Goby bit my Chromis??

[Dr_Doom2]

I just noticed one of my 3 Chromis (middle sized) has a "mark" on him. The only hypothesis that I have is that my Diamond Goby took a chomp. The curve seems to fit the outline of his mouth and the little scrape mark looks like it could be the little "tooth" that I see in the middle of the inside of his mouth.

Does this seem likely or does it look like something else?

It was hard to get this pic, but I tried to edit it so that it emphasized the wound.

Thanks!!

Jeff

p.s. 42g tank and only fish are 3 chromis and 1 diamond goby

 

[thincat]

It can happen. How big is the Goby.
PS: nice picture

 

[Sadielynn]

Gobies can be terriatorial . If provocated they will protect there area ...
Keep water pristine keep fish well fed and watch closely ..
Also make sure to keep the stress down as much as possible for him ..
It really is impossible to tell 100% but if I had to hazard a guess I would say he did bite him ..
Gobies are normally peaceful til provicated to protect there "home" HTH

 

[melosu58]

As Sadie said it is very possible. As she said also keep water in excellent condition and watch for a secondary bacterial infection.

 

[Dr_Doom2]

It's a newer tank and the everything is at 0 levels except nitrate is about 5ppm. I just noticed last night that the chromis pack seems fo be sleeping in a cave that is on the other side of the rock from the goby's den!!

 

[Sadielynn]

This could explain it perhaps move some rock around break up the territories a bit .. Then keep the lights out for a day ...to confuse them a bit ... GL and HTH

 

[Dr_Doom2]

Well...bad news. I came home from work yesterday to find the wounded chromis with a wound about 3 times the size...same mouth-shaped wound. He was breathing very fast and hiding behind a rock. About 30 minutes later he had died.

I hate that this happened and it upsets me to think that I could have possibly prevented it by moving the rocks a day earlier. I hope that someone out there takes a tip from this loss and saves a life!!

So my next question is will 2 Chromis be ok? I've heard that they don't do well in even numbers??

Thanks!!

 

[Sadielynn]

Hey now dont beat yourself up over this ... I could tell you stories that would make you cringe ... You are new and learning 99.999999% of us have made the same mistakes in one way or another . Here is one that I will share with you . I have long wanted a yellow watchman goby . It is rare to see them here in our area , so one day I saw one I had to have it ! I knew my system could support him just fine . So I bought him ! I brought him home acclimated him and placed him into the tank .. lights went out for the night , so the other fish could go to there "area" of the tank he could find his "area" . The next morning I woke he was fine (used a flash light to see him) "sigh a big relief " go get my coffee , come back to the LR the lights are on at 11 am in our system . By 1pm something wasnt right , so I start priming salt H20 prep for a change , get everything ready run some quick tests every thing is WNL and fine , but he is not I grab the hospital tank and some PVC pieces and move to set up . I drain out 3 gallons water by this point he is just not right at all ! I pick him up and gently move him to his new tank . By the next day his back was red! What had I done ?!?!
For 2 days he held on .He was doing better on day 2 then BAM he was dead . I was perplexed ! Then it hit me I put him in the tank till his death ! I roomed him with a purple pseudochromis (mean lil bugers), he had invaded the pseudochromis's territory , now understand this tank is full reef so moving stuff was not going to happen ! And since it is a nano , "properties" are prime . The psuedochromis , and yellow watchman goby are same shape , size ect that could cause sparing ! I had at this point been doing this for 6+ years or so so I should have known better ! Moral of it is ....It happens even to us who have been doing it a while , and become lax .
Now to answer your question they usually do better in 3 or more but they may do fine in just the group of 2 .. That is upto you if you wish to add another chromis at this point .. GL HTH

 

[Dr_Doom2]

Sadie, thanks for the advice/support!! I'll watch my 2 Chromis to see how they act together...so far so good. The gobie swims up to the top and around a bit but doesn't seem to even notice those 2 Chromis swimming around (close to him!)

 

[roka64]

Hmmm, unless the chromis went into the goby's territory, I doubt that is the culprit (but don't dismiss that). Chromis are middle swimmers (and schooling fish), your goby is a sand dweller and probably would'nt attack him, unless provoked. I would watch the others and see what happens. I think it might be possible that he was wounded before you bought him and an infection set in, or he was weakened and succumbed to your clean up crew.

 

[Sadielynn]

Roka
You are right they are bottom dwellers however the YWG and a few others I have seen do use the "whole " tank .. Not too hard in a nano..
I also had chromis when I first started , and they slept in a lower corner .. Gobies can be provocated to be mean lil buggers ... remaining mostly peaceful . It is possible that he was sick before and the others were protecting themselfs buy knocking him out of "commission" There are sooo many things that could happen that with out video on our tanks 24/7/365 there is no way of "knowing absolutly " what happens ..
My lil yellow watchman that I have in the custom tank has been there for close to 1 year , he will chase the clown across the tank and back again if he seems to get too close .. This past weekend I redid that tank and "rescaped" it I closed off his home and moved some stuff round before he and the clown and shrimp were placed in that calmed him down a bit ...
Dr D
I can understand the fustrations ! I have been there , and I remember them oh so vividly .... the key here is to never stop learning and never forget what you learn , take everything (including the stuff I write) with a grain of salt .. Believe everything and belive NOTHING .. What works for one may not work for others .. Just because it is something I did or some one else did does not make it right or so ! ..Respect the hobby and it will show you pleasure . Abuse it you will see heartache ..
Slowness by nature in this hobby is what is needed but at times we need to move the speed of light ! It is a balance game , it is a game that most times mother nature will win out on .. Keep learning , keep trying , and dont ever let anyone put ya down or beat yourself up for something that ultmatly we have 0 control over yet have total control !

 

[JonnyKhan]

Killer goby

I bought a juvenile chromis (black lined) earlier this week and this afternoon I found it dead in the goby's burrow area. When I tried to take it out of the tank, the motion of the water stirred the dead chromis and the goby popped up and nipped it again!

 

[thincat]

Yes, when I looked at the wound, the teeth marks are pretty big and inword to be done by a gobie. that is the reason I asked how big the gobie was. Look at the chromis and try to imagine your gobie biting it and see if the size of the teeth marks would match that of your gobie. I think, like roka it was done either before you bought it or by something else.
Keep your eyes on the lookout for that...

 

[Copepod]

My Orange-spotted Goby I had would leap up in the water after any fish that came close to his burrow...I am now fixing a pop bottle to attempt to catch my Blue-spotted Watchman Goby...he caused the death of one of my Sissortail Gobies and bit the other one...you can see where his head was in his mouth. Since his Pistol Shrimp went missing, he has taken over the sleeping burrows of the Sissortails and Gold-headed Sleeper Gobies..looks like he wants the whole thing. He is big too, and has a huge mouth. They are not the peaceful creatures I thought them to be. Just look at their faces and they seem to be in a perpetually bad mood...LOL.. They are really only doing what is natural, but just not my thing.

If you get another Chromis...be sure to get a middle size..that way he won't be picked on, or try to pick on the others. Just what I would do. I have three.