Picky Eater - Yellow Clown Goby

[TatorTaco]

Wanted some movement in my 4G tank so I picked up a YCG. Problem is, he doesn’t eat anything offered. I’ve tried 2 different types of flake food, frozen mysis, frozen brine, Rods food, and even pellets. 

 

I do see see him eating copepods, but he’s lost weight and I’ve already had him for 2 weeks. 

 

Can you suggest something/anything this guy might eat? Am I just better off buying a clump of chaeto and copepods from AlgaeBarn and calling it a day? No other predators in the tank. 

[WV Reefer]

45 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

Wanted some movement in my 4G tank so I picked up a YCG. Problem is, he doesn’t eat anything offered. I’ve tried 2 different types of flake food, frozen mysis, frozen brine, Rods food, and even pellets. 

 

I do see see him eating copepods, but he’s lost weight and I’ve already had him for 2 weeks. 

 

Can you suggest something/anything this guy might eat? Am I just better off buying a clump of chaeto and copepods from AlgaeBarn and calling it a day? No other predators in the tank. 

 

Back when I had one he would only eat pods and ground up pellets at first. Maybe try mashing the pellets and then shooting some in his direction. 

[Tamberav]

2 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

Wanted some movement in my 4G tank so I picked up a YCG. Problem is, he doesn’t eat anything offered. I’ve tried 2 different types of flake food, frozen mysis, frozen brine, Rods food, and even pellets. 

 

I do see see him eating copepods, but he’s lost weight and I’ve already had him for 2 weeks. 

 

Can you suggest something/anything this guy might eat? Am I just better off buying a clump of chaeto and copepods from AlgaeBarn and calling it a day? No other predators in the tank. 

Live baby brine then mix in other foods like LRS nano frenzy (had good luck with picky fish and LRS since it's so fresh). Fish Eggs are also a good idea to try and live black worms. 

[TatorTaco]

Hmm... I may have over committed myself with this fish. I was hoping I could feed once per day and he’d be good.

 

He seems to only eat items that squirm a bit, so I’m not sure if fish eggs would work.  Brine shrimp seems like a good idea, but the hatching business is a bit more time consuming than I’m willing to try.

 

In a perfect world I could find a live critter that is mostly self sufficient that he could predicate on. I’ll look and see if you can purchase live brine shrimp. Maybe amphipods would be good if they’re not too big. 

[NaturallyKait]

My YCG loves LRS, goes wild for the stuff. He also really likes Hikari frozen mysis, specifically the stuff in the little cubes because it’s tiny, not like a lot of other mysis I see. In the beginning it was all he would take because his mouth was so small most stuff he struggled with. 

[TatorTaco]

My LFS stocks Reef Frenzy per their website. They’re closed today but I’ll call them Tuesday and see if I can pick some up. 

[TatorTaco]

I wish he’d get his fill on copepods or amphipods, and I could just order and dump them in the tank. 

[Ratvan]

The LFS near me dumped blended marine mussel into the goby tanks (including YCG) they all seem to go nuts for it

[NaturallyKait]

I hope you can get him eating. They’re such fun little fish, we love ours. I know @banasophia has one who eats like a pig like ours, not sure what she feeds. 

[banasophia]

46 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

I hope you can get him eating. They’re such fun little fish, we love ours. I know @banasophia has one who eats like a pig like ours, not sure what she feeds. 

Oh yes, my YCG is my favorite fish! His name is Hank and I adore him. 💛💛💛

 

I feed my tank tons of different stuff and he’s a good eater. He specifically seems to like Sustainable Aquatics Hatchery Diet pellets, fresh hatched baby brine shrimp, and Reef Frenzy Nano... make sure you get the “nano” because I think the pieces are too big in the regular reef frenzy. 

 

Here are a couple pics of him holding his own to keep his big piece of Reef Frenzy Nano:

 

 

 

 

[banasophia]

Also, it’s super easy to hatch fresh baby brine shrimp, I use a Shrimpery.

 

San Francisco Bay Brand ASF66170 Brine Shrimp Shrimpery Baby Fish and Reef Tanks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OOO7V4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_O5XpDbDVYVNRV

 

San Francisco Bay Brand ASF65031 Brine Shrimp Eggs Vial for Baby Fish and Reef Tanks, 6 grams, 2 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSQ06A2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_t6XpDb518GB17

 

[TatorTaco]

1 hour ago, banasophia said:

Also, it’s super easy to hatch fresh baby brine shrimp, I use a Shrimpery.

 

San Francisco Bay Brand ASF66170 Brine Shrimp Shrimpery Baby Fish and Reef Tanks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OOO7V4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_O5XpDbDVYVNRV

 

San Francisco Bay Brand ASF65031 Brine Shrimp Eggs Vial for Baby Fish and Reef Tanks, 6 grams, 2 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSQ06A2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_t6XpDb518GB17

 

I appreciate the links. Before I purchase, is this a stop-gap from him starving, or can I use them for just a short period of time before he figures out other foods are available to him? $20+ for food on a $10 fish... 

 

I just want the fella to eat. I’d spend $30 just for peace of mind to see him eat, but I’m already out $40 in various other frozen foods for him already. 

[TatorTaco]

Looks like I can pick one of these up at Petco and PetsMart, so I’ll swing by and pick one up tonight. 🙂

[Joevember]

When I got mine it was only eating frozen brine. I had to put a lot in the water column and turn down flow to keep them floating. I got it onto pellets by feeding both at the same time. They're picky eaters at first, but worth the effort since they're so cute 😄

 

I think live brine sounds great for him atm

[TatorTaco]

The big box pet stores don’t have it after all. 

 

Ill try frozen brine flurry until I can have a shrimpery delivered. 

[EMarie]

I bought the shrimpery only to find that it is much simpler to just add some of the brine shrimp eggs to some tank water on in a plastic container on the window sill and they hatch within 24 hours every time. Then I put my cell phone flash light near one corner of the dish so that they all congregate and then suck them up with a baster and squirt into the tank. The shrimpery was a waste of money!

 

My YCG was really picky too but I don't really worry about feeding him every day. Initially he lost weight and had an indented belly but now he is fat. I usually get two days of brine shrimp from one hatch which I do 2x per week and I also use PE Calanus 2x per week. I figure if he's really hungry he can hunt pods or maybe he will try the pellets I feed to the others. He is thriving!

 

https://www.petland.ca/products/san-fransisco-bay-brand-brine-shrimp-eggs 

[TatorTaco]

54 minutes ago, EMarie said:

I bought the shrimpery only to find that it is much simpler to just add some of the brine shrimp eggs to some tank water on in a plastic container on the window sill and they hatch within 24 hours every time. Then I put my cell phone flash light near one corner of the dish so that they all congregate and then suck them up with a baster and squirt into the tank. The shrimpery was a waste of money!

 

My YCG was really picky too but I don't really worry about feeding him every day. Initially he lost weight and had an indented belly but now he is fat. I usually get two days of brine shrimp from one hatch which I do 2x per week and I also use PE Calanus 2x per week. I figure if he's really hungry he can hunt pods or maybe he will try the pellets I feed to the others. He is thriving!

 

https://www.petland.ca/products/san-fransisco-bay-brand-brine-shrimp-eggs 

That’s good to know about the shrimpery, and it saves me $20. I’ve read that these shrimp may live in the tank for a few months with no predators. Does that sound right to you?

 

Why don’t you just dump the eggs straight into the tank and let them open inside the tank?

[Joevember]

6 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

That’s good to know about the shrimpery, and it saves me $20. I’ve read that these shrimp may live in the tank for a few months with no predators. Does that sound right to you?

 

Why don’t you just dump the eggs straight into the tank and let them open inside the tank?

Not sure about a month, but they live for a while. If you don't have filtration that would take them out then it would be ok to just dump 'em. Just a powerhead would work.

[EMarie]

40 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

That’s good to know about the shrimpery, and it saves me $20. I’ve read that these shrimp may live in the tank for a few months with no predators. Does that sound right to you?

 

Why don’t you just dump the eggs straight into the tank and let them open inside the tank?

I will echo what TatorTaco said -- I have an IM20 with the intake at the surface so since the eggs float I have to hatch them outside the tank. Same for  once the shrimp hatch and I put them in the tank they swim for the light to the surface and even if they managed to not get eaten, they would end up in the filter.  

[TatorTaco]

Just so I ordered the shrimpery and should receive it on Wednesday. 

 

Took an image of my frozen brine shrimp. I must admit that it’s far too large for my guy, but I did see him eat at least. I had to dump it over his head and wait for a cascade of shrimp to shower over him, but at least he ate something. I’ll keep overfeeding and performing water changes to not crash the tank. Might have live brine in there as soon as Friday. 🙂

[banasophia]

7 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

Just so I ordered the shrimpery and should receive it on Wednesday. 

 

Took an image of my frozen brine shrimp. I must admit that it’s far too large for my guy, but I did see him eat at least. I had to dump it over his head and wait for a cascade of shrimp to shower over him, but at least he ate something. I’ll keep overfeeding and performing water changes to not crash the tank. Might have live brine in there as soon as Friday. 🙂

Ah nice I hope it works for your little guy. The three brine shrimp/salt packets that come with the Shrimpery are pretty crummy as I recall, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a lot of shrimp from those. But you can use any brine shrimp eggs with it, I just put in about a half teaspoon scoop of eggs, some regular saltwater (I just mix a little extra when I mix up my weekly batch), and then get my first harvest at 24 hours, then 1-2 more daily harvests. Just be sure to dump it and rinse it out after the 3 daily harvests or it gets funky! 

 

If he’s showing interest in the live baby brine shrimp, I would try to sprinkle crushed pellets and add some frozen along with the live baby brine shrimp to try to get him used to eating those other foods when scarfing up the live baby brine shrimp. 

 

Here are are the foods I currently use in my tank in addition to the baby brine shrimp.

 

 

[Sancho]

4 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Ah nice I hope it works for your little guy. The three brine shrimp/salt packets that come with the Shrimpery are pretty crummy as I recall, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a lot of shrimp from those. But you can use any brine shrimp eggs with it, I just put in about a half teaspoon scoop of eggs, some regular saltwater (I just mix a little extra when I mix up my weekly batch), and then get my first harvest at 24 hours, then 1-2 more daily harvests. Just be sure to dump it and rinse it out after the 3 daily harvests or it gets funky! 

 

If he’s showing interest in the live baby brine shrimp, I would try to sprinkle crushed pellets and add some frozen along with the live baby brine shrimp to try to get him used to eating those other foods when scarfing up the live baby brine shrimp. 

 

Here are are the foods I currently use in my tank in addition to the baby brine shrimp.

 

 

 

 

 

So thats what $80 worth of food looks like    Ive had my yellow clown goby for a few days now and he's a little pig. Has eaten eaten everything I put in the tank. Was this a wild caught fish or tank raised? How long did the LFS have it before you brought it home? Was it eating at the LFS? 

[banasophia]

54 minutes ago, Sancho said:

So thats what $80 worth of food looks like    Ive had my yellow clown goby for a few days now and he's a little pig. Has eaten eaten everything I put in the tank. Was this a wild caught fish or tank raised? How long did the LFS have it before you brought it home? Was it eating at the LFS? 

Nah, I also picked up pods and live phyto for my $80 haha. I had to replace all my frozen cuz I left it out on the counter one night. 😩😩😩

[TatorTaco]

I’m still relatively new to the hobby, and didn’t think to ask if he was wild caught or tank raised. I know my LFS has him for about 3 weeks before I got him, and he did eat flakes at the LFS, so I think he’s just being a butthole for me. 

 

Thats really good good to know about the poor survival rate of the brine shrimp eggs @banasophia.  I’ll still give them a shot though. At least I’ll quickly find out if the fish will eat them. 

[FLARGUE]

I feed my goby frozen Nutramar Ova. It's an excellent food for Mandarins and it's the only thing the goby eats besides the leftover pieces of shrimp I feed to the anemone.

 

Good luck and try Ova or fresh shrimp mashed up between your fingers. Both work great for me!