Feeding My Goby

[CluelessInNY]

I was told at the LFS that my Yellow Watchman Goby can eat just about anything...including algae and the sinking Hikari food pellets I use for my Clown. But as I read more and more, it seems the consensus is that the goby is a carnivore that should be fed TWICE daily.
I have NO idea how to add brine shrimp or thawed seafood into my tank. Am I making this more complex than I should? Am I simply dropping tiny bits of thawed shrimp in front of his cave? Also, if I drop this food a little further out of his dwelling, will this coax him out more? He seems content to sit in the cave created by the LR and come out only to feed. He's been in there over two weeks now and just hides all day long
Anyway, how do you physically feed the meat to this fish? What do I buy and where?

 

[pat8you]

Your LFS will have frozen mysis and other meaty foods frozen. Just thaw them in some water and dump it in the tank. Just be careful about how much you add cuz it can foul you water if there is to much left over they don't eat. Chances are some will get down by him and he will shoot out and grab a few pieces and jump back in his home. It just take some fish longer to get used to the new tank. I would give him another couple weeks. Some fish are just shy.

 

[melosu58]

It`s been said that soaking food in garlic will help stimulate feeding. You might want to try some of that Pat suggested and soak it for a few minutes in garlic oil. Some folks swear by it.

 

[CluelessInNY]

Thanks guys. It's astonishing how talking to one guy in the LFS can get you a completely different story from another guy. I think it 's great that this forum has so many people who actually know what they are talking about and care about strangers in need of information Thanks guys!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...You might want to try some of that Pat suggested and soak it for a few minutes in garlic oil. ...

Don't get confused with melosu's comment about "garlic oil" and think this is the garlic infused oil you buy in the supermarket. Garlic extract (not oil) is often used to stimulate feeding and it is reported to improve the immune system, and you can find various brands of it at your LFS.

 

[chris127]

Ive seen my friends dad put some shrimp or feeder minnows on the end of a metal wire and actually dangle it in front of their goby. it was pretty neat to watch him tear it off.

 

[CluelessInNY]

Hey guys I just bought some Mysis Shrimp (did I spell that corroectly?) I thawed them in a cup and dropped in a whole cube's worth and quickly realized the mess I'd made!!! There was a vortex of shrimp floating all over my tank!!! AHHHHHH!!! I netted most of them and let the rest float around to the bottom.
I have two questions:
1) my clown ate like two of them! Was that bad? She ate two that seemed also as big as her head
2) my hermits are eating them, but I haven't seen the goby come out to grab one yet. Do I need to feed them to him directly?
I see a cluster of uneaten ones and one of my hermits is having a field day. Shold I net the uneaten ones or just leave them there?

 

[roka64]

Did you try the garlic?
You want to put enough in there so that the food is eaten within 2 minutes or less. The crabs and bristle worms will pick up the rest. I like to soak my food in garlic, selcon and zoe.
Here is a little info on the garlic:
Garlic: What has been Studied Versus What has been Claimed by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
There you go Mike, another link for ya!

 

[CluelessInNY]

ROKA, seems like that article leaves the door open to debate about garlic extracts. Seems it's not been studied properly. Funny that it mentions online message boards as one source of reported results
So do you add a drop of extract to the Mysis as they melt in the cup? My goby is really very timid, but comes out when I leave food pellets at the doorstep of his cave. I found it odd that the shrimp floated bby and he didn't lunge at them.

 

[cmor1701d]

Add 2 drops of Garlic Xtreme to the thawing mysis and stir it up.

 

[CluelessInNY]

Thansk CMOR, as always. Maybe my fish are fans of Italian food and like some garlic on their shrimp

 

[cmor1701d]

me too!