# HELP!!! prehistoric dragon goby not eating



## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

So I got a dragon goby 2 days ago and I haven't seen him eat, the store said they fed him flakes but he won't eat them, I got sinking food and he doesn't eat that either, I'm afraid he'll starve, he's really healthy and he's huge! Someone help please!


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

I fed him blood worms but he didnt eat those either...


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

Help please!


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Was he in brackish water at the store and is now in fresh?


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

he was in fresh at at the store now in brackish


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## Fishy Freak (Jun 1, 2011)

How did you go about aclimitising him to brackish? How long have you had him, am assuming he hasn't been seen eating since you got him? If it's only a day or so may just be ajusting to new enviroment.


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

Floated him for 30mins, then slowly added the brackish water into the bag every 10mins or so using a cleaned out medicine cup... I've had him for 2 days, the tank is sand with scatterd gravel


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

If I'm not mistaken, that was way too quick of a change for him... Converting from fresh to brackish (from what I've heard) should take WEEKS, not minutes...


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

isnt that how sw does it? I did the same acclimation as SW, floated him, cut the bag and put in a little bit of water every 10mins until the bag was full, took me a good 2 hours


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## Hansolo (Sep 10, 2010)

I agree that it was probably to fast of a change in water. If he grew up in fresh water that's all it knows. If you have a spair tank you could put him in set it up freshwater. Then every week when you do a water change gradually bring the salt level up to where it will stay over the course of a few weeks. Add 20% of salt over 5 weeks. I fear that going back to fresh again could be another shock to him as well.


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

whats the salinity right now?


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## Homer (Sep 6, 2010)

you should drip acclimate fish using a airline hose and you make it siphon out of the brackish tank into the bucket/container the fish is in and you make it so it slowly drips by tying the tube or something and it can take min 24hours to a week.i find that if you slowly drip acclimate it shouldnt take more then a week. most brackish fish arent bred in captivity other then mollies so they shouldnt have a problem acclimating. some brackish fish just like their food living so maybe the lfs lied which they often due. try lowering the SG and feeding him some live foods


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

sorry its taken so long to get on, college and work don't allow a whole lot of free time, so its been a few weeks since I got him he seems to be doing great he's grown an inch since I got him, even though I still haven't seen him eat anything, my friend said he might be snacking on my mollies or eating left over mysis from the puffers...


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## GloFish1999 (May 14, 2011)

I know this is sorta off topic, but where did you get him? And also, how much did he cost?


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

I got him from a local fishstore called keller farms, I payed $6 something for him


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

lol @ prehistoric


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Might be a little late, but...

Dragon Gobies are kind of like filter-feeders. They sift the water for small particles of food, but if they want to, they'll gladly go for sinking wafers of flakes if they've hit the bottom of the tank. My DG dives straight for the algae wafers and sinking shrimp pellets when I drop them near him. They're pretty much blind (very poor eye-sight), so they won't see the food, but more rather 'smell' it. 

Though their mouths are pretty big and menacing looking, they actually have very small throats... so the amount and size of the food they eat has to be small enough to fit. It's very unlikely that your DG would be eating mollies... unless they're fry, and unless he's starving and desperate, he wouldn't go after them. Even if he wanted to munch on some fry, he'd have to find and catch them first.

Also, DG's are very docile towards other tank-mates, unless there's more of their own kind... they might become territorial during feeding. I keep only one DG because of this, and because there wouldn't be enough room in my tank for two. 

Another thing, DG's definitely do their best in a brackish tank, but freshwater won't kill them if it's all they've ever known. They won't be miserable, either. My 55g has just enough salinity for everyone to be satisfied, even my yo-yo's, clowns and barbs. I've had my DG in there for months, and he's only been getting better since the day I got him (at Walmart, of all places). He eats good, he's active, and he looks great. I catch him hanging out with the yo-yo's every now and then. 

Hope that helps some.


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