Watchman goby not doing well in copper - HELP!

[Mariette]

I’ve had this guy in a nice observational qt for a few weeks. Cycled. Lots of live rock. Crushed coral substrate. 55g w inverts and 1 other fish. Goby was nice and Fat. Not shy at all. Great appetite. Other fish started flashing. Both fish got moved into a 20g treatment tank. Bare bottom. No live rock. PVC pipe. All general equipment (heater, HOB filter, lights). From day 1 in new tank, goby has stopped eating. Not doing much of anything. Still fat cuz it’s only been 4 days so far. Copper ramped up slowly over 4 days. Other fish doing fantastically. Goby never showed symptoms. What do I dooo?!? I can’t let him starve for 2 weeks. Already soaking food in garlic guard to stimulate appetite. Feeding all his favourite foods. Getting food to land perfectly right in front of his face. Nothing!

What would you do?

 

[Matthew Russell]

. Add carbon and take the copper out completely then add copper slowly once he starts eating again. Make sure he’s got a good place to hide, otherwise he’s just stressing out.
You can also try live food maybe. Something like brine shrimp. Good luck.

 

[bluprntguy]

Can you give him a layer of sand? id suspect his uncomfort is mostly due to that.

 

[AZMSGT]

Sand in a bowl helps give it the sand they like. Add some garlic drops to the food. The garlic will help encourge it to eat.

Seachem - GarlicGuard

www.seachem.com

 

[Amboss72]

Clearly the watchman was fine. Clearly he’s confused why you pulled him out. Stress is most likely the reason why he’s not eating. I agree a garlic supplement may increase his appetite. Sand may help too. I often question how quickly we pull fish and throw them into a quarantine. Sometimes I feel like the stress of removal from the DT into the quarantine is the cause of their death. What are you diagnosing the fish as having? As I’m sure you’re well aware flukes can cause flashing and eventually loss of appetite just depends on where the flukes have attached. 5-10 freshwater dips can kill flukes and can be done on a daily basis if needed. If needed you can also add formalin or formalin/malachite green to the dip.