dragon goby wont eat

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matthewvl

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May 25, 2006
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So I went to the store and purchased a dragon (or violet) goby for my 40g hex front. This is my first shot at owning an aquarium. I added the prescribed salt for this goby and purchased some frozen blood worms. I was also told that some salt is beneficial to most fish, freshwater included. Anyways I have attempted to feed him for 3 days and have not seen him eat any of this. I have placed some food probably 4 inches in front of his face and he has not eaten any. On one occassion a few worms were even resting on his back and he did not touch them. Now I only feed my fish in the morning before work and right before I take my dog for a long walk so I havent had more than 5-10 mins to watch him but still I am a bit worried. Sometimes he surfaces to the top of the tank for a swim but today I have noticed him kind of floating back down slightly lethargic. I dont know if that is a sign of unhealthy or me over analyzing. Upon research, several websites have given me various opinions. Some say they are hearty eaters, some say they are scavengers and eat algae and other scraps. What should I do, what should I look for? Should I be concerned?
 

Roan Art

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matthewvl said:
So I went to the store and purchased a dragon (or violet) goby for my 40g hex front. This is my first shot at owning an aquarium. I added the prescribed salt for this goby and purchased some frozen blood worms.
Dragon gobies are brackish water fish and must have marine salt added to the tank. Not aquarium salt. If you just use aquarium salt, it will die.

FW fish cannot be kept in brackish water. They will die.

If you have FW fish in with the goby, then you will have to either get another tank or return either the dragon or the FW fishes to the store.

I was also told that some salt is beneficial to most fish, freshwater included.
This is totally incorrect and a common misconception that continues to plague the entire hobby.

Adding salt to a FW tank will shorten the lifespan of the fish:

http://aquafacts.net/wiki/index.php/All_Salt_Was_Not_Created_Equal

Regardless, the dragon has to have marine salt and freshwater fish will die in marine salt. You may wish to post this in the Brackish Forum. They can help you change your tank over to brackish water and advise you on what to feed your dragon goby.

Roan
 

snakeskinner

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Dec 27, 2003
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salt may harm some fish but in most cases it will not. I keep a little salt in ALL of my 60 or so tanks I have running at the moment. I have never had a fish die from salt being added to the tank..

also, not all "freshwater" fish will die in brackish conditions, especially many livebearers and killifish. For example, the common mollies and guppies will not only live in brackish water, they will Thrive in it. In fact, they can handle full marine conditions and seem to do better than in pure freshwater..

you must consider the natural environment of the fish when thinking about these claims. Many of our fish are from costal environments and have varying conditions. Kyle
 

snakeskinner

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sorry, I got interrupted with that last reply and never got to actually trying to answer the question at hand. I believe dragon gobies are nearly blind so possibly they are having a problem finding the food or maybe it's just not enticing to them. What if you were to try some live worms and used some tongs to actually place them in front of the goby's mouth? not sure how big he is but maybe meal worms or redworms would work. I've never done any reading on those fish so I'm not sure if they are nocturnal or how they feed so you might do some research on that and it could shed some light on your problems. Kyle
 

Roan Art

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snakeskinner said:
salt may harm some fish but in most cases it will not. I keep a little salt in ALL of my 60 or so tanks I have running at the moment. I have never had a fish die from salt being added to the tank..
You may wish to read that article as well.

Not all "freshwater" fish will die in brackish conditions, especially many livebearers and killifish. For example, the common mollies and guppies will not only live in brackish water, they will Thrive in it. In fact, they can handle full marine conditions and seem to do better than in pure freshwater..
Brackish water is not just salt. There is a *huge* difference between marine salt and aquarium salt, which is what people throw in their tanks.

In fact, it is not the salt that *wild* versions of those fish need. It is the extreme hardness and increased TDS that the addtion of marine salt provides. Those types of things can be provided without the additon of salt.

you must consider the natural environment of the fish when thinking about these claims. Many of our fish are from costal environments and have varying conditions. Kyle
That's correct, however unless those fish are wild-caught or have been kept and bred in true brackish water, they are *not* from costal environments. They have been bred for countless generations in salt-free environments. Their ancestors may have lived in brackish water at times, but their descendants have not.

Roan
 

Rowangel

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Jan 20, 2006
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matthewvl, Check out this site .

This quote in particular might apply to your situation.

“Dragon gobies are not predators, and will not eat algae shrimp, small fish, or large pellets. Because of their mouth size many shops and owners alike assume that they are predators and keep them with predatory fish. In fact they have very small eyes in comparison to their bodies, which should tell you that they are mainly scavengers who put forth only minor effort in searching for food.
Their primary method of obtaining food is by scooping up mouthfuls of gravel and sorting the edible things from the substrate, they then spit out the substrate and swallow the food particles. I have found that frozen plankton, bosmiden, daphnia and bloodworm are all readily accepted foods, and anything else that can fit in its mouth, EXCEPT fish. Brine shrimp is also suitable but I find this is about the largest food they can manage. As an experiment I did try feeding them with tiny frozen Gammarus shrimp, tiny pieces of frozen fish, they were interested, but quickly spat them back out as they were too big.”
 

tricksterpup

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I agree with Roan on this, you need to go out and buy the proper salt for your tank. Marine Salt will have all the proper buffers your fish will need to thrive in a tank like this.
As for your Dragon fish, you may need to try to use a bastier for him. But honestly, I have been in this hobby for over 30+ years and still wouldnt dare try a Dragon Goby. This is a fish that has special needs and you need to meet them.
 
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