how to train diamond goby to eat pellets/flakes

[dragonfisher33]

is there any tricks in getting my diamond goby to eat pellets and flakes? i have watched over and over again, my goby seems just to munch on the pellets and sifts the crushed pellets out of its gills. in essence, my sand bed is littered with smaller pieces of the pellets. for flakes, it also munchs and sometimes the flakes just pass through its gill and come out completely "untouched".

any advice is appreciated. i need to train all of my fish to eat prepared food as i travel often and have automatic feeder loaded on top of my tank.

 

[melosu58]

Does he do alot of sifting? If so this is how they feed. When I had my pink spotted goby for 15 yrs I never target fed him. He sifted through the sand for yrs and then finally he started to eat the flakes.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Does he do alot of sifting? If so this is how they feed. When I had my pink spotted goby for 15 yrs I never target fed him. He sifted through the sand for yrs and then finally he started to eat the flakes.

yes, he sifts a lot of sand and constantly moving and redecorating his cave. i'm just concerned that he's not getting the proper nutrient if he just munch/sift the pellets and break the pellets into tinier pieces. up till yesterday i have been feeding him mostly frozen stuffs and every now and then i tried to drop some pellets in front of him so he can "try". the flakes that i'm giving him pretty much "passes through" his gills.

 

[MarinaClown]

It's tough because a quarantine tank gives a fish a good chance to adapt to you. However, I have never heard anybody putting a goby in quarantine just like no one would put a leopard wrasse in QT unless there was live sand in it. Your best bet is to continue trying. Try soaking the food in garlic. That should help entice the goby to eat and strengthen its immune system. After an Ich outbreak in my tank I always use Garlic Guard by Seachem.

 

[Mightyreefer87]

How long have you had it? When I first brought my sleeper banded goby home he had nothing to do with the flake foods only wanted to sift sand. After about a week he started to go after flake food that I had soaked in garlic, now he goes after anything that's put in the tank.

Only thing that might be more on my side is that the sleeper banded goby is far from shy.

It will take time, but it should be ok.

 

[dragonfisher33]

How long have you had it? When I first brought my sleeper banded goby home he had nothing to do with the flake foods only wanted to sift sand. After about a week he started to go after flake food that I had soaked in garlic, now he goes after anything that's put in the tank.

Only thing that might be more on my side is that the sleeper banded goby is far from shy.

It will take time, but it should be ok.

2months now i think. i will try to get some garlic guard. strange thing is that the flake food that i got has garlic plastered on the container and i thought it would entice the goby to eat it more than the pellets.

 

[Mightyreefer87]

Does it have a fat belly and looking healthy?

 

[dragonfisher33]

Does it have a fat belly and looking healthy?

i'm not sure what a fat belly look like. it eats my frozen food like a pig. i only have two small clowns and him in my reef. what my clowns and corals don't eat, he cleans it up. but i want it to get used to prepared food. Yesterday, i fed, or tried to feed, him prepared food and i made sure there's enough floating around so that he can chase it. but of course he ended up eating and sifting the food out. i'm going to alternate between frozen and prepared food every other day, just in case he doesn't get enough nutrient out of the limited, if any, prepared food. hopefully when he's starved enough he will attempt to eat.

 

[melosu58]

If he is eating frozen make sure you feed vitamin fortified brine or mysis. This will help him till he does start eating good. I personally think he is getting enough from the sifting.

 

[Mightyreefer87]

If he is eating frozen make sure you feed vitamin fortified brine or mysis. This will help him till he does start eating good. I personally think he is getting enough from the sifting.

I agree too.

 

[dragonfisher33]

thanks guys, that sounds very reassuring

 

[huma-huma]

If he is eating frozen make sure you feed vitamin fortified brine or mysis. This will help him till he does start eating good. I personally think he is getting enough from the sifting.

+1. We tend to overfeed our fish ALOT. Most sand sifting gobies rely on "sand-sifting" for their food. I also have a banded sleeper goby that will eat pellets like crazy, but he also sifts sand the majority of the day. If you need reassurance, just spend time studying his underside (belly) if it plump and noticeable, hes healthy and happy, if its recessed or shrunken in at all, he may need some help