Knight Goby hiding 24/7?

[hadesnuggz]

Hey guys...

I have a 10 gallon that has been established for about 2 years now.

I got a knight goby and for the first month, it was doing great! It hid under a cave/rock and would stay just in teh opening, waiting for food. When I would put food in, it would dart out and eat, and then go back to his home.


I do 40% water changes about once every two weeks.


Now, for the last couple weeks or so, it has been hiding deep inside of its cave and will not come out to eat.

I have to stick my hand in and lift up the cave rock for him to come out, and when I look in there, he is tucked deep in a crevace. Moving around, looking with one eye to see who's disturbing him.

I try to target feed, but it wont eat and just goes back into hiding...

Anyone know what's up? And how i can get it to start acting normal again>?

 

[digitalphrage]

Try dimmer lighting conditions, if possible add some salt to the tank, consider housing it in a larger tank.

They don't like bright light, so if it's too bright, they'll hide. From reading online, there are lots of recommendations for keeping these guys in brackish conditions in the long term, though they'll usually be fine in freshwater, that doesn't mean it's ideal. Also, pretty much every site I checked suggest that 20 gallons is the minimum tank size.

 

[rufioman]

He could be too comfortable with his surroundings...

$0.02.

 

[hadesnuggz]

Hmm, Not really sure what happened, but he seems to be back to normal! I siphoned all of the waste out and did a nice 50% water change today, and now he seemes fine. Last water change I did, I didnt siphon the gravel, and I think he might just be sensitive to water quality, as he came out and ate like normal after the waterchange today which I thought was weird as he hasnt dwelled in his cave opening for weeks!