Dragon Gobys

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kyektulu

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
388
Location
manchester uk
I purchased three Dragon Gobys and put them in a large freshwater tank which was lined with medium pebbles as a temperary measure as I had sand on order at my local fish shop. After about a week the sand came in so I took out the pebbles and added the sand, I did this because I have read in several places that sand is the best thing to keep dragon gobys in as they can syphon through it looking for left over food.
However my problem is that since I changed from pebbles to sand only two of my three Gobys have been eating! The largest has been munching away on the daphnia as normal. I have tried several different types of food live and otherwise, It has been five days now and I am very worried.
Also they havnt been doing the 'syphoning' (taking sand into thier mouths and extracting it via their gills).... If anyone out there has Dragon Gobys please help![/b]
 
had a dragon goby in a freshwater 36 gal. community tank, large gravel for 2 1/2 years. He had trouble with the subsrtate as we both know he would. Dragons are slow and messy eaters, so just dropping food in the tank doesn't give him much of a chance to grab a bite before the rest of the fish gobble it up. I knew from the start that he be a problem feeding in my tank so "trained" him to come to the front at feeding time. That way I could hand feed him frozen bloodworm. With hand feeding, although a chore to some, it ensures he getting enough to eat and was imressive to watch. He was the healthiest looking dragon I'd seen but died suddenly a week ago. :cry: I have no idea what happened, other than the night before at his supper time he didn't seem hungry.
So to sum it up, try hand feeding to make sure everybody is eating..
 
first of they need brackish water or theyre arent going to last long....and second of all just wait a bit but have you tried frozen bloodworms yet? they seem to love them.
 
You know,, I was gonna write in my last message that, "of course someone is gonna mention brackish", but as both kyektulu and I mentioned freshwater, I assumed people would know we both were aware the brackish recommendations of keeping these fish in optimum health. Yes, I knew from the start that they come from brackish rivers but also can survive in freshwater for quite some time. I bet if you checked the dragon tanks in a large percentage of lfs, you'd find they are in fresh water. I would have liked mine to have survived longer than 2-1/2 years, but I am not really convinced that his turn from active, growing and healthy, to dead over night, is attributed to the lack of brackish water. (actually I suspect he accidentally ate a very tiny bb goby that I added recently, :arrow: another brackish fish, I know. My other two have been in the tank for a year and seem to be doing quite well)
 
Before I purchased the Dragon Gobys I made sure I did loads of reasearch. In my local fish shop they only get Dragons in seasonally so I had alot of time on my hands for preperation, as when I first saw this fish I HAD to buy some of my own but needed to prepare a tank first so it was about 6 months before they had them in my local aqaurium shop.
In my reasearch I found out that you dont actually have to keep them in brackish water, infact the oldest living Goby in captivity was kept in a large freshwater tank he lived to a ripe old age of 27!

One of my Gobys, the largest is eating healthily. Also two days ago one of the smaller ones began to eat tentativly it just seems to be one last fish who hasnt regained his appetite. He is losing weight rapidly I am very worried, I have done everything possible to save him I guess it is just up to him now. However thanks for the advice on hand feeding I am going to try that in the morning. :D

Thanks.

xxxkyexxx
 
Sorry to hear about the small ones not doing well. All I can tell you is that mine was fed shrimp pellets and frozen bloodworms. I know your gravel was too coarse as you said, but maybe the sand is too dense and compacted? Another expense but maybe a FINE gravel instead of the sand? As far as the salt issue, I agree with you that dragon gobies CAN do well without it, mine seemed to, but if the other inhabitants of your tank can handle it, I would add a little. The reason I don't is that I have quite a mixture of fish in the tank, some would like a little salt, where others can't tollerate it very well at all. If it's a mater of your smaller dragons not being able to FIND the food before the other inhabitants get it, maybe handfeeding will make the difference. Good luck with them and don't get too discouraged.
 
One factor that is not mentioned here is that a lot dependes on when and where these gobies are caught....gobies caught from light-brackish water will adapt better to a freshwater habitat....gobies caught in more brackish waters will often not adapt and simply die over a few months time.
 
Bad news my smallest dragon goby (who I named Denton) died today... :cry:
He was the only one who wasnt feeding properly and had lost alot of weight. My other two are both eating healthily now which is some consolation.
I have reserved the last Goby in my local shop so the others have more company because they are the only ones in the tank as of yet. I dont want to put more fish in the tank untill I am 100% that both Dragons are doing well.
Thanks for the advice everyone I will ask about the origins of my Gobys when I go to pick my new one up, also I do think smallest pebbles would possibly be a better substrate (as they were doing the 'syphoning' thing with small gravel when I bought them) but I dont want to upset them again quite so soon, plus they are both enjoying burrowing in the sand at the moment!

I will keep you posted with thier progress!


 
ok whatever you can keep them in fw for a while but a word of caution..if they develop a white slime then they must be converted or they will die.
my cousin keeps his in fw but he also has it in a ten gallon with a million other fish (he never knows when enough is enough,he thinks he knows eveything but he kills the simplest of fish). so i guess if he can do it youll prolly be able to do it too.

I personally just like to keep them in conditions that they are meant to be in. Sometimes they also get more susceptible to diseases like eye fungus if kept in fw.

anyways good luck.
 
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