Yellow watchman goby not doing great

[Dine]

Sorry if this is long. Trying to provide all the details.

Added my first inhabitants this afternoon. A yellow watchman goby and a candy pistol shrimp. Tank is a month old however the dry rock was started back in January with dr Tim’s, a heater, and a lot of flow in a separate container. Added the rocks to the DT a month ago and hit it with Seachem SEED for a week. Have tested parameters weekly since.

IM 25g lagoon tank
Filter floss
Dry rock in DT
Seachem matrix under filter floss
Temp 78
Tunze ATO
no skimmer
Mp10

Last 2 weeks:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10
Phosphates 0
Ph 8

Today about 3 hours after additions (goby was acting strange so I checked them. I did attempt to feed a small amount. Could explain the ammonia?)
Ammonia .2
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Phosphates 0
Ph 8

so having seen ammonia I did a 30ish% WC and got the ammonia back to reading 0

so the shrimps been going great. The goby is acting erratic. Swims to the surface, attacks his reflection, finds the shrimp and hangs out, goes back to the surface. Keeps getting stuck against the MP10 (turned down to 10% currently) and the overflows. Sometimes he floats around like a goner then swims with a purpose back to the bottom like he should. I don’t see any labored breathing. At the surface he seems to just hang out, no big gulps like he needs oxygen. Thoughts?

 

[ndrwater]

I'd let it ride for the near future. Definitely wait at least a week before adding anything new.
Time between additions is key at this point. You need to let the tank catch up to itself.
Seeding with Dr. Tim's etc is a good idea, but the nitrifying bacteria need a food source. My guess is the new additions caused the small ammonia spike. Within a day or two, it should drop. Keep testing to make sure it does.
As for the erratic fish behavior, I chalk it up to being in a new environment. Giving time, things should settle down

 

[Dine]

I'd let it ride for the near future. Definitely wait at least a week before adding anything new.
Time between additions is key at this point. You need to let the tank catch up to itself.
Seeding with Dr. Tim's etc is a good idea, but the nitrifying bacteria need a food source. My guess is the new additions caused the small ammonia spike. Within a day or two, it should drop. Keep testing to make sure it does.
As for the erratic fish behavior, I chalk it up to being in a new environment. Giving time, things should settle down

I agree with all that. No plans to add anything in the near future at all. Typically I give it at least a month at this stage. My concern is the gobies behavior I think is going to lead to his death soon. He seems completely unable to stay off the power head or off the wier of the overflow. It’s like he’s completely given up and gets pinned. A slight bit of help on my end and he floats around looking helpless then swims back down To his shrimp. Obviously I can’t babysit him 24/7 though....

 

[ndrwater]

I agree it doesn't sound ideal...
Hopefully he pulls through

 

[ShaggyRS6]

I agree with all that. No plans to add anything in the near future at all. Typically I give it at least a month at this stage. My concern is the gobies behavior I think is going to lead to his death soon. He seems completely unable to stay off the power head or off the wier of the overflow. It’s like he’s completely given up and gets pinned. A slight bit of help on my end and he floats around looking helpless then swims back down To his shrimp. Obviously I can’t babysit him 24/7 though....

Mine stays in the overflow part of the day. Then he is on the floor, then he is going nutty, then back to the overflow!

 

[Dine]

Mine stays in the overflow part of the day. Then he is on the floor, then he is going nutty, then back to the overflow!

He’s small Enough to go through unfortunately. But I doubt he’s a strong enough swimmer to swim back out. Never had a goby leave the sand bed before. Didn’t have a plan to keep him out of the filter floss!

 

[ShaggyRS6]

He’s small Enough to go through unfortunately. But I doubt he’s a strong enough swimmer to swim back out. Never had a goby leave the sand bed before. Didn’t have a plan to keep him out of the filter floss!

My Goby is hardly ever in the sand. In fact i just went to check him. Half his body in the overflow teeth, half out He sleeps there!

 

[Dine]

My Goby is hardly ever in the sand. In fact i just went to check him. Half his body in the overflow teeth, half out He sleeps there!

Interesting. I’ve never had a YWG but I’ve had a diamond in the past and he never left the sand bed. I still don’t think he’s adjusting well though. Allowing yourself to get sucked into an mp10 can’t be normal...

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Interesting. I’ve never had a YWG but I’ve had a diamond in the past and he never left the sand bed. I still don’t think he’s adjusting well though. Allowing yourself to get sucked into an mp10 can’t be normal...

Mine did the same! Except it was an MP40 - They are Bipolar I am sure. All he wants to do is try to commit suicide!

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Did the goby behavior change?

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Mine? Nope. Still as mad as the first day I bought him!

 

[ducati1212]

My YWG about every 4 months spends 3 days being insane. swims at the top, turns white, races back and forth get in my overflow. then back to his hole looking all grumpy for months on end.

 

[Katrina71]

Can you post a video or some pics?

 

[ShaggyRS6]

I’ll post something tonight!

 

[Dine]

Well here’s the update. He didn’t make it. He seemed to be doing better yesterday. Still acting stressed but he was navigating the mp10/water movement better. Seemed stronger. Came home just now and found him dead. Also found the shrimp dead. So I’m left with more questions then answers.

Parameters tonight
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 2-5
Ph 8-8.2
Salinity 1.025
Temp 77.6

Those don’t really give me any answers. So my next thoughts.

Were they both goners to begin with?
-one or the other I could accept. But both. Idk if I can let myself off that easy.

Was my acclimation not sufficient?
-this is possible. In the past I’ve done both drip and match temp and dump. In this case I went with the later. Floated the bags. Tested salinity in both. 1.025 in both cases. Made the decision to put them straight in. Thoughts?

Is there something in my water?
-only one way to find out. Send out a sample. Never done it before but I’ve also never lost an entire tank in one night. Granted it was only 2 I’ve still never suffered a loss of more then one at a time. So little lost here.

Other things to note:
-never did get the goby to eat. Actually brought home some live brine tonight to solve that but it was too late.
-shrimp did eat at least once.
-the shrimp was not intact. He was missing his big claw and his body looked picked over. Bad molt? Tank was started with 100% dry rock. Never seeded from another tank. Can’t be anything else in here unless the goby picked at him? I’m going to chalk this one up to water movement.

Sorry for another long one. Thoughts/suggestions are welcome.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Dine are you using R/O water?

 

[Dine]

Dine are you using R/O water?

Yes. 0 tds out. IF contamination existed it would have to be in the tank or in the mixing station. Seems unlikely but was just listing the possibles that popped into my head.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Yes. 0 tds out. IF contamination existed it would have to be in the tank or in the mixing station. Seems unlikely but was just listing the possibles that popped into my head.

Yeah that's a strange one. I even did a video on my insta for you of my Goby. So sorry for the loss mate.

 

[Dine]

In my salt water container there is a pvc pipe. During the gluing process obviously there was primer/glue. I let it cure for 24 hours, filled it. Let sit for another 24 then dumped the whole container. So unless the primer/glue can leech? I can’t imagine that it does though given how much pvc glue and primer is used in this hobby...

 

[Dine]

Yeah that's a strange one. I even did a video on my insta for you of my Goby. So sorry for the loss mate.

Well let’s see it! Always down to watch gobies be goofy lol