Clown Goby - won't eat

[Talonstorm]

Does anyone have any experience with clown gobies? I bought 2 of the little guys at the big THR sale. They were housed together and got along just fine. Since they came home, I cannot get them to eat. I have tried flake, frozen mysis with selcon, finely chopped silver sides, and another frozen food (formula 2 I think). They don't even grab at anything. Now I can only find one of them, I assume the other died. The one remaining looks emaciated, but is still fairly active. I really like this little guy. Any ideas on coaxing him to eat?

On a side note, the new firefish I got jumped out through the plastic grid within 3 days of bringing him home. I am done with them now, this is the second one to jump out like that.

Also, I picked up a lawnmower blenny that is very shy. He is finally starting to get bolder and I see him more often. He swims like an eel, kind of creepy, but he is just so cool looking!

Thanks,
Tina

PS - The tank is a 30 gallon cube and currently houses 2 small oc. clown fish, the one tiny clown goby, a lawnmower blenny, a variety of coral, crabs, snails, and an rbta.

 

[Hawkeye]

Try some frozen cyclopeeze...if you know where it is you could gently jet a batch of food via pipette.

There was a pretty good article on these guys in November 2007 Aquarium Fish International Magazine.

Any pics? Are these the citron gobies? Or some other species?

 

[Talonstorm]

I will try the cyclopeeze, I have some in my freezer. Here is a really bad pic that I just took to show you, I could have cleaned it up, but photoshop stopped working. : I think he would be considered a citron:

Thanks for the quick reply!
Tina

 

[panmanmatt]

Not a citron, that is a yellow clown. A lot of times they are collected using cyanide as they are difficult to catch. The live mainly in and around SPS corals so catching them is difficult.

Cyanide caught fish have a near zero survival rate.

 

[Talonstorm]

Bummer. I read somewhere that they frequently spawn in tanks. I am surprised that these guys aren't available tank bred. I guess spawning and then surviving might be an issue. The thought that maybe he was caught with cyanide had crossed my mind to be honest, but I was hoping that wasn't the reason he was wasting away.

I tried the cyclopeeze a few minutes ago. I didn't get a very big response from the little clown goby, but he did seem to grab at some of it. I will try feeding the cyclopeeze again tomorrow and see what happens.

Thanks,
Tina

 

[MikeNapoli]

I have two and they didn't eat the large stuff either either. Cyclopeeze, to me, is a little small even for a small fish. I've been feeding mine Arctic Pods from ReefNutrition and they love it. I'm not sure if you LFS has them but it comes in a red bottle and I feed mine a few drops a day. Hope that helps and good luck.

 

[magic]

Tina

Have you tried one of those garlic based enhancers on the food? It seemed to work on a couple of finicky fish I had.

Bob

 

[monsterfishkeeper]

I agree, I would soak some food in a garlic solution that you can by at your lfs or you can buy food pre-soaked in garlic.

 

[Talonstorm]

Thanks! I will pick up some garlic today and look for the artic pods. I do have something in a little pump, it is made with cyclopeeze though. Not too many lfs around here carry a large selecion of saltwater supplies, so it is slim pickings unless I place and order online. I have been looking for a new six-line wrasse for over 6 months and no one has them and they say they will order them, but they never come in. : I even went to THR for one (I called first and they said they had them), but when I got there they were sold out of them. Hopefully I can find what I need at one of the local stores today though.

Tina

 

[panmanmatt]

For the garlic, go to the supermarket and get the McCormack's garlic juice. It is in the spice aisle. 100% garlic juice and costs about 1/4 of what you will pay at the LFS plus you'll get about 3x as much.

 

[Candi]

My experience has been very hit or miss with these little guys. Ordered my first 2 about 6 months ago... they came in so small I thought there was no chance for them, yellow went into my aquapod and green into my 70g. As you can imagine green was never seen again after day 2 and is presummed dead (although there is alot of marco rock in there, so he in theory could be living in it eating pods & mysis). The little yellow one has been an outgoing little piggy from day one, and is one of my favorite fish.. he's still very small but has grown considerably and has a nice fat belly.

I decided to try 3 more in my 70g, these three came in HUGE. One yellow, one cinnamon, and one that was supposed to be green but isn't (not sure what type he is). Yellow one picked the bottom front corner and was always visible, weird colored one picked a spot in the rear rocks, cinn one disappeared after 3 days and is presummed dead. I realized after over a month that the yellow one was scary thin (I saw him go after food every time I fed and never got the right angle on him to realize he was starving) I immediately pulled him into my aquapod and tried every food in the world, he never would eat and passed away. I pulled the weird colored one so I could observe him better in my aquapod and he's just like my little yellow in there, a total pig.

So I got 2/5 that survived and are thriving. I still hold out hope for the remaining 2 lost in the big tank

 

[MikeNapoli]

I lost one of mine as well. He just disappeared ... no clue.

 

[JohnS_323]

I just lost one too. He was swimming and eating happily before the the holiday and now he's gone. I think Matt may be onto something about the way they are collected. I've tried several different types and lost them all. I'm done with them now.

 

[MikeNapoli]

I just lost one too. He was swimming and eating happily before the the holiday and now he's gone. I think Matt may be onto something about the way they are collected. I've tried several different types and lost them all. I'm done with them now.

ditto.


If you guys want to try something similar and be sure that they live, ORA has naked clowns. They look just like a clown goby except they're orange and they get an inch and a half bigger at full growth.

 

[Phyl]

Cute fish, Mike.

Another way to help the industry reduce the cyanide caught population is to get involved and do your share in helping the communities that help us stock our tanks. HERE

 

[Talonstorm]

Thanks for all the opinions and advice. I definitely won't buy these little guys in the future without seeing them eat first or knowing they are tank bred. My one remaining got sucked into my overflow, but I rescued him out of there and he is still hanging in. I tried some mysis soaked in garlic juice, but he didn't touch it, my clown fish loved it though. A lfs recommended trying brine shrimp with the garlic juice. I will try that tomorrow, but I was of the impression that brine shrimp were devoid of nutrients. The brine shrimp I have is frozen, so maybe it is better than the live??

Those little naked clowns sure are cute, but I love the behaviors of the gobies and I don't think my vicious oc. clowns would tolerate more clown fish.

Take care,
Tina

 

[JohnS_323]

Good luck Tina. I like the goby's behavior too, which is why I've tried so many times to keep them. It's a shame, especially since all of the things you read say that they are hardy and easy to care for.

Keep us posted.