, I haven't had much luck with plants that will survive at around 1.010 SG. My java moss kind of survives, but doesn't grow much. Mangroves would work but you'd need a lot of space over the tank. I've heard of some brackish plants like turtle grass but never tried it. Sounds like a nice setup, looking forward to pictures.
 

clsanchez77

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Jun 3, 2005
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New Orleans
Thanks guys.

Mudfrog, your post is very helpful. What is pool filter sand made of? How is it different and/or better than play sand? I have easy access to both. I will plan on making a cave for each goby, likely three. I understand they prefer the caves to be 'tight' and not large.

Sploke,
The tank is 24" deep and the new substrate will be very dark so that should darken the tank up quite a bit. If the MH are too much, I can always sell them off later. I do plan to use a lot of driftwood to make what would look like three trees with low lying branches at the top of the water.

Reminds me, where are there some good sources for driftwood. Most shops around my area are now reef specialized.

I do welcome any other first hand knowledge.

Thanks guys.
 

Mudfrog

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Jan 17, 2005
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Pool filter sand is silica.. it's a little larger and heavier then play ground sand so it will not be sucked into your wet / dry as easily. It's also a lot cleaner. You'll find the VG's will constantly dig and a heavier sand will work out better.

I'd make the caves about 2" in diameter, this would last a while before they outgrew them.
 

Sploke

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Oct 20, 2005
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I've gotten most of my driftwood from LFSs, but I know there's usually some listed on ebay. You can check the classifieds on AC as well, there are sometimes some listings.

I use pool filter sand in my reef tank and like it. I use play sand in my brackish tank and its pretty good, but mudfrog is right, its a little too light to be used with digging/sifting fish.
 

clsanchez77

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Jun 3, 2005
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Great. I was thinking of burying some 2" ABS plastic (Black plastic) pipe and using rocks/driftwood to reinforce the opening and hide the pipe. Would they use this, or just bury themselves under the pipe.

Also, do either of you do anything to supplement flow? In my reef tank I was running 500gph on the return and three powerheads at 1500gph each. I was thinking of setting up an internal loop to get a gentle 500gph cross-current.

Any thoughts?
 

Mudfrog

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Jan 17, 2005
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The ABS pipe floats and I have heard rumors that it will leak toxins into the tank but I'm not sure how true that is. But I do know it floats. I always used standard PVC pipe in mine. Not the prettiest but I went for function.
 

Sploke

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Oct 20, 2005
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Never tried ABS, I've used PVC and the clear uplift tubes used for UGFs. I didn't do anything for supplemental flow - on my 40breeder tank, I had two penguin 660s running an RGUF, and in the 75 I just use a canister filter. The tank is fairly lightly stocked so I dont get too worried about the filtration.
 
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