Gobi Spawning

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Paul B

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The gobi experiment is going better than expected, I have two pairs spawning but I am not yet trying to raise the fry.
Today I thought one of them was dying because I fed the tank live worms and one gobi would not eat. She would just sit under a rock and let the worms bounce off her head which is a sure sign of a dead fish in the morning. After a while of me annoying her she decided to turn the other way and I could see how pregnant she was. I diden't even know this pair was spawning.
She looks extreamly fat and should lay some eggs very soon.
(or die depending on how she delivers) Some fish have a hard time in a tank especially when they get chased.
This is the best picture I could get because she was in the rocks and I moved a rock to get the picture. I don't even remember the type of gobi it is and am too lazy to look it up.
You can see the belly though.
PregnantGobi001.jpg
 
That goby is a pink spotted watchman (Cryptocentrus leptocephals) or orange spotted (Amblyeleotris guttata) hard to tell from pic what color the spots are. Congrats keep us updated :)
 
I started a new thread which told what happened to that gobi.
I tried to take a picture of her by moving a rock she was hiding under. As soon as I did that my engineer gobi grabber her head first and dragger her into a hole. I removed everything from the tank (which was not easy, the tank is 6' long) and rescued the gobi but she was dead. I did an autopsy on her and the organs seemed fine but I think a few eggs were deseased causing her to be fatter than from the eggs alone. I doubt she would have lived to lay the eggs and that is probably the reason the engineer gobi caught her so easy.
I have another pair that is spawning and they spawn all the time. I have not raised the fry or even taken out the eggs. If I ever get time I will set up a small tank to try to raise some. Ijust like the fact that they are spawning. That to me means the tank is as healthy as it could get. Fish have to be in excellent health to spawn.
 
I have all different types of gobi's but for the smaller clown gobies I hatch brine shrimp every day, the larger gobies get live blackworms, mysis and other things.
If you want any fish to spawn, feed it live worms for a couple of weeks. Not blood worms which are not really worms.
 
"feed it live worms for a couple of weeks. Not blood worms which are not really worms."

Feather dusters then? Earth worms? Spaghetti worms?
 
Feather dusters then? Earth worms? Spaghetti worms?

They may not eat feather dusters or spaghetti worms and you could not get those in quantity. Earthworms are excellent for any fish but unless they are tiny, the fish also may not recognize those. These fish do not see earthworms in the sea and especially the chopped up ones. Once they start eating they may eat everything but to get them to start eating, live blackworms are the best. They are very common in any pet shop in NY for less than a buck but I understand they are not available everywhere. They are called California Black worms. You want your fish to spawn, feed them these but not every meal or they will eat nothing else.
 
Interesting. Another food source I thought wasn't healthy for SW animals. I've heard of giving black worms to fresh water fish, but heard they were not good in SW. Of course I've heard a lot of stuff in the past that I used to believe which I later found out to be wrong.

I wonder if the male Gobies just don’t feel like a real man unless they’ve recently bit the head off a live animals. Once they’ve eaten a live worm they’re ready to get busy.
 
OK so another pair spawned today.
The eggs are in the back of the tank so I had to crawl under the tank with a camera and magnifying glass to try to take the pictures. I can't get far enough away to gert a clear picture.
Gobieggs026.jpg


Gobieggs006.jpg


Here are the parents.
2008reef011.jpg
 
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Yes, feed him fresh salt water fish eggs and live blackworms along with some fresh clams and what ever else you are feeding. But they should get live worms almost every day.
 

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