Tank Journal Archive

[brendan88]

After 5 weeks of doting over my tiny twin spot gobies I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time for them to go into the main 4x2x2 tank. Other reasons for making the decision were water changes were frequent in the small Aqua one 35L tank, due to deliberate over feeding and both Brendan and I are soon to go on holiday and we couldn't expect anyone to maintain that while we are gone.

They were both introduced into the tank together and managed not to lose each other in the process. I put them up the quiet end of the tank where there was less flow. It only took about an hour before they were out exploring and sand sifting. They have only been in there about five days now and have only travelled around the same 30cm square area.

Everything seems to be going well. I know they're not getting as much live brine and sinking food due to the competition but hopefully they're getting enough from the sand. There have only been two issues, one they dug a cave and buried a lobo coral which now isn't doing too well and two one trouble maker with the ripped top fin as above likes to swim to the top of the tank at night and has ended up in the weir twice.
My fingers are crossed for these little guys to make in into the 8 footer together. And since making it past the 6 week mark I finally gave them names Yin and Yang.

 

[Agent M]

Very interesting, I don't see these commonly kept so am curious to follow your updates on your experiences with them, what to feed them etc.

 

[MagicJ]

Nice - are these a mated pair?

 

[brendan88]

Very interesting, I don't see these commonly kept so am curious to follow your updates on your experiences with them, what to feed them etc.

I must admit i bought them not knowing the difficulties involved in keeping them alive. I was out by myself and did make the phone call to brendan to ask if they would be ok, given he knows so much more than i do about fish. He had no hesitation in saying yes and not until getting home and googling did i realise their poor track record.

I know I'm very lucky to have them both and each week i feel I'm winning. I find them so fascinating to watch. They constantly dig holes in the sand to create caves and follow each other around hopping over the sand.

I was initially trying to feed them live plankton, red frozen plankton, frozen fish eggs and live brine. Only a day after getting them i bought some sinking pellets hoping they would eat it from sifting the sand. It's the Hikari sinking carnivore pellets, I crush them up so they are small enough. I know they did eat the fish eggs and definitely like live brine but they are so lazy it has to float right past their face for them to eat it. So the sinking pellet is working the best for now. Though having introduced them into the 4x2 until the 8 foot is ready the other fish have already learnt there's food on the sand bed and are helping themselves.

 

[brendan88]

Nice - are these a mated pair?

Yes, they were bought as a mated pair and they're very attached, it's rare to see them out of each other's sight. I can understand why people say of you lose one the other will also perish afterwards.