Violet Goby (dragon fish) emergency

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love4fish

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I went to my local fish store yesterday-
And my local fish "guy" told me a dragon fish would do well in my 180 gallon tank with fresh water Chilids because it is well established. about 8 years old
water parameters are normal -and I only add under the recommened amout of salt just ( 1 tbl to 20 gallons actually)
Wich is the amount he recommended years ago.

I now am reading that he is a very brackish water fish and won't do fine in here .I
I have only chilclids and some other tank (30) with some guppies , tetra and frogs ect.
What should I do to create him a safe home.
I can put him in another tank but it will of course need to be cycled.
I don't want to make him sick. While I do that-
Help!!!!
And I know not alot about Brackish fish or their needs obviously.
Just took his advice - I usually never go out on a limb and buy something I haven't researched--- Poor lesson learned.
 
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OrionGirl

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He was probably in FW at the LFS. So, for now, he'll be okay in your 180. If you can, set up another tank, at least a 20, though a 30-40 would be better, and cycle it--same amount of salt as you currently have. Once it's cycled, add the fish, and you can begin gradually increasing the salinity to an appropriate brackish level. There are a number of other fish you could put in there, especially if you go with the bigger tank.

Moving to BW. OG
 

love4fish

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This was the information I had to go by.

Here is a Dragon Fish for sale in our fish hatchery. Click here for more about buying Dragon Fish from us.
The Dragon Fish, shown in the picture above, measures about 8 inches total length and is resting on the bottom of one the aquariums in our hatchery. Fish farmers don't raise Dragon Fish, so Dragon Fish must be collected from the wild and shipped to us. They ship well and acclimate quickly.

Dragon Fish are usually hardy and easy to keep, and they are very peaceful fish.

Dragon Fish are also called Violet Gobies.




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Scientific Name. Gobioides broussonetti.


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Comments. Dragon Fish have very small eyes and have difficulty seeing and finding food. Be sure that their tank mates don't eat all the food and starve the Dragon Fish. Even though they look ferocious, Dragon Fish are very peaceful fish.



Appropriate home. An aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a bio-wheel, and a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel. Dragon Fish do well in either a cool water aquarium or a warm water aquarium. The water temperature should be between 65 and 78 degrees F. Click here for more about warm water aquariums. Click here for more about cool water aquariums.

Dragon Fish are found in brackish water which is a mixture of fresh water without salt and marine salt water with a lot of salt. Dragon Fish do well in either fresh water or brackish water with one tablespoon of Aquarium Salt added to each five gallons of fresh water. Click here for more information about Aquarium Salt.



Recommended Diet. Dragon Fish eat Ghost Shrimp and Black Worms. They will also eat live and frozen brine shrimp. Click here for more about Black Worms. Click here for more about feeding fish.



Compatibility. Keep one or a several Dragon Fish in an aquarium, but do not keep just a few Dragon Fish together, because the strongest Dragon Fish will make the other Dragon Fish miserable, unless there are several Dragon Fish to distract the strongest Dragon Fish.

Good Tank Mates for Dragon Fish are Angel Fish, Silver Dollars, Swordtails, Mollies, and Corydoras Catfish in a Warm Water Aquarium.

Dragon Fish are also good tank mates for Goldfish such as Fantails, Black Moors, Telescopes, and Orandas in a Cool Water Aquarium.

Click here to read more about several other groups of compatible fish.



Size and Life Span. Dragon Fish can live for several years and grow to be 22" long, but they rarely grow longer than 15" in an aquarium.
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With that - Does that mean I can Add more salt in the 189 gallon and bring the salinety level up enough for the dragon fish and the large chichlids will be okay?
 

love4fish

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I have 3 severums, 1 parrot, 1 angel, 5 silver dollars, 1 tin foil barb, 1 bala, 1 plec, some cories,
180 gallon
ph around 7-8
tank is about 8 years old.

My question is will the salt bother those fish?
I use a minimal amount anyway.

And to top it off-
the silver dollars look like they might be getting ick.So they will need some salt attention.
The LFS said they DID just get the shippment in that day.
After calling about my tetra.(another thread.):sad
 
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cdawson

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If your silver dollars are getting ick you may want to pick up your water changes ASAP. There's obviously a water quality issue going on there. That's NOT going to help the new addition at all.
Possibly the dragon goby brought in the ick? I often see dragon gobies in stores with ick.
 

love4fish

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well I did a 30% change the day before they came.(7-17)

Then after I noticed I did another today and added some salt and aquarisol.

But I usually do a 15-20% every two weeks -
should be weekly but the only large fish right now are the severums. and the plec.


the rest are babies-
bala is only 2 inches long
angel is about 1 inch
the silver dollars are about 1-2 inches
and the tin foil barb-3 inchesI'll pick up the changes when the get bigger.

The water parameters are good.
the temp is about 76-
I'm in the process of raising slowly though.

2 eheim pro's 2028s-
the third eheim is on it's way.
 

love4fish

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ALSO-

The LFS just got the shippment that day-
I did not know that until I called ~because I had tetras dieing from another tank. Bought the same day.

So the silver dollars probably weren't showing signs yet.

And the Dragon is in hiding. So he might have it as well.:thud:
 
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Pufferpunk

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It is very common for scaleless fish to have ich. The treatment is also different for scaleless fish. I suggest raising the temp to 85 & use 1tbsp salt/5gal. Large water changes while cleaning the gravel is also recommended

You need brackish water for the goby. Since they grow up to 18", a 30g mininum is preferred.

1 more suggestion--get a hang on back filter, like an Aquaclear 500, or its gonna be a big pain to keep taking apart those Eheims for weekly cleanings.
 

love4fish

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hang on back filter for the~ brackish or Dragon tank?
Or because of the ick outbreak?
 

love4fish

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And should I use any Ick cure other than salt?
Oganicure for marine ick?
I've used years ago- because of frogs.
 
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