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Dragon Goby

13K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  Olympia 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my Dragon Goby at a Walmart over 1 year ago. Basically I just thought it looked interesting. At the time it was a little over 2" long and the guy there didn't know anything about it, except he thought it ate fish and lived in fresh water. It's now a little over 2' long and very thick with large fins. Of course it doesn't eat fish and it doesn't live in fresh water. And it keeps outgrowing it's tanks.

Lately it's become much more active and I often find it outside of it's PVC pipes. I also have noticed its underside has gotten very red at the anus (which at first I thought was a sore) and directly underneath and also a bit around the ventral fins. I don't know if this is irritation from the sand, due to it's diet of mainly live blood worms or something else. Otherwise it seems to be healthy and eating well. Occasionally I'll also see what appears to be mucus floating in the water. I don't know if this is typical or not.

I'll try to get some pictures posted in the next day of so.
 
#2 ·
Hello and welcome to the forum!

I also have a Dragon Goby. From what I have read, they can health/skin problems if not kept in brackish. Any way of moving him into brackish, to see if it helps?
Your goby also need a little veggie type foods in it's diet. In nature, they use their teeth for scraping algae off of rocks. I give mine some algae wafers, along with some snail jello. (he loves the jello)

I have to leave now. If you do a search, the snail jello recipe should show up, if not, let me know and I will paste it here for you.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply.

He is in a brackish tank (using marine salt). I also have some bumble bee gobys in there with him.

I have tried feeding Algae wafers but they seem to just sit in the bottom of the tank for days. I've probably got him spoiled with the live Black Worms. I'm starting to get the feeling I've been over feeding him as he appears thicker then most of the ones I've seen pictures of. I'm going to try cutting back on the Black worms and substituting them with the Algae wafers more often.

Thanks again!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Very nice looking goby!
I have not yet had any health problems with mine, so not sure what is going on with yours. Do you know your salt gravity? Maybe increasing the salt level will help. I have read, if not kept in brackish there skin can become slimy, and moving them to brackish can fix it.

Here is the snail jello recipe. My Dragon goes crazy over the stuff. I also feed mine black worms, but I have seen him pass worms up for some jello. Instead of adding fish food to the recipe, I add spirulina and seaweed. No calcium needs to be added for the goby.

Snail Jello
1 can of baby food (4-6 oz)
1 tsp+ fish food (may be omitted)
Calcium/vitamin supplements (I use 1tsp Jurassi-reptical powder w/out phosphorus)
1 packet (= 1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin

You can select any fish food and any flavor of baby food that you like. Try to find baby foods with at least 4% calcium (vegetable medley has a higher %), either fruit or vegetable types are find. This is a good way to feed fish foods that are good for snails but don't sink, like freeze-dried shrimp, or fish foods that have a strong smell when cooked in other recipes. You can mix in much more than a teaspoon of fish food, and including the ingredients of a "snail trail mix" instead of a single fish food would make this snail treat more nutritionally complete.

Instructions

Open the baby food and pour it into a small bowl. Heat the baby food in the microwave for 60 seconds (caution, it will be very hot).

Stir in the unflavored gelatin (add it slowly to avoid unsightly clumps of gelatin; don't use a blender or you risk creating air bubbles that will make it float) crushing any lumps with the back of a spoon.

Add calcium supplements and vitamins if you have/want them. Stir thoroughly.

Pour this mixture into a dish with a flat bottom (tupperware-type containers work well; if you are doubling or tripling this recipe, you might consider a pie pan).* Fold in your fish food(s) if you are adding any.

Refrigerate for several hours, then return and cut into cubes.

One jar of baby food yields a good handful of snail treats. Keep them refrigerated until serving. These sink and hold up pretty well in the tank, but as with any food, large uneaten portions should be removed after the snails have finished. These can be frozen for up to a month.

*You can use an ice cube tray to create big treats for a tank full of snails. No slicing is needed in this case.

Old pictuture, so he is even bigger now. You can see him going for some jello in the picture.
 

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#6 ·
Very nice habitat you've set up for your Goby..lots of caves and hiding places.

I'm going to gradually increase the salinity of his water and see if that helps, I'm still under the recommended amount. I'll also have to try making the snail cubes sometime.

He gets along fine with the tiny Bumblebee Goby's. Despite his appearance he never bothers the other fish except when swimming about the tank or doing his little sand displacing routine.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I don't have bumblebee gobies, but have read they make great tank mates.
I do know all about the sand displacing routine. At first, I kept trying to move everything back, the way I wanted. It did not take me long to learn, that I was not going to win, and started leaving things as is.
You can see the sand hill on the back side of the pvc pipe, just one of the goby's creations.
 
#8 ·
My dragon Gobie is 18" long and about as big around as a half dollar. I am going to have an aquarium custom made for him as he has way out grown my 35 gal. He too was bought at walmart, and a couple inches long, and they didn't know anything about them...I put him in with puffers...and almost lost him when they ate all his fins. He is a horse of a fish...I feed mine algae wafters, and he gets the guppies left over flake food. He only gets 1 wafer a day. I love watching him play with it and chew...soo funny. I hope yours isn't sick...
what kind of pipe did you use? I've been trying to get him something like a cave but everything ends up cutting him...so he just hides under the plants.
 
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