Blue spotted watchmen goby attacking clown fish

[isabellarosas15]

My watchmen goby just started attacking my clownfish today How can I stop him from attacking the clownfish he has already took a small bit of my clown fishes top fin out
I have a 20 gallon tank
A clownfish
A watchmen goby
Small hermit crab and three live rocks
We we're think about getting some new damsels soon but I'm not sure with the goby attacking



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[54seaweed]

wouldn't buy damsels there little terrors
gobys are territorial as are clowns sounds like someones in the others space

[isabellarosas15]

I just took a closer look at my goby he's covered in worms they are flat and see through some of his scales are dis colored and you can see veins on his face through his skin I'm not sure what to do


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[Fatboyfish]

any chance we could get a photo?

[isabellarosas15]

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[isabellarosas15]

Can you see the little white thing by his eyes


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[isabellarosas15]

I feed them shrimp because the goby is finicky could that be what's cause ing the worms


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[isabellarosas15]

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[Mebbid]

Theres not a whole lot you can do without upgrading tank size. My pink spotted goby is the second most aggressive fish in my tank.

[Fatboyfish]

If they truly are worms only thing you can do is use a dewormer. As far as aggression any fish stock you put in such a small tank has potential to be volatile. Finding the right mixure is a pain. I ended up with a pair of clowns pajama cardinal and a six line wrasse in my moms 20 high. It was not easy finding that group of fish to be peaceful. Small tank is trial and error till it just works.

[isabellarosas15]

Thanks I wasn't sure if they were worms or not


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[isabellarosas15]

Oh and I have one more question my clownfish I've had a few years now but for some reason It hangs out at the top with its fin out of the water sometimes he's sideways he starting to be a bit more normal and goes to the bottoms sometimes but I think my goby attacking him has scared him out of going to the bottom


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[isabellarosas15]

Here are some pictures of my clownfish


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[Coursair]

The Clownfish does look stressed and is probably terrorized by the Goby. Not very fair for him.


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[isabellarosas15]

The thing is he's been doing that before we got the goby for a long period of time it was just him in the tank and he even did it then the people at the pet store told us to get more live rock but that didn't work


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[Fatboyfish]

Some fish just ain't right in the head much like some humans aren't. When you buy fish pay attention to what they are doing to determine if they are normal. Ask a person at the store to feed and see if they'll eat. I got a maroon clown that had been trapped in an overflow(brother bought a tank we found it when taking it down) for like a year. After being freed all it wanted to do was swim like it was stuck under my rocks. I traded it in.

As far as the person at the lfs: Never trust any one persons advice in this hobby. Don't even trust me. Over time experience will give you all the knowledge you need.

Having a skeptical stance will pay off.

[isabellarosas15]

Oh no poor fish thanks for the information though very helpful


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[Coursair]

Could it be a swim bladder issue ? Buoyancy problem ?


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[isabellarosas15]

That's what I was thinking but he doesn't have any of the symptoms


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[Bray84]

If he's done it before you got your goby then bet that's his spot. My male hangs at the top sometimes just clown behaviour.


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