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View Full Version : Diamond Goby won't sift, hasn't eaten for almost 3 weeks

gummyworms
06/19/2007, 05:02 PM
Hello,

I got a diamond goby about 3 weeks ago, and am getting very worried about him.

When he first went in the tank, he sifted for about a day, and then retreated to a rock for about 2 weeks. Finally, last week, he came out and now just sits on top of the sand with his mouth open wide, breathing very quickly (~90 breaths per minute). He won't even touch the sand.

He is now looking very skinny and malnourished, and I've tried target feeding him with Prime Reef frozen, frozen brine shrimp, and every kind of sinking pellet I've been able to get my hands on. No luck though.

My sand is quite fine, and I saw the goby sifting the first few days so I don't think particle size is the issue. I have some pictures I will post later, but I wonder if the Goby has some kind of disease? He is getting thinner and thinner by the day and I don't know what to do!

Thanks,
Shawn
wrott
06/19/2007, 05:18 PM
Is it possible that you have too fine grained sand and it has irritated it's gills? I have heard of that happening.
Pmolan
06/19/2007, 05:29 PM
You need to add another to show him how to do it right. Similarly I've had fish that were shy or not acting right and then added another fish to stimulate him. Example, Achellies tang was hiding all the time. I added a powder blue. Achillies has now come out to show he is boss. Now everyone is fine and knows the heirarchy.
specialkb
06/19/2007, 07:59 PM
how old is the tank, if theres not to much stuff in the sand he will die, and it is very rare for them to eat frozen foods.
jbeltmann
06/19/2007, 10:42 PM
It could be a orange spot goby and not a diamond. If that is the case it will never sift through the sand.
gummyworms
06/20/2007, 08:36 AM
Thanks for the suggestions!

I have CaribSea sand around 0.5mm - 1.0mm grain size. I might call the LFS and see if he would be willing to trade this one to see if it is just a problem with this particular fish. Maybe I should wait a bit before I get another diamond goby, but it seems like there is plenty of stuff in the sand to eat (all sorts of pods, bits of algae).