Yellow Clown Goby Not Eating

Pier Pressure · #1 03-23-2009, 08:59 PM

Hi, everyone. I have a yellow clown goby who does not seem to want to try pellet food. This creature does come out and "dance" at feeding time with the other fishes, but I have yet to see him take a pellet. It has been a couple of weeks now, and I am kind of worried because frozen food does not seem to have a lot of nutritional value.

He has a ton of energy but his belly is starting to look sunken. I have seen him try to eat a mysis shrimp the same size as him and he picks small pieces of frozen out of the water column.

Any tricks to get them onto the more nutritional stuff?

naesco · #2 03-23-2009, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pier Pressure

Hi, everyone. I have a yellow clown goby who does not seem to want to try pellet food. This creature does come out and "dance" at feeding time with the other fishes, but I have yet to see him take a pellet. It has been a couple of weeks now, and I am kind of worried because frozen food does not seem to have a lot of nutritional value.

He has a ton of energy but his belly is starting to look sunken. I have seen him try to eat a mysis shrimp the same size as him and he picks small pieces of frozen out of the water column.

Any tricks to get them onto the more nutritional stuff?

You need to get him to eat because tiny fish use up a lot of energy and have no mass to rely on. Feed him mysis, cyclopses and fortify it with selcon. If he is emaciated now, time is of the essence.

Pier Pressure · #3 03-23-2009, 09:48 PM

I am already doing that and he is still losing weight. He gets mysis, cyclopses, rottifers, etc. I think I am going to lose him if I cannot get him onto the pellets. Just too picky. I know once he accidently eats an nls pellet he will be okay. Maybe I will try soaking a few pellets in garlic.

naesco · #4 03-24-2009, 12:58 AM

Yes try the garlic soaked food.
Also go the store and get some FRESH fish or shrimp, grind it very small for him and see if he bites on it.

dkcrx · #5 03-24-2009, 01:08 AM

can you target feed him? suck up some fine mush of misis or whatever you have into a squese tube (like the ones in test kits ) and slowly squirt it out over where he hangs out. Thats how I have to feed my copperband.
And yes I realise the fish size diference

mseepman · #6 03-24-2009, 03:41 AM

I have a yellow clown goby and he's a fatty. He wouldn't eat my NLS pellets at first, but he would eat flake happily and mysis. I would try some flake (just a little aimed at him) and once he gets used to that, he might move over to the pellet. It only took a week for my guy to learn to eat pellet.

Pier Pressure · #7 03-24-2009, 02:27 PM

That is a good idea. I shall try some flake and see if he goes for that. I do target feed him but there he will sit in the middle of a storm of pellets waiting for something that looks like a shrimp. He hangs out in one of the top corners and all but jumps into my hand when I feed - he just does not like the offerings much. Kind of a pain because I only bought him because I saw him eat at the petstore, but it was just frozen stuff.

Pier Pressure · #8 03-27-2009, 03:20 PM

Good news, people! My little yellow clown goby is now an official flake eater. He would not touch it at first but once I crushed it up he has been eating some, though not going crazy for it. I have seen him eat four chunks of flake per feeding the last couple of days, and he is starting to grab flake that is as big as he is. So hopefully a happy ending on this one.

Snaz · #9 03-27-2009, 05:06 PM

I bought a YCB and it withered away after two weeks. I tried every food under the sun, the only thing he seemed interested in was mysis cut up but he would just spit it out.

After his stomach caved into nothing he got these weird bumps in his skin almost like tumours but they would change shape. I put him out of misery.

I think I will try another one day but I will make sure I see it eat before I take it home.

fkshiu · #10 03-27-2009, 05:29 PM

I've had a little yellow clown goby for over a year now. He lives in a large millepora colony with an acro crab. He never ever leaves the protection of the coral and I've never seen him injest a single piece of food that I've fed into the tank. He probably picks stuff up that floats by or pods in the coral. I wouldn't be too worried if he's not eating everything you put on his plate.