Target Feed Diamond Watchman Goby?     12/5/11
Dear WWM,
<Dez>
Hope all is well today.
<A little too cool for my liking thus far, but have my trusty Holmes heater on next to me>
I have a "situation" that I am concerned I am contributing to as a  "Conscientious Aquarist". 
<Ok>
I recently acquired a Diamond Watchman Goby about 11 days ago.  She is  a great little fish (2.5") in that she quickly built a burrow under a rock front  and center in the tank, is out and about much of the day sifting sand, and is  not covering corals with her award winning sand sifting habits. 
This is a 120 gallon reef with a great deal of live rock and live sand, and a tied in refugium.  Other inhabitants are a Yellow Tang, a Candy Basslet, and a Midas Blenny.  I have a collection of LPS corals in this tank.
After researching the Diamond Watchman Goby and the fact  that many waste away in reef tanks due to exhausting the micro fauna in the live  sand beds, I became somewhat fixated on getting this fish to eat the Spectrum  Pellets I feed the other fish.   I am especially concerned about this  since my tank has been set up for only two months, but was moved from a  previous 85 gallon system I had in another room.
At feeding time, the goby is shy and will go under her rock when I use a pipette to feed the tank the pellets.  So, I target feed several pellets to her under her rock.  Now, my Yellow Tang has decided that the gobies home is a wonderful place to inspect for pellets and that the goby herself should be  followed around since pellets seem to rain on this fish.  In short, I think  I have screwed up.  The goby is coming out less, because the tang sees her  as a food bank, with me target feeding her the way I am.  I am not even sure the goby is actually eating the Spectrum pellets (or all of them), because  once in awhile, while under her rock, she shakes her tail like crazy and several  pellets fly out from under the rock, teaching all the fish to circle it like  great white sharks!
<Heeeee!>
 This is not a good situation I a have created as the  goby is getting more gun shy and reclusive with me doing it, and the tang is  following her very closely when she is out, and hanging around her burrow much  of the day.  The Tang used to be in the rockwork all day picking at the  rocks, but now she has found another job!  Should I just feed as normal  (stop the target feeding for the goby) and hope the goby eventually is accepted  by the group, comes out at feedings, and manages to snag a  few pellets that hit the sandbed, assuming she eventually comes out at all during feeding time?  The goby seems to feel the aggression building at mealtime and heads for cover. 
<I think you'll be fine here in time... as long as the Goby doesn't appear thin I would not worry. One technique I might adopt is to feed the rest of the fish in a distal corner at the same time you're dropping the finer pellets onto the goby lair>
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Laura Garmizo
<Welcome! Bob Fenner>

Question: I've just purchased a Watchman Goby but I haven't seen him eat lately. I've had him about a 1.5 weeks. I built a little "cave" out of PVC that is stuck down in the substrate, and he seems to stay holed up in there all the time. I have a damsel that snatches up any food I drop in the tank, so I'm not sure the goby is even aware of the food since he stays in the cave all the time. I *have* seen the goby eat, but not in the past few days. I know he has taken flake foods and shrimp pellets, but not lately. I've been told the damsel can go for up to a week with no food & be fine, so I have thought about holding off on feeding until they are both so hungry they have no choice but to come out of hiding. I am new to a marine tank, so any advice would be appreciated.Bob's Answer: Hey James, yeah a few ideas. Do resume feeding and try something a little meatier, like Mysid or caprellid shrimp. And, add some live rock and live sand if possible.

Stonogobiops nematodes Hi, First I wanted to thank you for your help earlier with the info on my Anthias...which is a purple queen he's just taking his time coloring up) he's fat and healthy and rules the tank with an iron fin....until the angel comes out. <Like this description> My new question is on the threadfin goby. I traded some fresh water fish and plants for a pair of these fish just a week ago. They started eating just a day after I got them despite the movements of other fish and children in and around the tank. They seem timid though and I worry about them. <They are timid> I will be setting up a 20 gal tank as a kind of refugium and their new home, which they will hopefully share with a mandarin. But until then I would like to know any extra info that I can find. Most people that I talk to have never seen much less kept this type of fish. The store that I got them from had them almost a month before I came in and noticed them. This was a fish that I researched but didn't think that I would ever see) They didn't even know the name, just simply that it was a goby. I was recommended to feed them crushed flake dropping it on or near their head.  <Hmm, really? Good luck living on this> Of course there was little rock and no sand in their tank, so this was easy for them...but in my tank there's a lot of both. I have been using my eye dropper and squirting an assortment of foods into the area they have taken over, mostly brine shrimp, flake food, and Spirulina, as well as small amounts of formula 2. They don't appreciate the disturbance though and disappear...then the scooter blenny who doesn't care what I do in the tank comes over and cleans up....until they get brave and kick him out. So I guess what I want to know is if there is anything else I should be adding to their diet. <Some other small, cut up bits of meaty food items... materials resembling zooplankters. And good that you have the Scooter... likely helps not just with clean-up, but inspiring these real gobies to feed> Also these fish are said to live with pistol shrimp.  <Yes, almost always found in association with Alpheus randalli> All pictures that I have seen are with two gobies and a shrimp...in a hole. My gobies have not dug any holes yet, <The shrimp does the digging> they simply hide it the rock formation that I had set up special for them...away from the main reef and the other fish. But I have heard that these shrimp shatter tanks is some way or another this was never explained to me)... <Not likely... but do have a powerful punching main claw> the last thing I want is to wake up and find my fish dried out on the floor and my tank broken. (Do acrylic tanks shatter?) <Never seen this happen... no> Thank you for all your help and your wonderful web site Kim <You're welcome my friend. Bob Fenner>

Gobies refuse to eat Hi, <Hello> I got 2 gobies, a Randall's Prawn Goby and a Yellow Prawn Goby, that don't eat. I have both of them for almost a month. I tried to feed them but they are not eating and they are getting skinnier as the days go by. I try to feed them with minced shrimps, minced fish, Mysis shrimps, flakes, and small pellets but they just not eat (or I don't see they eat), even if I place the food in front of them. The Yellow Prawn Goby always hides in an inaccessible cave. How can I lure him out at feed time? <Add a Prawn...> Is there anything that I can give them so that they would eat? I really hate to see them slowly waste away by starvation. <I would try some live food, soaked in an appetite enhancer, vitamin mix (e.g. Selcon) pronto> By the way, do those fishes feed at night, when the lights are out? <Whenever their symbiotic Alpheids are out. Bob Fenner> Thanks for you help! Regards, Minh Shrimp goby and pistol shrimp  - 02/27/06 My apologies if this is a repeat message - Outlook was acting up and I'm not sure if it sent it. <Understand> I wanted to add that my tank is great water-wise... ammonia < 0.1, nitrItes 0, nitrAtes 4. Thanks, Heather >I have a 55G SW tank, which has been running since December 3rd, 2005. I have three blue damsels, a chocolate chip starfish, about 25 small hermit crabs, two peppermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp and about 15 snails of various sizes (mostly turbo snails). > I was at the LFS today and they have tiger pistol shrimp and shrimp gobies. I couldn't spot the shrimp in the tank, but the gobies were absolutely adorable - striped with one long black antenna/fin on the top. > I am trying to find out more about the gobies in particular but not having much luck on WWM. Basically, I want to know: do shrimp gobies have to have a pistol shrimp with them? <No> will pistol shrimp eat my crabs and other shrimp? <If they are much smaller than the pistol shrimp.> My reading suggests > that they will eat them, but it's not totally clear. > - what do shrimp gobies eat? <Whatever floats their way.> my QT has no substrate; how do I QT a sand-burrowing creature like a > goby? <Several pieces of PVC pipe will do during QT. Will provide adequate retreats.> > Thanks very much - I read your FAQs every day and am learning a great deal. I'm especially proud of myself for not just buying the goby today > because "he is cute". :) <That is good to hear and, the subject IS easily found on the WWW.  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shrimpgobies.htm> > Thanks, <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)> > Heather

Re: Fw: Shrimp goby and pistol shrimp  - 02/27/06 Thanks for the information. <You're welcome.> Just wanted to let you know that I did read the page that you linked below before I emailed you, but it doesn't cover what they eat or whether they have to have a shrimp with them. <OK Heather.  James (Salty Dog)> Thanks, Heather Watchman goby and Nori, and skimmer op.   1/16/07 For about 4 years I have maintained a 90 gallon, with 30 gallon sump, soft coral reef tank with 125 lbs of live rock. The residents are one Maroon Clown (Premnas biaculeatus), one Orange line Cardinal (Apogon cyanosoma), one Pink Damsel (Chrysiptera rex), one Half Black Pygmy Angel (Centropyge vroliki), a recent addition one Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum), that is healing slowly but surely from HLLE that had overrun him in the pet store, <Good way to put this> one Blue Spotted Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus), one Coral Banded Shrimp, two feather dusters, various micro-verts and worms. My question is three part.   1. Since I have introduced the Purple tang, I have kept him with an almost constant supply of Nori to help combat the HLLE. <Do soak this... Selcon, Microvit or such...> Recently the watchman goby has been tearing and making off with LARGE pieces then greedily and aggressively defending and eating the Nori until he is packed solid. I know he is eating other foods because I see him sift sand, grab small 'pods, and even take the occasional flake that floats by. Is this typical? <Mmm, no> Is he just trying to eat the micropods that take up residence in the seaweed that is left unattended for a few hours? <Don't know... is this fish coming to the surface... is this where the clip is? Very unusual> I assume this isn't too dangerous as almost all creatures of the sea eat greens some way or another. <Yes>   2. My nitrates are less than 5ppm (another assumption since my test starts at ten and there appears to be some very minor nitrate discoloration in the test but for the most part is almost unnoticeable) which I believe is due to the 125lbs of very seeded live rock and the hair algae and macroalgae I grow and harvest freely. I do not run a protein skimmer as the impeller broke two years ago and I never replaced it. My fish never seemed to suffer. <Not likely an issue in a well-balanced, established, maintained system as yours> All other parameters are always well within limits. I am interested in adding a Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus) which I know may be too many fish with no skimmer (also aware of potential aggression issues with tang). Is this a worthy add or will I need to add a skimmer? <Mmm, yes, I would>   3. If I were to add a skimmer would this be a big impact on my filter feeders? <Yes, likely so...> My feather dusters, which I know are difficult to feed, have been eating naturally in the tank for quite some time and I would hate to inadvertently take their food away from them. I would prefer not to have to target feed.    <Perhaps an under-sized unit... or running the skimmer on a punctuated basis... on a timer... every few hours to days>   Thanks for the site, time, and sharing the passion.  Nashville <Thank you. Bob Fenner>