Goby behaviour

[kyektulu]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone out there has keeps dragon gobys.
I keep a few and have not had them for long and recently thier behaviour has changed, they have become far more active swimming all around the tank, taking big gulps of air, quite erraticly. They only do this at night and stay underneath the substrate at during the day, I was wondering if this is normal behaviour for gobys?
I have looked all around the internet (as I cannot find any litriture on them in my local libary or bookshop) and have not found any good sites on behavoiur.
Can you please give me some advice to put my mind at rest, or give me a good web site to check out about them.
Two of my Dragons have already died and I dont want the final two to go the same way.

Thank you.

 

[boomboom]

[yes I do have a second dragon,
i lost my first one because i kept him in fresh water,
my present one is in brackish water and I regular have water changes
and ensure no old food is left behind
I also feed him twice a day shrimp pellet am and frozen blood worm in the evening

 

[Menagerie]

That behavior sounds abnormal. IME, gobies do not do well in freshwater. Some tolerate it and live long lives probably because they were collected in freshwater. Gobies sold as FW fish are from estuaries. Those areas have a mix of fresh and salt water. I have a tank especially for my bumble bee gobies that is brackish, after loosing a few in a FW tank (I had no idea!).
Great info on Gobiidae: http://www.mongabay.com/fish/gobiidae.htm
Info on brackish: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/BrackishSubWebIndex.htm

Aside from the salt issue, there could be other factors involved in the losses of your fish and the current behavior.
I'm moving this topic to the Unhealthy Fish forum and would like you to anser the following Qs:
Answer these Qs to ensure we have as much information as possible about your ailing fish and its environment:

1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?