best way to feed very tiny watchman goby?

[ChrisfromBrick]

watchman goby is an inch or less. He doesn’t come out except at night and obviously is scared to do so. How has he managed to stay alive for 4 months when i haven’t seen him eat once at feeding time?

Can you suggest a food he will take when he’s out? spot feed? his mouth is tiny and i do have tiny pellets for fish this size but i dont know how to get them to his mouth.

 

[Slocke]

watchman goby is an inch or less. He doesn’t come out except at night and obviously is scared to do so. How has he managed to stay alive for 4 months when i haven’t seen him eat once at feeding time?

Can you suggest a food he will take when he’s out? spot feed? his mouth is tiny and i do have tiny pellets for fish this size but i dont know how to get them to his mouth.

What species? Different species eat different things. Also many gobies can sustain themselves on leftovers from the other fish.

 

[saltcats]

Try one of those coral feeders that are like really long pipettes to direct the food?

Small fish seem to like frozen cyclops pods in my experience, it usually gets my guys pretty excited.

 

[JohnnyReef13]

watchman goby is an inch or less. He doesn’t come out except at night and obviously is scared to do so. How has he managed to stay alive for 4 months when i haven’t seen him eat once at feeding time?

Can you suggest a food he will take when he’s out? spot feed? his mouth is tiny and i do have tiny pellets for fish this size but i dont know how to get them to his mouth.

Hello! So I'd try feeding it cubes of Emarald Entree OR any frozen cube food that contains mysis shrimp. If that's the only fish you have in there, if you go for the frozen cubes maybe only use half a cube!

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

thanks- no he’s among 5 others in a 69g reef. i do have frozen mysis so maybe i’ll feed that at night? However his mouth is really small.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

What species? Different species eat different things. Also many gobies can sustain themselves on leftovers from the other fish.

i bought him at tsm aquatics as a yellow watchman goby. I don’t know the genus or species of this goby unfortunately. I figured he was getting by with leftovers but man ia he small. i thought he was dead months ago and boom! I saw him 2bdays ago

 

[Slocke]

i bought him at tsm aquatics as a yellow watchman goby. I don’t know the genus or species of this goby unfortunately. I figured he was getting by with leftovers but man ia he small. i thought he was dead months ago and boom! I saw him 2bdays ago

They do eat leftovers. Go to biotas website and look at what they feed their smaller fish like mandarins. Those foods will work.

Also there is a frozen food. I forget what it’s called but it’s red and tiny and small fish love it.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If you see him I would assume it means he is becoming more comfortable. Try to be optimistic right lol. But I don’t think you should change your feeding habits whatever it was. He is used to it and won’t understand if you try to change your technique now. I find that fish like routine and dislike changes.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

If you see him I would assume it means he is becoming more comfortable. Try to be optimistic right lol. But I don’t think you should change your feeding habits whatever it was. He is used to it and won’t understand if you try to change your technique now. I find that fish like routine and dislike changes.

excellent point. I actually just turned off the flow while he was out and fed some micro pellets to him with a baster. He grabbed one or 2 and then just sat there. Then the snails came and got the rest. In 4 months I did expect more growth from this fish.

 

[JohnnyReef13]

excellent point. I actually just turned off the flow while he was out and fed some micro pellets to him with a baster. He grabbed one or 2 and then just sat there. Then the snails came and got the rest. In 4 months I did expect more growth from this fish.

Let me know if feeding him mysis works!

 

[FernBluffReef]

Interesting question and one I’ve asked myself a number of times..

In my main display, wife had a highfin goby - tiny sucker but he’d actively eat reef nutrition R.O.E. He’d just bob in and out of his cave as eggs came by and we had to feed eggs as that is all we’d see him eat but he ate and it was fun watching him.

In my smaller tank. The yellow watchman is regularly out watching over his cave. Never straying far. I’ve tried feeding him and his shrimp to no avail BUT he and his shrimp seem to being doing just fine - appearing to be happy as clams - so I’m assuming they find enough scraps and copepods. I just can’t fathom how there is enough within 1-2” of their cave entrance, but I never feed the as they don’t seem to be interested and do fine. In other words IDK :). I hear others talk about their watchman’s being bold and exploring the tank with their paired shrimp. I’ve not see that, mine are homebodies

 

[Rhetoric]

Flake food in the water column, my gobies love it.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Interesting question and one I’ve asked myself a number of times..

In my main display, wife had a highfin goby - tiny sucker but he’d actively eat reef nutrition R.O.E. He’d just bob in and out of his cave as eggs came by and we had to feed eggs as that is all we’d see him eat but he ate and it was fun watching him.

In my smaller tank. The yellow watchman is regularly out watching over his cave. Never straying far. I’ve tried feeding him and his shrimp to no avail BUT he and his shrimp seem to being doing just fine - appearing to be happy as clams - so I’m assuming they find enough scraps and copepods. I just can’t fathom how there is enough within 1-2” of their cave entrance, but I never feed the as they don’t seem to be interested and do fine. In other words IDK :). I hear others talk about their watchman’s being bold and exploring the tank with their paired shrimp. I’ve not see that, mine are homebodies

exactly what i’m thinking experiencing

 

[Justfebreezeit]

PE Calanus is tiny and my small fish go nuts for it.

 

[Shezo]

i bought him at tsm aquatics as a yellow watchman goby. I don’t know the genus or species of this goby unfortunately. I figured he was getting by with leftovers but man ia he small. i thought he was dead months ago and boom! I saw him 2bdays ago

I lost my watchman goby somehow, and believe me i saw him healthy and active after 6 months in my sump filtration