The Puffer Forum

Today I went to Aquarium Adventure in Long Island,NY expecting to buy a GSP and I left with a Dragon Goby.....

To make a long story short, I called this morning and I was told that there was GSP's in stock, when I get there I see Figure 8's in freshwater with like tumors sticking out there sides...... The blithering idiot I spoke to is obviously new and has no gosh darn idea how to tell the difference. He tried to sell me Dwarf Puffers and told me they go good in High end Brackish.....It was my girlfriend that restrained me from cursing him out.

I walk down the isles and behold I see a freshwater tank full of "Dragonfish" and Plecos. It was the Dragon Goby's.

I was like " I WANT ONE!"

So they gave me for like 8 bucks.

He was dripped acclimated for like over an hour. After he went in he was like "Crap, this place is huge" I went to drop off my girlfriend back home and when I got in he was running up and down against the current from the return tube of my canister filter. He was swimming freely all over the place and was making friends with his new tank mates.

Who are his tankmates? There's an article on them in our Library.

I've got one that I just converted to brackish water, got him as a baby and it is time for him to start growing up. All I can say is awesome fish! Give him some tight cover and caves and he'll be a happy fish. I put a piece of a Habital in the sand with a 45 degree bend on each end for him and he loves it. Put it right against the glass and you can watch him do his thing. They wild to watch do "house keeping", mine hates when any sand gets in his house and he is meticulous about pushing it out....

I bet that's fun to watch!

It is just a riot to watch I was cleaning his tank last week and accidentally knocked sand in his "house", he looked at me, I think he said a few four letter words, and there were plumes of sand coming out of there! The first night I had him in the FW tank he took refuge behind the intake for my filter. Next morning he was no where to be found! I visually searched in and around the tank and even tore down the filter, still no goby. Three days later I'm feeding the tank and I see a little movement from under a flat piece of slate I use for a base for a piece of drift wood. I looked closer and all I see is a pair of beady eyes and big mouth snarfing down flake food. He tunneled under the slate slab and the bottom glass. There was only about 1/4 inch space for him under there but he was happy as could be! I can now hand feed him. He is the most intriguing fish I have ever had the privilege to raise.

I read your article pufferpunk. My only concern right now is getting him to eat. I was told they are picky....He wont go for the usual flakes and he's not going for the algae sinking pellets. The guy at the lfs told me they had him on small feeders. Im gonna try bloodworms....if that dont work then i'll go for the minnows. But im pretty sure that the bloodworms should work....I've never had a fish turn down live bloodworms.

He'll go nuts for worms. Forget the feeders, he'll never catch one--practically blind. They are not fish-eaters.

Dadof4, Did you read that article? he needs to be in BW.

Lol we have GSP's at work. So are we gonna see some pics of this new lil fella soon?

Yeah soon, Im off on friday so sometime on friday i'll take a snap shot of the Dragon Goby. I named him DJ.


crazedpuffer how do those GSP's look ? If they are in good condition, give me the address to your LFS i'll swing by on friday possibly and pick one up. Also, how much are they off hand? Its pay day friday I have an OCD, I have to buy fish when its pay day LMAO

Pufferpunk wrote:He'll go nuts for worms. Forget the feeders, he'll never catch one--practically blind. They are not fish-eaters.

Dadof4, Did you read that article? he needs to be in BW.

Pufferpunk, how often should I feed DJ? Once a day? Once every two days? I used to keep Bloodworms for my elephant fish like back in the day, I noticed that bloodworms dont last very long in the refrigerator before they go bad and die and smell.

Did you clean the worms at minimum once a day? because that will reduce their fridge shelf life (literally).

got any pictures yet?

Pufferpunk wrote:He'll go nuts for worms. Forget the feeders, he'll never catch one--practically blind. They are not fish-eaters.

Dadof4, Did you read that article? he needs to be in BW.

I knew that and how to care for him before I read the article. He is in brackish water now...They actually spawn in fresh and hang aroud there for the first few months of their lives then move to highend brackish and are found in marine environments.

xspainx69 wrote:My only concern right now is getting him to eat. I was told they are picky....He wont go for the usual flakes and he's not going for the algae sinking pellets.

One thing mine really enjoys is sinking shrimp pellets, scatter them around where he decides to take up residense. He may not eat until he feels secure and has a good hidey-hole. These guys are filter feeders and oportunisitc eaters, you can feed him flake as long as it is getting down to him. Once he finds a hiding spot he'll come out after lights out and strain the substrate taking in the flake or pellets. I also found worms to be a favorite meal.

1x/day is fine. Be sure you see him eat.

I've got worms to last over 2 weeks.

I just dropped bloodworms in the tank and he didnt even unhook himself from the glass to go after it. He just sits attaching himself to the glass like a slug and then just changes position but doesnt go after the food......

I shut the lights off also to see if he go after it when it gets dark. Nothing........

Shoot....If bloodworms dont work .....I dont know..Im starting to think the starving may soon become a reality cause Im not gonna buy a pet shop full of food until he decides to eat something...Worse case scenario he eats nothing and dies and Im stuck with all this useless crap....

Well Its day 2 and Im gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say he is still adjusting himself hopefully the hunger takes control and he decides to go for some food. I have a long dark tube and surprisingly enough he wont go in the tube and neither does any of my fish..especially the colombian shark catfish. You'd figure a catfish likes to hide and lurk and this guy just spends his day going berserk in the tank.
I know my water parameters are just fine because I tested my water and its all 0 PPM's & My pH is at 8.2

Everyone in the tank is happy and healthy and he's the only one not eating....

From what you're describing it sounds like he still needs time to settle in and find a home within the tank. How big is he? You may want to try a piece of PVC pipe longer then his body and just a little larger in diameter, hide it with some wood or plants but leave the ends open (make sure the ends are smooth). When I moved mine from the FW to the BW it took him about a week to finally find the pipe I have for him and settle in, then he didn't eat for a a few days and he was an established eating machine before I moved him. Once he settled in again he went back to his normal routine.