Diamond Goby died today

[fletch]

Well My Diamond Goby died today :'(, I don't have any idea why! He was eating fine and sifting up a storm yesterday and when I came home from work today he was dead. there are no marks on his body to indicate he was injured in any way. my water conditions are fine and the outer fish are doing great. Do you think it is possible that when he was digging in the sand he hit a toxic gas pocket in the sand?....................... John

[JohnO]

John,

That's really bad news mate :-(

Out of interest, did you have only one goby?

The reason I ask is that I had a pair, one died and the second died soon after. The consensus was that these animlas should be kept as pairs. Now I'm not sure if that is a fact or just urban myth.

John

[fletch]

Yup just the one John, It was doing great it was eating very good the only thing I did different was I changed what I was feeding them ( Frozen Brine shrimp) To (Frozen Marine Cuisine).
John The gobies you had, were they diamond gobies?
My sand never looked so good after I got him He was doing a great job, I liked to watch him he just kept working on the sand all the time....................... John

[JohnO]

John,

The pair I had were these:

http://www.fishtanksandponds.com/fis...iamondgoby.htm

Like you said, they clean up the sand really well.

John

[fletch]

Yup that is the same as what I had
I see in that link that they must be kept in pairs as solitary animals tend not to live long, I wish I knew that before I got him!!As That is the first time I read that! The poor thing must have died of loneliness :'(
Thanks John.............................. John

[JohnO]

Well, I not sure if it is true, and if it is true why it happens.

One of mine died, I think of starvation :-( and the other followed within a few weeks. The first one that died you could tell it wasn't getting enough to eat out of the sand, and although I tried many different foods and methods it just got skinnier and skinnier. The remaining fish seemed alright though, looked fat and healthy but soon passed as well.

Never mind John, it's sad, but there is not much you can do other that look ahead :-)

John

[fletch]

Thanks Again John

[JohnO]

My pleasure mate :-)

Seems you might have some room for more fish :-)

John

ps. The other interesting thing I meant to mention, I got the gobies to keep my sand clean of algae, which they did very well, but after they died, the sand never got another bit of algae on it :-)

John

[fletch]

Yes I do still have a lot of room for more fish I think I will try again with the diamond gobies I will get 2 and see how things go. I hope they don't fight................ John

[JohnO]

You can normally get the gobies as a mated pair :-) I wish it was as easy for humans LOL :-)

John