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. 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?
dragon goby doesnt look like its eating
- Thread starter matthewvl
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Welcome to AA! First things I have to ask are how long has the tank been set up and what are your water parameters? From what I have read they are scavengers. Perhaps he is eating when the lights are out? I will move this thread to unhealthy fish to get the best help possible.
OceanMaiden
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi!! Welcome to AA!! 
) Nice to see another dragon goby owner out there!! Okay first is the tank cycled?? Do you have testing strips so you can give us the specs on the tank?? If you have questions on cycling or tank specs just post em here and the aquarium pros here will help you out. Im still kind of a boob when it comes to PH and such and I still pester them with questions at times. heh heh The tank specs and cycling information will help more to determine whats wrong with your little dragon buddy. It's hard to find info on the mysterious dragon goby anywhere. It's touch and go owning one you have to figure most out for yourself. I had a heck of a time whe I first got my dragon. I couldnt find DOO DAA on the net but I can tell you aa lot from whaat i've learned and seen with mine to help you out. Others here can give you valuable info too. First water salinity comes into issue here. Depending on where you got your dragon, they may have raised him in freshwater or brackish water. You need to ask the LFS where you got him what type of water they had him in. If they had him in freshwater you will have to acclimatize him to the proper salinity for brackish water. Add a little salt at a time I'd say over a months period or longer until its at full brackish salinity so he isn't stressed. The dragon goby is truly a brackish water fish as when he reaches maturity he will need brackish to almost marine conditions to thrive. This depends on the individual fish though. Some dragons prefer more salt than others. The largest dragon goby in captivity reached a length of 27" and lived 5 years. This is a rarity though as most don't tend to grow over 15 to 20 inches in the aquarium. Again it all depends on the fish, hemay become a whale or maybe not LOL. Fifteen to twenty inches is still pretty big though. They are a peaceful fish so they can be housed with any other peaceful brackish tank mates. They are territorial though, so if an intruder comes into his turf he'll push them out. If the intruder is aggressive the dragon can be equally so as he will bite and those little teeth can do some damage if he thinks he's in danger of losing his life. As for feeding the dragon goby is mainly a fliter eater and scavenger. He is omnivorous liking meat and vegg. He will eat fish flakes and shrimp pellets. He will suck on gravel and blow it out behind his gills. When he does this hes filter feeding the gunk off the rocks. Your dragon may not be eating the bloodworms because he has a tiny throat and he may choke on them. This is why he filters his food) I feed mine right at night fall with fish flakes and shrimp pellets. He also enjoys eating earlier in the morning. It;s breakfast for the other fish but dinner for him. Dragon fish tend to be way more active at night, and during the day they like to sleep and hide. You will need a pvc pipe or cave for him to hide in and feel secure while hes sleeping. Heres a trick if you still want to see your cool dragon while hes sleeping. Lean a piece of slate against the front of the aquarium making a "cave" He will then be in plain view for your enjoyment while hes sleeping in his "cave" LOL. As to what they do at night they sift the gravel for food, filter feed filterfeed,...lil piggies) They also like to rearrange the gravel digging here and there. They like to dig in sand and bury themselves in it sometimes too, silly butts. So you can put llike sand in one corner of the tank for their wallowing and diggiing pleasure. They love it. That's about all I can tell you for now as Im falling asleep at the desk here, heh heh. Just pm me if you want to know more about dragon goby in general. I'll help best I can. Good luck with your new dragon!!!
) Nice to see another dragon goby owner out there!! Okay first is the tank cycled?? Do you have testing strips so you can give us the specs on the tank?? If you have questions on cycling or tank specs just post em here and the aquarium pros here will help you out. Im still kind of a boob when it comes to PH and such and I still pester them with questions at times. heh heh The tank specs and cycling information will help more to determine whats wrong with your little dragon buddy. It's hard to find info on the mysterious dragon goby anywhere. It's touch and go owning one you have to figure most out for yourself. I had a heck of a time whe I first got my dragon. I couldnt find DOO DAA on the net but I can tell you aa lot from whaat i've learned and seen with mine to help you out. Others here can give you valuable info too. First water salinity comes into issue here. Depending on where you got your dragon, they may have raised him in freshwater or brackish water. You need to ask the LFS where you got him what type of water they had him in. If they had him in freshwater you will have to acclimatize him to the proper salinity for brackish water. Add a little salt at a time I'd say over a months period or longer until its at full brackish salinity so he isn't stressed. The dragon goby is truly a brackish water fish as when he reaches maturity he will need brackish to almost marine conditions to thrive. This depends on the individual fish though. Some dragons prefer more salt than others. The largest dragon goby in captivity reached a length of 27" and lived 5 years. This is a rarity though as most don't tend to grow over 15 to 20 inches in the aquarium. Again it all depends on the fish, hemay become a whale or maybe not LOL. Fifteen to twenty inches is still pretty big though. They are a peaceful fish so they can be housed with any other peaceful brackish tank mates. They are territorial though, so if an intruder comes into his turf he'll push them out. If the intruder is aggressive the dragon can be equally so as he will bite and those little teeth can do some damage if he thinks he's in danger of losing his life. As for feeding the dragon goby is mainly a fliter eater and scavenger. He is omnivorous liking meat and vegg. He will eat fish flakes and shrimp pellets. He will suck on gravel and blow it out behind his gills. When he does this hes filter feeding the gunk off the rocks. Your dragon may not be eating the bloodworms because he has a tiny throat and he may choke on them. This is why he filters his food) I feed mine right at night fall with fish flakes and shrimp pellets. He also enjoys eating earlier in the morning. It;s breakfast for the other fish but dinner for him. Dragon fish tend to be way more active at night, and during the day they like to sleep and hide. You will need a pvc pipe or cave for him to hide in and feel secure while hes sleeping. Heres a trick if you still want to see your cool dragon while hes sleeping. Lean a piece of slate against the front of the aquarium making a "cave" He will then be in plain view for your enjoyment while hes sleeping in his "cave" LOL. As to what they do at night they sift the gravel for food, filter feed filterfeed,...lil piggies) They also like to rearrange the gravel digging here and there. They like to dig in sand and bury themselves in it sometimes too, silly butts. So you can put llike sand in one corner of the tank for their wallowing and diggiing pleasure. They love it. That's about all I can tell you for now as Im falling asleep at the desk here, heh heh. Just pm me if you want to know more about dragon goby in general. I'll help best I can. Good luck with your new dragon!!!The lfs had him in slightly brackish water. I put in the required 8 table spoons of salt for a 40 gallon tank (I was told some salt can be beneficial for most fish regardless if they are freshwater or not) I'm not sure what you mean by cycling asside from the inital starting the tank phase. I do partial water changes every two weeks. I only have 3 mollies, 3 zebra danios, and one fairly large pleco. PS, my ph is at 7.4, water temp is 74-75.
bad news update
my roommate called me while i was at work and my dragon goby died. I'm pretty sure I did all that I could and followed the various instructions at many websites. I do not know if the fish was already sick before I got him or what. There is a some green on his body about an inch down on his body from his head and it doesnt look good. (this may be algae though) anyways, is there anything I can do like bring it back to the store to get my money back or something. I feel like I got ripped off.
bad news update
my roommate called me while i was at work and my dragon goby died. I'm pretty sure I did all that I could and followed the various instructions at many websites. I do not know if the fish was already sick before I got him or what. There is a some green on his body about an inch down on his body from his head and it doesnt look good. (this may be algae though) anyways, is there anything I can do like bring it back to the store to get my money back or something. I feel like I got ripped off.
OceanMaiden
Aquarium Advice Freak
If you still have the receipt I would definitely take him back to the store. If you got him at a Petco, they should take him back as my petco here takes fish returns quite readily whenyou have your reciept in hand. I am so sorry for your loss, I love dragon fish and can only imagine the heartbrake your going through. How long has your tank been up and running. If its still brand new it will not be able to support life safely as the ammonia concentratioon will be too high. I am not exactly sure how this part works again. Another AA member should be able to tell you how the ammonia is kept down in a cycled tank. I beleive its because once the tankis cycled there is enough beneficial bacteria to eat the ammonia and bad nitrates. Somebodyelse chime iin here and try to make it easier for mathew to understand a little easier. I could do with hearing it explained correctly one more time too. All I know is you have to wait like 6 weeks for beneficial bacteria to grow enough to sustain life in the tank and after an initial ammonia spike you are close to the end of your cycle. A while after that stuff should be reading at 0 amm 0 nitrate 0 nit and usually brown algea will appear at this stage, at least it did with mine. How are the other fish in the tank doing??
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
So sorry for your loss. Definately take him back to the lfs.
