New Juvenile Watchman Goby Help

djs4him · Jan 15, 2023

Yesterday I brought home a juvenile watchman goby to my 40ish gallon Red Sea. Ever since I added him, he’s been swimming up in the water column or at the very top. He’s not gasping for air and none of the other fish have any breathing issues so I don’t suspect oxygenation.

He does take small pellet food occasionally but not always. Tonight I will try some brine shrimp.

I don’t want him to die to stress. I added some StressCoat with aloe to possibly help him settle. I’ve also been keeping lights off and tank covered with a towel for darkness for over 24 hours now.

Anything I can do to help him settle to the bottom? Maybe lower the temp a couple degrees for better oxygen anyways?

jabberwock · Jan 15, 2023

In my experience, this behavior is due to aggression. What are the other tank inhabitants? Full tank shot will help to understand the issues more clearly.

Jekyl · Jan 15, 2023

New to the tank and eating. I wouldn't be concerned.

stovenut · Jan 15, 2023

I agree that there's no reason to stress. But your photos don't show much live rock for him to build caves under for a burrow. Make sure there is enough rock in the sand that he can create his home. Adding a 2nd watchman and a pistol shrimp makes things even more fun to watch.

MattR · Jan 15, 2023

I wouldnt worry too much about him. I have a smaller guy than yours and he's managed to get back into the overflow 3x already (he is staying there until I can easily grab him). I throw a few pellets for him and yes he's skinny but not "unhealthy" looking

Cthulukelele · Jan 15, 2023

Watchman gobies are notorious for this move until they find a home hole/crevice or if their home is disturbed. It's stressed but not an immediate concern. If you haven't already adding a pistol shrimp thats compatible with shrimp gobies makes both parties a lot more relaxed and is an interesting commensal relationship to watch.

Cthulukelele · Jan 15, 2023

They are also masters of disappearing for literal months scavenging for food themselves, so don't get too worried if he goes Mia after settling in for a minute

djs4him · Jan 15, 2023

Probably a really stupid question but .. a large pistol shrimp won’t try to .. harm a tiny juvenile goby right??

djs4him · Jan 15, 2023

My point being .. do I need to find a smaller pistol shrimp? Wait for goby to grow a bit more? Or just get one now?

djs4him · Jan 15, 2023

jabberwock said:
In my experience, this behavior is due to aggression. What are the other tank inhabitants? Full tank shot will help to understand the issues more clearly.

Live rock (not yet purple but living nonetheless), 2 clowns, 6 green chromis, a host of hermits, 2 nassarius snails, a birds nest that isn’t doing too great, and a Duncan that is growing like a weed.

So far nobody has honestly even noticed the goby. Zero aggression from the Chromis or clowns. I turned off my power head for now because he was swimming dangerously close to the impeller and made me nervous lol. Right now I’m just running the return pump (very gentle flow) and I added an air stone tonight to the sump.

So my birds nest probably hates me more now that his power head is off but .. he can deal. Juvenile goby is my priority right now.

Cthulukelele · Jan 15, 2023

djs4him said:
My point being .. do I need to find a smaller pistol shrimp? Wait for goby to grow a bit more? Or just get one now?

Matching sizes isn't a bad idea, but generally any damage would be accidental. They naturally rely on one another

jabberwock · Jan 16, 2023

Looks to be a cube, and the clown is hanging out down low. The YWG should be down on the sand. Just because you don't see aggression does not mean it is not happening. Do you have an acclimation box? You could isolate the larger clown for a couple days and see what happens.

djs4him · Jan 17, 2023

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback. The goby is still hanging out near the top / middle / sometimes bottom of the tank. He seems to move around a lot. He has really good color, swims strongly, and eats small pellets and live brine shrimp. I’m trying to spoil him a bit right now to increase his survival rate if possible. He seems happy and doesn’t concern me so much anymore.

I have one more question: I’ve kept my power head off these past few days to bring the tank flow to a minimum and create a calm environment for him. I’d like to turn it back on but it’s quite powerful. Even on the lowest setting, it creates quite a strong current throughout the tank including the sand bed (although not so strong that it displaces sand).

I’ve read watchman gobies prefer calm water at the ocean floor. Will he be OK in a medium-strong current? Or am I asking for trouble since he’s only a juvenile?