# Worried about my orangespotted goby



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

I buyed last saturday an orangespotted goby. I made the proper aclimatation process. Once he enters the tank he went to hide wich I think is normal for the first day. The thing is that I have never saw him since that moment. He dosn't come to eat or anything. Is that part of its aclimatation doing that? Do you think he can be dead? If not, how long will take for him to come out? I know they may jump out of an open aquarium, but mine is not open. Anyway I have revised all the spots around the tank to check and nothing found. My tank is 80 gallon. I have a a good bed of fine sand and 100 lbs. of live rock.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

How long have you had him? A few days is not uncommon for any fish.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

Since last saturday, its 3 days.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Give him/her time. They will come out eventually.


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Yep what damon said... but: is this your first fish? How long has the tank been setup? How many/what fish are in the tank currently?


----------



## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

I know off a couple of people on another forum who hardly every see there orange spotted goby. I have also read somewhere that the orange spotted goby isn't as "social" as other gobies. I belive this is because the orange spotted goby tends not to stray to far away from it burrow. I may be wrong though.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

This is not my first fish, I have two false percula clownfishes, one yellow tang and one emperor anglefish. My tank was setup about two months ago.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

2 months isn't a long time to establish a marine tank. Size? Filtration? Live Rock? Live sand depth? Sump? Refugium? Lighting?


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

I have all the proper filtration system, a protein skimmer, a chiller, the lights are metal hallide for corals. I don't have the exact info rigth now but I can get it when I get to my house. I wanted to do it well from the start so I buyed for the best stuff avaliable to make it easier to work with it. The size of the tank is 80 gallon. I have 100 lbs. of live rock with lot of hiding places and a depth live sand. All the fishes are doing well swimming all across the tank. All the parameters were well I think since the second week of establishment. I wait for a month and then introduce one fish per week, except for the clownfishes that were introduced at the same time. All the parameters were still good last time I check on friday.


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

one fish per week is way too fast, should more like be one fish every two to three weeks at least... also an 80 gallon will not be large enough for the imperor angelfish long term (just to let you know). They get over a foot long and need a lot of swimming space. Check out the skimmer brand... unfortunately whats considered "good" in the US is not always what is considered "good" in other countries.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

I will take your advice and wait longer to introduce another fish. About the emperor angelfish, I know it is not recomended for less than 100 gallon tank, but when I buyed it, it was already an adult in size large, he is not suppose to get any bigger and he is doing great, but if I see some sign of stress because of the space I will take the proper action. I have the info about my equipment. The filter is a Rena Filstar xp3, the protein skimmer is a Marineland Sea Clone SCPS 150, I have two power heads Marineland Maxi-Jet, I also have a 9 watt UV Sterilizer Coralife Turbo-Twist 3x. The chiller is a Resun CL-650, and the ligths are Coralife 48 inch. Deluxe Lunar Series Fixture. So tell me if you think this is good for my 80 gallon tank.


----------



## gdwb10101 (Apr 14, 2006)

I had a orangespotted goby. Made a mess of my tank, pretty fish but a pain in the a**. IMO you should be glad its hiding. That fish caused several rock slides by digging under my rocks and made my tank "snow" everyday by spitting sand in the air.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

Really??? The reason I take him was to clean the sand because it is turning all brown. But I didn't know they were that bad.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Brown sand is usually associated with diatoms. The goby wont help with this. How long has the tank been set up? Newer tanks usually get this type of algae until they mature and it goes away on its own.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

Now I see why is the brown sand, my tank has been set up for two months. So then is no reason to worry about that. Thanks.


----------



## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Damon said:


> Brown sand is usually associated with diatoms. The goby wont help with this. How long has the tank been set up? Newer tanks usually get this type of algae until they mature and it goes away on its own.


Incorrect! Even though it is in fact Diatoms associated with a new tank a sand sifting goby DOES help with this by keeping it stirred up. This way it is not so unsightly.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Help with the unsightlyness, yes; but the diatoms are still there.


----------



## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

Doesn't the goby moving the sand around bring it to the top allowing your CUC to take care of the bloom?


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I dont know if sw diatoms are different than fw but it will keep them from collecting together but will not remove them. It doesn't in fw.


----------



## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I have a question regarding the response about the brown sand in new tanks : so it is a good idea to have a goby of some sort or other species to stir up the sand ? See my post on mixed community topic.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

I have the same question. If the answer is yes, which goby's are best for stiring up the sand? Is there any other species than the goby that do that job?


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

CollegeReefer said:


> Doesn't the goby moving the sand around bring it to the top allowing your CUC to take care of the bloom?


It helps if you are removing what is causing the bloom. Does a skimmer remove silicates from water?


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Ivan... are you sure he's an adult angel full grown? because I think an adult angel (thats full grown) would have a heck of a time trying to turn around in an 80 gallon tank (assuming the tank is 18" wide). They get 15" long... thats 3" of room for them to turn around in. I'd say you would be able to keep this fish for quite a while... but once it hits the 8-9" mark, it should be sold to a aquarist with a much larger tank.

Here is a quick care guide to the Emperor angelfish for you http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=411

Gobies such as engineer, sleepers, and other lrg gobies are best for sand sifting, but they are probably a bit much for most tanks. I'd say if you want sand sifters look to shrimp gobies as your main sand sifting gobies such as Yellow watchmans, and have nassarius snails do the rest of the work.

As for your equipment, the seaclone in the states is considered a low grade skimmer, IT DOES WORK, but it doesn't work very efficiently and needs constant tampering with its settings to really pull out that good black thick skimmate. A Rena canister filter will work as long as you do quite a few water changes, and you aren't going for invertebrates or corals. Corals need nitrate free water, and thats what a rena canister produces as a biproduct of nitrification. Your UV sterilizer is good... just replace the bulb every 9-12 months. Your lighting sounds as if you intend on keeping corals... just wondering if you have plans to get a better skimmer or not, and if you are prepared to give away your Emperor angelfish as it probably won't be reef safe.


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

Yep, they tell me it was an adult angel. I ask him if he will grow more and he told me that it wasn't suppose to grow. I have a lot of confidence in this store because I know more of its clients and I shop all my stuff there. But as I told you, if I see him uncomfortable I will sell him. I do have two corals rigth know, the angel have not touched them. Angelfishes are reef compatible with caution, some will harm corals, some not. If he eats the corals I will for sure give it away. But that is not always the situation. Another angel that is not suppose to be reef compatible is the Majestic Angel, but in the store, the guy have one in his coral tank and never have any trouble with him.
I want to let you know that yesterday I finally saw the goby out, he was cleaning the sand. I hope he dosn't make problems like the ones I read earlier.
Fishfirst, what protein skimmer and filter do you recommend? I will like to see if I can change them since they are not them best ones.


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

"Yep, they tell me it was an adult angel. I ask him if he will grow more and he told me that it wasn't suppose to grow. I have a lot of confidence in this store because I know more of its clients and I shop all my stuff there. "


Just because its an adult doesn't mean its full grown... How large is it now? They get 15" which is a lot bigger than most "adult" angels that are sold in stores.

As for the protien skimmer... ASM makes top of the line skimmers (extremely expensive)... but a good compromise would be the corallife super skimmer or turbofloater. 

Angels have been incorporated more and more in reef systems, your angel not eating the two corals in your tank doesn't suprise me... however, some just take a while to settle in and thier true nature take over. I would highly suggest getting a sponge based food from your lfs, preferably hikari angel formula. This will increase your chances that this angel will continue to not eat any of your corals. Introducing new corals will be the trick with him... he probably will sample anything new you drop into the tank.

Best of luck to you...


----------



## ivanpres (Oct 3, 2006)

Ok, I just check one lfs store that have Hickari Mega Marine Angel, I willl go there tomorrow to buy it. I will also check if I can get that protein skimmer. Thanks a lot for your advice. I appreciate it.


----------

