Is my Yasha Goby still alive?!?!

[Jobet]

Backstory.....
Purchase yasha goby, place him in quarintine tank, he hides immediately. After 2-3 days, hes out and active. Eats and acts very healthy. Shows himself often.

Done with quarantine and ready for DT.....
I place him in DT and he buries himself under the substrate under a piece of live rock.
I dont concern myself, figured he would be nervous with the transfer. After a few days of no show, i lift the rock to make sure he's ok. He immediately darts under another piece of live rock and buries himself.
I placed him in the DT on or about Jul 30th......
Its been approximately 3 weeks and no sign of him. Unfortunately due to the aquascaping, the rock hes under would really be a project to move without risking ruining/collapsing the rest of the live rock.

3 weeks and he hasn't showed his face or eaten :/

Do you folks think theres a reasonable chance hes alive?

 

[saltyhog]

I think there's a good probability he's still alive.

One of the problem with shrimp/goby pairs is them setting up shop where they aren't readily visible. I've been lucky in the past but my present yellow watchman goby has taken up residence behind the main rock work where he is not easy to see. I didn't see him for almost a month after adding him to the tank.

Got really lucky with this Yasha's as he and his shrimp settled under a small rock with GSP and a hole in the middle of it that he used as an entrance.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree that there is a good chance that it is still fine. They are really low on the food chain, so they can get easily intimidated and stay out of sight for quite some time.

 

[Krzydmnd]

My Yasha was gone for over 4 weeks when I first put him in. I wrote him off as a goner then one day he just appeared! It took him another 2 months to finally be out on a regular basis. Very shy fish.