Violet Goby

[PoPoV]

I recently just rescued a violet goby from a freind who couldnt take care of it. Im having a hard time trying to get it to eat. Any suggestions. I was also wondering if he would be ok in a tank with my jewel cichlids?

-popov

 

[cane76]

have you tried live bloodworms?most fish wont refuse them

 

[jayjay]

Is it in brackish water?

 

[PoPoV]

I put him in his own 10 gal with some salt. And iv tried blood worms and tubeworm cubes. Still no luck. I know a 10 is to small for him but i dont think he can go in my 55 as he will probably be eatin or harrased. Do you think he is maybe tromatised from the move? He wasnt takin care of when i rescued him.

 

[nmonks]

In theory, jewel cichlids can be kept in brackish water. Several Hemichromis species are quite common in estuaries, and the common jewel cichlid is among them. They certainly don't need salt, but they are among those cichlids that adapt to it easily. At SG 1.005 or so, both the goby and the cichlid will do fine.

http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Speci...ary.php?id=2389

Your problem is temperament. Jewels are fairly territorial animals, and they may object to the violet goby. It's worth a shot, certainly, but I'd watch out for signs of problems and act accordingly.

The key thing with violet gobies is to understand that they are primarily substrate feeders, and sift sand to extract small animals. That said, they enjoy live brine shrimps and will also eat algae wafers/pellets of the type used with plecs (algae is in fact a significant part of their natural diet). 'Wet' frozen bloodworm and krill would be two things to consider using, and I have yet to find a fish that doesn't eat lobster eggs, which seem to have a smell and taste that drives fish wild.

Try putting food in the tank at night. It is often easier to keep violet gobies well fed by feeding them in the dark (assuming you have no catfish in the tank).

If you can, keep the goby in a tank with a sandy substrate. You'll be amazed at how much happier it will be, and it will dig itself right in sometimes. Your cichlids will enjoy the sand, too.

Cheers, Neale

 

[PoPoV]

In theory, jewel cichlids can be kept in brackish water. Several Hemichromis species are quite common in estuaries, and the common jewel cichlid is among them. They certainly don't need salt, but they are among those cichlids that adapt to it easily. At SG 1.005 or so, both the goby and the cichlid will do fine.

http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Speci...ary.php?id=2389

Your problem is temperament. Jewels are fairly territorial animals, and they may object to the violet goby. It's worth a shot, certainly, but I'd watch out for signs of problems and act accordingly.

The key thing with violet gobies is to understand that they are primarily substrate feeders, and sift sand to extract small animals. That said, they enjoy live brine shrimps and will also eat algae wafers/pellets of the type used with plecs (algae is in fact a significant part of their natural diet). 'Wet' frozen bloodworm and krill would be two things to consider using, and I have yet to find a fish that doesn't eat lobster eggs, which seem to have a smell and taste that drives fish wild.

Try putting food in the tank at night. It is often easier to keep violet gobies well fed by feeding them in the dark (assuming you have no catfish in the tank).

If you can, keep the goby in a tank with a sandy substrate. You'll be amazed at how much happier it will be, and it will dig itself right in sometimes. Your cichlids will enjoy the sand, too.

Cheers, Neale

he seems to like the algae waffers But thats all he will eat He seems to be perfectly happy in the his own 10g.

 

[the_patriot2004]

violet gobies can be difficult to warm up to food. I have a seven inch one myself. he wouldnt eat flake food, shrimp pellets, or bloodworms. the guy I got it from warned me that they take awhile to warm up to new food, he hadnt even gotten it totally accustomed to the food he was feeding it. I finally found some dried baby shrimp from wal-mart that he finally warmed up to, but it took me about 3 weeks to warm him up to it. now I have absolutly no problems with him not eating. the trick is though you have to crumple up the shrimp and put it in the tank right in front of him, they don't see very well and the baby shrimp dont sink very well, and other fish will eat the shrimp before it sinks anyway. prolly doesnt matter to much what kind of tank its in, they do do best in brackish water, but they will live in fw to, both tropical and cold water aquariums. mines in a FW tropical tank and is doing rather well, they are healthy fish. just be patient with it. the guy who sold it to me said a healthy one can live as long as 4 months. the accuracy of that I am not sure off, but mine did make it at least a month before it started eating, and is doing fine now. so just be patient.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

patriot, i imagine that the reason your violet goby has done well in freshwater is the fact that (as you mentioned in a post elsewhere) your water is very hard and contains a high mineral content.

brackish water contains many different dissolved mineral salts as opposed to just NaCl (table salt). for this reason, many fish which do best in lightly brackish water also do well in water which is just quite hard--the biggest difference between the two conditions is the absence of NaCl.

soft water, on the other hand, is lacking in dissolved minerals of any sort and thus is not an appropriate substitute condition for keeping lightly brackish fish. the aforementioned problems of chronic infections and decreased vitality will invariably become a problem and result in the premature death of the fish.