Violet Goby (dragonfish according to Petco)

[Aeon]

my bf just got a goby, tonight actually, because he thinks they look cool. this of course means i'm the one with the fish at my house. took me a bit to figure out anything about it, like what it was, but i think we set it up wrong (and spent enough in the process). "wiggles" is currently sitting in a round 1 gal fish tank with gravel-type rocks on the bottom, he does have some fake plants in it. i have no clue what to feed him (i just got tropical fish type flake food, but haven't fed him yet), and other than the makeshift top i put on it (his "escape" attempts taught me about the jumping), i apparently haven't learned enough i guess. he doesn't seem to do much. i don't want to kill the thing but i don't want to return him either. i also can't afford to spend a whole lot remedy-ing the problem. any advice??.

 

[Sploke]

You don't want to kill him, you don't want to return him, but you don't want to give him a proper habitat necessary for his health. I think you're going to end up doing something you don't want to do. If you're not going to spend the money to house the fish properly, then I hope you end up returning him rather than killing him.

I've read that these fish are very sensitive to ammonia. If you have him in an unfiltered bowl, he's not going to last long. You should either set up a proper brackish habitat for him, or return him.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I agree 100%. Your fish needs at least a 29g CYCLED tank to grow into. It is a brackish water fish. I highly suggest returning the fish until you cn house it properly. It will die very soon in that bowl. See: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/other/dragons.html

 

[Aeon]

it's not that i don't want to get a bigger tank or house him right, it's that i can't afford or have the space for a huge tank. i know where i can get a pretty good sized tank with a filter, i just need to find a lid for it. my real problem at the moment is what to feed it, or at least, where to find the food for it. walmart (where we got it) has krill pellets or dried krill, but nothing i've read says they'll eat it.

 

[Sploke]

Well whether you don't want to or are unable to, the end result is the same. I have mine in a 40 breeder with an open top and I have yet to see him jump, or even come to the surface. I would think that jumping would not be an issue in a properly sized, real brackish enclosure.

 

[BeelzeBob]

your fish will eat frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, (frozen and baby) and a variety of other frozen foods as well as algae pellets.
flake food will be useless

also, all the plants in my tank tolorate brackish conditions with a much higher salinity than you will ever need. read my sig for their specific names.
i would personally avoid mangroves because the require a lot of time, $, and patience.

you can usually find a good used tank on craigs list for pretty cheap, however,to set up a tank properly with just the basics, plan to spend about $200....

these fish will only jump if they are trying to escape their sh***y water conditions at wal-mart or petco.

VG are real cool fish that can get large enough to eat small mice.

i had a VG for about two years and he reached about 24", but got stuck in an artifact in my tank and died, so my advice to all of you who have them, know they get real big, and give them stuff to hide UNDER, NOT IN

PM me or what ever if you want set up suggestions or any other help,

 

[Pufferpunk]

Didn't you read my article I linked you to on them? All the info you need on care & feeding is in there! If you want him to live another day, either get him a larger tank today or return him.

 

[Aeon]

yeah, i read the article, thanx. i have a bigger tank too. in the process of setting it up now actually. i guess i just missed the food part, but i went back & reread it.

 

[Sploke]

How's the tank setup going? How big is the new one?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Setting up a larger tank now (even uncycled), is better than that 1g uncycled bowl. If you can find Bio-Spira, you can cycle the tank instantly.