Fish feeding help

[moortim]

All,
I have a yellow clown goby that seems to be having some problems, the more time goes on the thinner he is getting. I feed twice a day with a variety of food including, mysis shrimp, emerald entree, and cyclopeeze. My other fish are doing great and this little guy eats just fine but he seems to keep getting thinner and his stomach is starting to look sunken, I have had him for about 3 months. What might I be doing wrong? I don't know very much about feeding so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[steve-s]

Which one do you have? Gobiodon citrinus or Gobiodon okinawae? Very similar but not the same and often confused.

Also how large is your system and what tank mates?
How long have you had this fish, was it QT first?
Has it/any of your fish needed treating previously?
Do you use any kind of vitamin and/or HUFA additive?

 

[moortim]

I had to do some looking to find out the difference but it is an okinawae.

 

[steve-s]

Also how large is your system and what tank mates?
How long have you had this fish, was it QT first?
Has it/any of your fish needed treating previously?
Do you use any kind of vitamin and/or HUFA additive?

What about these questions

Also what do you currently feed/how often?

I had to do some looking to find out the difference but it is an okinawae.

Of the two, this one by far is the hardest to feed in my opinion. They are touted as being nano preferred but in my experience, quite the opposite without very special attention. The main problems encountered are food particle size and tank mates outcompeting the goby for food. More often it's a combination of those two. In a larger system without zooplankton competitors they can do fairly well as they hunt the tank for natural food resources while being supplemented by fortified prepared foods augmented with vitamin?HUFA supplements. In a smaller tank, they rely moreso on what's fed to them which can quickly lead to nutritional problems.

 

[moortim]

You are right on this fish being touted as a nano inhabitant, which I am finding more and more isn't quite right. It is in a 10 gallon that has been setup for about 8 months using water and rock (about 15lbs) from well established tanks. It's tank mates are two percula clowns and a green banded goby, the other three fish I have had for a year to a year and a half and are doing fine. I know I am pushing the limits on having four fish in this tank but I do water changes twice a week of 3 gallons each and my water quality is quite good. I feed twice a day, morning and night, a mixture of emerald entree, mysis shrime, cyclopeeze, and I used to feed brine shrimp but haven't for a while the more I learn about it. I have had the yellow clown for a few months, I did not quarantine it but I had my LFS hold it for me as long as they could (about three weeks after it arrived) while I watched it.
I haven't used a vitamin supplement at all because I didn't know much about them, I have been doing some reading up on it now, what do you recommend?
I have done a pretty good job of feading my two clowns on the opposite side of the tank and they leave each other alone quite well. I have never had to treat my other fish or this tank for anything.
Overall he is acting fine from what I have read about them and other than looking thin he shows no other symptoms.
Anything else? Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[leebca]

Two Anemonefishes plus other fishes in a 10 gallon tank is seriously overstocked.

 

[steve-s]

It is in a 10 gallon ......It's tank mates are two percula clowns and a green banded goby, the other three fish

Tim,

In the current tank, a Gobiodon okinawae will not survive. In an upgraded system that's had 6-12 months to mature into a FOWLR or reef would do fine.

I can see how over time and reading many hobbyist (not just yourself) contribute success to good water quality and lack of death. I can assure you, that is most certainly very very incorrect. Those are only a small part of the equation, not the entire "recipe for success" so to speak. Please understand I am no hypocrite, I realize we keep wild animals in a small glass box but that does not permit us to completely disregard for their quality of life. Sure it's no comparison to the open ocean/reefs but please, let us give them every possible consideration we can otherwise. Considering what tanks cost, an upgrade to a 75 gallon should not be a big stretch but would mean the world of difference to these fish. The 10 gal would make a reasonable QT. Enough lecturing though, I am sure you get the message!

As for vitamins, choose what's easily available to you. The choices are quite limited in terms of brand and one is not really better than the next. Just be sure they are manufactured for Marine Ornamental fishes and you choose both a liquid vitamin and a HUFA supplement. As for food choices, nix the brine and increase the veggie side of things. Your food choices are too heavily meat dependent and not enough algae. Most of your fish are omnivores with a preference for meat but really need a % of their daily diet to include veggies.

 

[moortim]

Two Anemonefishes plus other fishes in a 10 gallon tank is seriously overstocked.

Yeah, I knew I would come under fire for this but I want to know how to help out my clown goby get back to health.
The discussion on how to stock a nano can be very interesting and if you want to go into it I am just fine with that, I have my reasons for thinking what I am doing is ok; my parameters are all just fine and I am very carefull with how I care for my little tank, just right now I want to know how to better feed this fish. Do you think that the level my tank is stocked to is part of the problem? I have never seen anything showing the necessary stocking levels of any tank, mostly just a rule of thumb here and there, but it seems to me that if I properly care for the amount of fish I have then four very small fish should be ok. Am I missing some point here?
Excuse me for sounding cynical and I don't ever want to offend anyone but I really need to see more proof about why I can't have the fish I do in my tank. Who decides when a tank is overstocked? Can't enough water changes and care for the tank fix any bio load issues I might have? If my fish are very small and seem to get along why would this not work?
Along with those question, again I don't mean to offend anyone, what does this have to do with how I feed my fish?

Please, let me know why you think my tank is overstocked, if you think the stocking of my tank has something to do with the health of the fish in question and why you think that, also please let me know what food and vitamins I should be feeding to help it back to health.

Tim

 

[moortim]

Thanks Steve, you answered most of my questions while I was writing them down.