New Court Jester Goby not eating

[Brenden]

I ordered a court jester goby online and it came in yesterday. I left lights off all evening to keep from stressing him. This morning when I was inspecting him you can tell he has not been eating. Any suggestions on what I should use to get him to eat? I would not norm worry since he was just acclimated yesterday but you can tell he has not eaten in a while, his stomach is caved in.

 

[DragonForce]

I would give him some more time. Gobys are pretty solid creatures, so either hes sick or he is just real scared. My goby loves frozen blood worms. HTH

 

[flame82]

You'll have to let me know how yours does, case in point i tried these little guys twice from a decent lfs store, and only get about three months and sudden death after this time period. My personal experience with the goby is, that they only would pick at alage all day off the glass and rock. For some reason it would let food float right buy and not attempt to eat anything. I did some research to so if this goby was like a mandarin, and would only accept natural food rather than imitation. However, i never was able to find any concrete evidence on its diet, besides the usually " flake, brine shrimp and such. So good luck i certainly hope you have better luck with this awesome looking fish.

 

[Brenden]

I tried blood worms, mysis and cyclopeeze today. Like I said earlier, I would normally not be concerned but by looking at him it is obvious he was not eating before I got him. I am going to try and go to the lfs tomorrow and get some live brine shrimp.

 

[Brenden]

Anyone have any ideas. I tried frozen brine today with no luck so I went to the LFS and bought some live brine. He still did not eat. My other fish loved me for it though.

 

[JPloman]

Can you contact the online store you bought him from? Most of the time they have a money back guarantee if the fish do not live. It sounds like to me that they sold you a sick fish.

 

[Brenden]

Fish came from liveaquaria. They have a 14 day guarantee but that was not my concern. I was hoping to save the fish. The only other thing I can think of is pods but how can I get them out of my main?

 

[flame82]

I have no idea how to move them but take a look at this new item.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...en=PROD&Product_Code=OCEANPODS&Category_Code=

 

[steve-s]

You need to get a variety of filamented algae, they are for the most part herbavors. Amblygobius rainfordi does best in a well established tank with plenty of natural grazing foods. This can be a challenge in a QT situation where growing/maintaining these algaes can be difficult. I would try Ocean nutrition red (especially) or green algae strips, nori (least likely) or frozen herbavor preparations. If you have an LFS or reef club with a supply of gracilaria, that would be a decent option to try.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Brenden]

Just so happens I have a pack of ocean nutrition red algae that I bought with a order a while back. I will go put some in the tank now and see what happens.

 

[Brenden]

Still not eating. I had tried nori yesterday but it also paid it no attention. I did see it take a small blood worm today but it spit it back out.

 

[StripesTheEel]

Ive recently had troubles with my gobies also.. But mine are the golden head sleeper gobies.. I had two mated pairs in both tanks and both died really quickly.. All i have left now is one male in my 75gal.. these guys thrived for 6months +.. very unusal.. The trick is to getting them eating the normal stuff, but I had troubles and tended to overfeed a little so it hit the sand bed for the guys to sift through..

 

[steve-s]

Except for their natural habits, grazing from the rock, new ways of feeding must be "learned". They will not automatically feed on most items until they become accustom to the fact that they are food. It can take some persistance.

If you have a feeding clip, try placing a few thin strips in it and then attaching the clip to the bottom pane of the glass. Hopefully the algae will float upwards a bit a sway in the current. It might stimulate a natural reaction to the algae being in a less unnatural state. Just keep at it and replace the algae frequently if uneaten to prevent fouling the tank.

Cheers
Steve

 

[flame82]

I had bought two different tangs at two different times from the same lfs and had an extremely hard time with no luck gettting them to feed on nori. With the third tang after taking the other two back, i put this tang in a small breder tank alone and only fed nori. I kept nori in the tank 24/7 and after two weeks he absolutely went crazy for this everytime he saw me with the clip. Now i know this is total a different fish but is their anyway you can put him in a qt with some good alage growth and or without alage and teach him to eat other foods??? Just a suggestion though since i see your probably running out of time with this little guy.

Steve-s Do they only feed on a certain alage type?
i use to have this fish for 3 months and then sudden death? i started that tank with tap so i have alot of different colors and or types of alage, and my jester pick at the alage all day cleanining it just as much as my snails.???

Breden i wish you luck maybe it will turn around !!!

I'm starting think this fish along with the madarin should'nt be at the lfs ??

 

[steve-s]

Steve-s Do they only feed on a certain alage type?
i use to have this fish for 3 months and then sudden death? i started that tank with tap so i have alot of different colors and or types of alage, and my jester pick at the alage all day cleanining it just as much as my snails.???

Not completely sure, I have never kept one. From my understanding though, they have a very strong preference for red algaes but will graze on a failry wide variety. Generally speaking, many fish species can be hard to acclimate in terms of diet simpley because their natural food sources are not "free floating" as in the case of grazing animals. Feeding behavour in a captive environment must be learned over time. It really depends on the specific species, researching and knowing it's natural food types and the creativity in the hobbyists ability to adapt to those needs.

Cheers
Steve

 

[IndyReefMan]

I have had a number of different Gobies in the past and the Rainsford (Court Jester) was the only one that I had trouble with. They seem to be very specific feeders. I too could never seem to find anything that he would eat. He did like to sift the sand often-- suck it up and then spit it out. Apparently, he couldn't find anything worthwhile in there because he eventually died. I wouldn't get another one again.

 

[macman7010]

The Court Jester or Rainford's goby is not an easy keeper despite what is sometimes read about it. These animals need copious amounts of hair algae and other high algal forms in order to survive in captivity. They often times starve because as you are expierencing they will not eat.

 

[Brenden]

Yeah according to live aquaria it is easy to keep. If I could put it in my main I think it would be ok.

 

[flame82]

yeah thats the only reason i ever get a fish anymore. I usually do a so called background check to see how succesful i think the fish will be in my tank before i buy and did not read anything of the sort of a " hard to keep" fish. My jesture was plump all the time and you could visibly see where he had cleaned alage of glass and rock, but still diead after 3 months. So i'm not sure what happend since i seen him eating alage and sifting all the time but after two attempts there has to be something else my tank lacks.

 

[Brenden]

Flame: did both of your gobies die quick? I am sitting here debating on wether to put him in my main.....Well sort of. If he has something I will never catch my fish to treat them. Plus I do not have enough tanks to treat them in. I just made up my mind he is staying in QT. I may put a piece of rock from my main in QT to see if he will graze on it. Think it is worth trying?