Difficulty getting a Hector's Goby to feed

[JRGumby]

For nearly two weeks, I've been trying to get a Hector's Goby to feed. Though they're supposed to be quite content with filamentous algae (of which there is plenty in the display), I would prefer to ensure he is actively feeding prior to dumping a 2 inch fish into a 4' tank and having him vanish and susequently starve.

Here's the full-est story I can give.

So, after I aquired him I drip acclimated him, and added him to a 10g glass QT tank. It has a thin layer of sand and some base rock (had been bleached) from my nano a few years ago. I had been feeding small amounts to the tank to get it cycling, and am using a skimmer whenever there is not medication for water movement, oxygenation, and some degree of filtration. It creates a nic gentle current, which the fih prefers greatly to having the small powerhead in the tank run.
I've also been slowly increasing the amount of lighting his tank recieves since the display is fairly bright. It's gone from ambient/room, to a 60 desklamp, and today I'm adding a ~75W equivalent. It's on a bendy lamp so I've been starting it far away and moving it slowly closer to try not to increase the lighting level too quickly.

For two days, I didn't see him, so I didn't bother to try and feed him.

On day 3 he started poking around the tank, and I started trying to feed him. There's a slight "dead spot" near the front corner, and that's where I've been trying to introduce foods.

I've tried live brine shrimp (newly hatched and gut loaded), frozen mysid, Formula 2 Ocean Nutrition flakes, Sprung sea veggie flakes, cyclopeeze, Dulse dried sea vegetable (a bag of sun-drid unwashed organic from a health food store I stumbled across) jammed into the rockwork, and a small rock overgrown with algae. I've never seen him consuming any of these.

What he will do (if the sight of me doesn't make him vanish) is begin very actively zipping about the tank, randomly picking at the rocks and substrate, and closely inspect floating food particls the current picks up (from a distance, and they seem to worry him). The rock and dulse I never saw him near.

I'm running out of ideas, and I'm considering letting him into the display tank but I'd like him to at least eat something before I let him out. He's a neat little fish, but I'm becoming seriously concerned about his survivability. Unless I'm very much mistaken, things tend to need to eat in order to live.

Edit: I forgot to mention water quality. Since adding him, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates have remained unreadable. pH has been 8.2 (ish, my kit isn't spectacular), and the temperature is withni 1 degree or so of 80 all the time. Salinity is about 30ppt/1.023sg.

[leebca]

Sad to say that it isn't the kinds of food you're offering, nor water quality, nor environment, likely. The fish is not acclimating into captive life. Some just don't. You didn't mention if you acquired the fish from an LFS. If from an LFS, then you wanted to see the fish eat. If from online, then there is always that risk.

Another reason fish don't begin to eat in captivity is due to being poisoned. This can be in how they're collected (cyanide) or some exposure to a chemical along the way (or in your marine system that you don't/can't measure for).

Keep things clean and persist in your efforts to offer food. Just hope the fish settles down before it starves.

[JRGumby]

Today I busted up clam to see if that would entice him (I was at the store anyhow I figured).

Though he has no interest in the clam (it'll come out in another hour or so to prevent fouling) he was picking very intently at the rockwork, and I did notice he was shifting the substrate in the "food corner" qute alot. I even saw him pick up previously offered veggie-flakes, though he tended to just mouth these and spit them back out.

I'm hoping that's a good sign, should I contiune to offer the sea-veggies in the corner and watch him to make sure he's actually eating them? I'll keep siphoning them out on a daily basis so there's not too much detritus. Alternatively, should I move him to te display tank in a week or so even if he isn't eating? There is a lot of algal growth on the rocks and even some in the sand, so I'm wondering if feeding little bits to the tank would be enough to encourage him to graze on what's there (maybe not even have to start the behavior if he's hungry and there's stuff to eat).

[leebca]

The picking at the rock and the spitting out of food is a good sign. It implies the fish is not finding the food to its liking instead of just being unable to adjust to captive life.

Most of the following you have already done. Keep trying, using the below suggestions as another 're-starting' point.

Vary the algae. Different vendors of macro algae do have different sources. Try to offer macro algae from another supplier/source. Be aware of presentation -- tie it to the rock; push it into the rock; sink it under a rock; clip to a clip near the bottom; etc. Try different locations and presentations.

Try some pods -- plankton, mysis, and spirulina gut-loaded brine shrimp.

One more thing to try is Blood Worms. If there is a pet store nearby, you can also try those very thin (living) brown worms (NOT tubifex). These fish primarily eat bottom dwelling pods and worms, along with the algae.

I would not recommend moving the fish to the display. What is different there? The fish should be trained to eat, as you have rightly concluded from the beginning. There is never enough nor enough variety of 'natural' foods to maintain a fish in a home marine system. You can harvest some of the filament algae and put that under and tied to a rock in the quarantine tank.

[JRGumby]

You mean live blood wors introduced near the substrate? Sorry if I'm pester-y, I just want to get this lil' fellow eating!

Is it possible that he dislikes the algal flakes because they've been sitting there a bit? The ones he was mouthing looked like they were starting to get a bit slimey/falling apart.

Will critters like him eat Chaeto? I'm tempted to at least add some to see if he'll nibble to pods out of it (I've been saving as opposed to actually pruning my tank until I've made sure ithe lighting in the sump is adequate for good growth).

[leebca]

The thing about marine fish which many hobbyists don't realize is that every now and again a fish specializes its diet. That is, it fancies something in its environment and then almost exclusively eats it. So even though this fish is supposed to eat substrate pods and worms, it may have grown accustomed to a particular food.

Yes. I mean take a couple of blood worms and spot feed the fish in the place you've placed some foods. The fish knows what your spot feeding instrument looks like (for the most part) and will learn it carries its food.

I don't think you'll likely find live blood worms. Some States have banned their sale. They may have to be frozen and then thawed and rinsed (in salt water) 'worms.'

The thin and tiny red or brown worms would be alive.

Flakes and pellets often contain wheat and wheat products. These are not natural foods for marine fishes. I have never heard of a wheat farmer complaining about 'raiding marine fishes' in his fields. Wheat is not digested by marine fish so it passes through their digestive track and pollutes the tank. It could very well be the fish doesn't like the taste of that food, slimy or otherwise.

Chaeto I don't know. Worth a try. Don't overwhelm the fish. Just put a little bit (size of a large marble) sticking out from (under) a rock.

Ask whatever questions you have. That's what we're here for.

[JRGumby]

He's started eating! Today after he vanished from the threat of a vicious turkey basting filled with brine shrimp, I saw him zipping around the tank erratically openin his mouth. It took me a second to realize that he was eating them since I can't see the little things in the QT. So, it looks like he's started eating!

I'm guessing the next step is to continue to feed gut loaded brine shrimp until he starts associating what I feed with with food?

After that mixing some other foods with the shrimp (I'm thinking cyclopeeze), until I can move him entirely to non-live foods?

I'm not sure how to get him interested in algae, he still seems highly indifferent to it and I'm worried he won't get a very herbivore-friendly diet without a decent amount of plant matter in his diet.

[leebca]

Good news! Try an early mix of foods as soon as you can. Your plan of mixing in is good. Just remember that in captivity, like in the wild, the fish can become hooked on just one food which, in captive life can mean a slow death. Variety of nutritious foods is important.

For some reason the fish is not recognizing the greens as food. It may just be that isn't what this particular fish found to its liking in the wild. It may still come around to accepting the greens as long as you keep the diet varied.