I'm going to keep the BBS hatching supplies, and it's going to be my immediate go-to for any fish that doesn't eat. Well- immediate-ish, since they have to hatch.
His belly was notably concave when I got him. It doesn't really show in the above picture, but he didn't look like he'd eaten in awhile. He was shipped overnight, and I can't imagine that was just an overnight of not eating. When I called LA and asked what they were feeding the clown gobies, I was told that the chart says gobies get mysis shrimp, so maybe he wasn't getting small enough pieces? Or maybe he wasn't eating after all.
Hopefully this works. I can't get any of the buttons above the post editor (the ones for italics, links, photos, or whatnot) to work for me, so I just have to put links.
Here he is in his little hiding spot. I have a few of these things, so I can put a new one in each tank he gets transferred to, and hopefully that should reduce his stress. Having an identical hiding spot ought to be good. You can see he's definitely been eating! From the side, he's full of orange.
And here's what I'm doing to keep him fed. I turn off the pump for a few hours, and put a flashlight right next to him. It's not in his eyes because he's inside a thing, but it lures the shrimp all the way across the tank. He only eats shrimp that are right by him, so I'm trying to keep the shrimp in easy range.
He is getting more inclined to actually move to get the shrimp, at least, instead of only grabbing ones that practically bump into his nose. He grabbed one right after I took that first photo, and moved a little to the side to do it. He's also more reactive to disturbance, which is a good sign. I'm not sure how much of his disinclination to move to grab shrimp is because he's still not feeling good, versus him being spooked by the bare tank and wanting to be inside his nice crevice. I'm excited to put him into my tank once he's healthy- so many crevices!
I'm going to have SO MANY left-over baby brine shrimp, since I have to remove them once they've gotten past the nutritious stage. Gonna just dump them into a 10gal tank I have spare and raise them into adults, I think. Brine shrimp are neat.
(Plus, if I dump them all into a separate tank for 2 months, there's no way any sort of ich is going to remain in with them. Maybe I can feed the adults as treats once they're disease-free.)
Oh, and, in another "issues with livestock" thing: I ordered some rock flower anemones from SaltCritters, and one of them came in with its bag mostly empty, despite being double-bagged. But! Because all the bags were inside another bag, it still had a little water inside, so it was perfectly fine. Just flat.
I much prefer the harmless types of thing-gone-wrong. Anemones tolerate low water much, much better. Heck, it probably would have been fine with no water in there for a few hours.
