Catching a Dragon Goby

[Daylilly]

LFS warned me about the dragon goby making a mess but i went ahead and bought it arrhhhh wish i had listened

hes making such a big mess i hate it now since ive started to add more corals etc. i want to get him out of there. anyone have any good way of catching the guy? i thought of putting a bottle in there and see if he goes in there and then just take the bottle out. i dont know..just a thought..
i dont want to move my rock work it took me so long to do and i hate stressing everything in there....
hes not even eatting any of the food i put in the tank? will he even survive? i just see him sifting through the sand.

please help..any ideas
thanks

 

[pat8you]

You can make a basic fish trap by cutting of the top of a 2 liter bottom and turning it to face inwards. As long as the opening is large enough for the fish to get in you should be good to go. You can bait it with some food. If the fish is not eating the food you put in the tank though it won't be much help. You will need to start by trying to get the fish to eat prepaired foods. What do you feed now?

 

[BallinCrew10]

Ahh I bought the same fish and had the same problem, you're in for a battle as mine was quite crafty. However, I'm gonna save you a lot of time an headaches. Get a deecently long piece of pvc pipe..put some saran wrap on one end held in place with a elastic band. If you plug it wit a pvc cap its too dark and he won't go in. Put it near his favorite hang out then put food inside at the end with saran wrap. When he goes in for it simply lift the open end up so its standing vertically in your tank, don't panic he can't figure it out to swim up to freedom. Take your time extracting the little sand sifting devil. Bring him back to your lfs and get your money back.

 

[BallinCrew10]

I missed the part about not eating the food. They sift through the sand and eat various tiny crustaceans and algae they find. It took a little while for mine to start eating the brine shrimp I feed. After a while he will begin to take interest in w.e it is you feed the rest of your tank. Then you have him

You should try feeding him some vitamin enriched brine shrimp. That's what I feed and he went right for it. Good luck

 

[Daylilly]

So today at the momment sitting here with a trap in my tank waiting to see if I can catch the bugger! Wish me luck!

 

[BallinCrew10]

Ohh yea, many days I sat infront of the tank. Cursing he while he just laughed at me lol. What kind of trap did you make ? I tried the bottle an he wouldn't go in, my sixline wrasse actually swam in and out of it like I had made him a playground lol

 

[Daylilly]

I made a bottle trap too. My six line is so nosey too he's just hanging out near the bottle... The dragon hasn't went yet.... He's too busy covering up my feather dusters and corals agggggrrrrhhhhh

Did you manage to catch yours? If so how?

 

[BallinCrew10]

Ahh I bought the same fish and had the same problem, you're in for a battle as mine was quite crafty. However, I'm gonna save you a lot of time an headaches. Get a deecently long piece of pvc pipe..put some saran wrap on one end held in place with a elastic band. If you plug it wit a pvc cap its too dark and he won't go in. Put it near his favorite hang out then put food inside at the end with saran wrap. When he goes in for it simply lift the open end up so its standing vertically in your tank, don't panic he can't figure it out to swim up to freedom. Take your time extracting the little sand sifting devil. Bring him back to your lfs and get your money back.

It took me a few trial runs to figure it out but this is how I did it with good success once I worked out the kinks

 

[Daylilly]

If a dragon goby only is passing the sand threw his mouth and no food that the others eat is he gonna die?
Cause I think mine has gotten skinny since he came he was just eating the red slime breakout that I had and cleared it up good now he just pecks the rock all day and passing sand in his mouth.....

 

[BallinCrew10]

If he's sifting sand then he's looking foor food. If he's not getting enough or it runs out then he will take interest in w.e you feed the rest of your tank with. This would probably help you catch him as you could bait your traps.

 

[Sqasnatch]

Those guys sound like a bundle of fun. I'm gonna have to get one I think

 

[BallinCrew10]

Those guys sound like a bundle of fun. I'm gonna have to get one I think

Ha yea unless you enjoy having LS on your corals, LR, and being made a fool of by a 4" fish I would stay away from them lol

 

[melosu58]

Get Out of My Tank! Fish Removal Tips & Tricks by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com