Hazy Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 It seems that no matter what I do if I buy a clown goby it will die NO. MATTER. WHAT. I purchased 3 all at different times, and the same thing happens. They never eat one little thing and waste away and die. I bought one again, after I communicated with the seller and made sure he was eating and the seller said he was eating like crazy. when I got him he was plump and heathy, but big surprise... he hasn’t eaten since I got him and it’s been almost 10 days. HE WONT EAT AND HES DYING can someone PLEASE help me understand why these adorable critters keep kicking the bucket?! Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 The 1 time i tried a clown goby, i had the same thing. It just wouldn't eat, nothing i fed and i tried a bunch of foods. Find out what the store feeds and try getting the same food. Have you tried frozen mysis? Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 I’ve tried: frozen mysis frozen brine live bbs flakes pellets (cut small) And yet he still hasn’t eaten As soon as he wasn’t eating I contacted the seller and went and bought exactly what he had been eating before, And I’ve tried to no avail to get him to at least taste some 🥺 Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 They seem to do that after being stressed, at least for a lot of people. I had a green clown goby who ate great for the first half a year I had him, then stopped, didn't start up again, and eventually got so skinny I euthanized him to save him the trouble of starving all the way to death. No clue what set him off. Does he have a lot of hiding places? I assume you're putting the food right in front of him. Reef Roids may be worth a try. Too small for him to eat, but the smell seems to make a lot of things really excited. If he won't eat it, you can feed it to your corals. Also, soaking the food in garlic works for some fish. Try that. Quote Link to comment
Break Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 I recently purchased a Yellow Clown Goby and he refused to eat for 9 days! I fed tried every food I could think of and he would just ignore it and swim up and down the side of the tank. Eventually, on day 9 I had success by adding a garlic supplement (Brightwell) to some PE Mysis. He now readily eats a few frozen foods, but very much prefers mysis and will go after it even without the garlic. Unfortunately, it seems to be a pretty common theme with clown gobies - it really takes them a while to settle in. I know how stressful it can be - hope you get him eating soon! Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 I’ve tried garlic with other fish before (and the last clown goby I had) haven’t had much success with it but I’ll give it another try. Yeah he’s got plenty of hiding places and I always make sure he can see the food and make it go right next to his face Quote Link to comment
Break Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 5 minutes ago, Hazy said: I’ve tried garlic with other fish before (and the last clown goby I had) haven’t had much success with it but I’ll give it another try. Yeah he’s got plenty of hiding places and I always make sure he can see the food and make it go right next to his face Mine was the same way. Not afraid of the feeding syringe, but would just swim through the cloud of food. Thankfully my persistence won out, but I've seen it go both ways for a lot of folks on these forums. Are you turning the flow off when feeding? Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 Yeah I don’t have flow for him as he’s in a small 1gal tank I put all newbies in just until they start feeding. But same thing if the food touches him he swims away from it but other than that he has no reaction Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Are the parameters good? Temperature stable? 1 gallon is really small, especially if you're putting a lot of food in there. Can you get any mosquito larvae? They have a nice jiggling motion as they swim that can really get the attention of any sort of fish. If he won't eat them, I guarantee your other fish will. They won't work long-term as food, since they're freshwater, but they'll be fine as a starter if he'll eat them. If you don't have any water nearby that has them, just a container of freshwater outside, preferably with some perches at water level, and put some dead leaves or other plant matter in it. Mosquito larvae should shortly appear. Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 Just re checked and replaced some water. Everything is exactly where it should be parameter wise and I’m carful to pull out all uneaten food because I don’t have filtration on it Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Do you have any water movement at all? Fish (and live rock) need water movement. What does it look like? I'm having a hard time picturing plenty of hiding places in a 1gal. How are you keeping it heated? Might be he's not eating for whatever reason stops clown gobies from eating normally, but getting him in a really good environment won't hurt. Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 The temp stays at 76 all by itself, he has a few dry live rocks that he hides under completely.. I have a filter but the little tank is round so it doesn’t fit into it (it’s not a bowl but sort of. again I only use it until they start eating which is normally just a day or two, and I don’t have room for a much larger quarantine even though I’d like to) Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 That's not a quarantine. Quarantine would be keeping the fish in a separate tank until it definitely doesn't have a disease. That's just an isolation tank. You should not put fish in tanks with no water circulation. They can run out of oxygen. He needs to go in the big tank, or you need to put a filter on that one. I'd strongly suggest putting him into the big tank- he might feel more comfortable. Clown gobies are very out-and-about fish, in part due to being bad-tasting and possibly mildly poisonous, so you shouldn't have any problems finding him to try feeding. Also, assuming your tank is at least moderately established, you should have some pods in there he might like to eat. 2 Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 Ok will do. thanks for all your help! I have no idea how long he will make it I’m kinda surprised he’s still alive, I’m just a little concerned putting him in where there is a current because he may be to weak to swim Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Hazy said: Ok will do. thanks for all your help! I have no idea how long he will make it I’m kinda surprised he’s still alive, I’m just a little concerned putting him in where there is a current because he may be to weak to swim If a fish is in living conditions that aren't appropriate for it, this can cause stress which leads to lack of eating. No water movement is like suffocating a fish. A quarantine tank still needs biological filtration with fully cycled rocks or established biological media, a heater, and water movement. 1 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 I have never used it but have seen people have good results feeding LRS fish food to fish that wont eat.. may be worth a try Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 No water movement is a big no no. I would get at least an air stone on there. I also would prefer to see 5g for a small conditioning tank. Anyways I keep a lot of difficult to feed fish and find most success with live worms and LRS chopped very small. Live white worms are pretty small and will stay alive wiggling in salt water for DAYS. You have to culture them yourself through. They just live in dirt do even a Tupperware works. Live black worms can usually be bought at a LFS but they only live 30 seconds or so in salt. You keep them in the fridge in tap water. LRS is just really good quality food with a lot of good stuff in it and my fish seem to take to it more readily than mysis or such. 2 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 I had the same thing. Wouldn't have anything until I started adding live pods. He is now a little fatty, and after a few weeks now taking flake and coming to the surface when the lid is opened Waiting for food 2 Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 Day 12 of his hunger strike and he finally decided he’s had enough, he’s eating!! the bbs FINALLY hatched and now he’s eating them like crazy... I knew that live food was my best bet but it took a while to get them hatching... thank you guys for all your help!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 Grimes, you clown gobies is adorable 😍😍 1 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 7 minutes ago, Hazy said: Grimes, you clown gobies is adorable 😍😍 He just sits watching you. Can't get anything done. As soon as you put your hand or tools in he swims between you and what your doing Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 😂😂 my clownfish likes to attack my hand when I clean the glass. love her for it though Quote Link to comment
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