Can it live?

[Sonam]

Hello All,

We recently attempted to introduce a sand sifting goby to our main system. A 125 gallon.

Other residents:

Yellow tang (who is shy as he survived velvet a year ago)
Fairy wrasse
6 line wrasse
Two oscellaris clowns
Midas blenny
Black sail fin blenny

We also have cleaner shrimp
Emerald crabs
Various snails
Conch

We introduced the goby last night and initially it did fine but today he was hovering in a cave. We noticed it had a bite out of its lip!

We can’t figure out who bit it. We’ve placed him in QT with kanaplex and metroplex.

Can he survive? Any other advice?

Before and after photos attached. She

 

[Sonam]

Before

 

[Sonam]

After

 

[Jesterrace]

Your 3 biggest culprits from your stocking list:

Yellow Tang
6 Line Wrasse
Midas Blenny

I gave an aggressive Yellow Tang the Boot from my 90 gallon after he took a chunk out of Coral Beauty and repeatedly hit it with his scalpel. 6 lines are known for harassing and killing new additions and just flat out going rogue after a certain point and Midas Blennies can be nippers at times.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Yes, he/she can survive. Beautiful fish by the way!

I would recommend bringing some sand over in tupperware container so that the goby can sift through the sand and maintain nutrition while you treat.

Worst case, spot treatment in the display for this guy might be worth it. Not typical for me to recommend taking it out of QT, but it sounded as if he was already promoted to the display and taken back out after the injury. The reason I recommend the display is your QT doesn't have any sand to sift, and therefore limited nutrition for the goby.

If you think there will be continued bullying, option 1 might be best.

 

[gregcoyote]

They seem to prosper best when the “sand” is just the right grain size.

 

[Sonam]

Yes, he/she can survive. Beautiful fish by the way!

I would recommend bringing some sand over in tupperware container so that the goby can sift through the sand and maintain nutrition while you treat.

Worst case, spot treatment in the display for this guy might be worth it. Not typical for me to recommend taking it out of QT, but it sounded as if he was already promoted to the display and taken back out after the injury. The reason I recommend the display is your QT doesn't have any sand to sift, and therefore limited nutrition for the goby.

If you think there will be continued bullying, option 1 might be best.

Thank you so much for the reply. Thinking we will add sand to the QT for now and clean it later. Not sure who attacked him/her. Want to let the goby heal first.

Thank you again for the support.