Feeding Solution for Rainsford Goby

[jacobc1199]

Hello Goby fans,

I picked up a Rainsford Goby from an LFS about a month ago. Even though I knew it was likely going to be a challenge to feed as it was wild-caught, it looked healthy at the store. I was prepared to put in the effort to eat for myself as it is one of my favorite fish. I tried the usual - pellets, frozen Mysis, frozen brine, homemade food mix, and nori, but nothing worked. I don't have anyone in my area that sells live blackworms, which I saw many threads on here suggest, so I decided to buy a brine shrimp hatchery and feed live brine shrimp. While the hatchery I purchased works excellent (link below), I couldn't get my Rainsford Goby to eat them when added directly to the tank. I then decided to build a Mandarin Goby feeder (thread link below) to see if he would eat the BBS that way. I'm happy to report that after a day or two of being afraid of it, I haven't been able to keep my Goby off of it for weeks. While it is not a permanent solution, now that he is on a reliable diet, I can introduce more prepared foods. I wanted to post here for others trying to get their Rainsford goby to eat. I didn't see anyone suggest trying a Manderin feeder in my research. I hypothesize that sand sifters are predisposed to looking for food that's on the substrate and not free-floating, which is why adding BBS directly to the tank didn't work. My Rainsford always has a full belly, and I hope this works for others! They're a great and undervalued fish, in my
opinion, and with aquacultured specimens now available, hopefully, they'll be more common!

Video of Goby Using Feeder

Brine Shrimp Direct Hatcher

PaulB Manderin Feeder

 

[Ron Reefman]

Interesting information, thanks!

 

[afishbestservedcold]

Mine was also wild caught from the store, initially he only ate live copepods but he started eating ROE eggs and now he goes for all sorts of stuff.

 

[PaReefingFamily]

Hello Goby fans,

I picked up a Rainsford Goby from an LFS about a month ago. Even though I knew it was likely going to be a challenge to feed as it was wild-caught, it looked healthy at the store. I was prepared to put in the effort to eat for myself as it is one of my favorite fish. I tried the usual - pellets, frozen Mysis, frozen brine, homemade food mix, and nori, but nothing worked. I don't have anyone in my area that sells live blackworms, which I saw many threads on here suggest, so I decided to buy a brine shrimp hatchery and feed live brine shrimp. While the hatchery I purchased works excellent (link below), I couldn't get my Rainsford Goby to eat them when added directly to the tank. I then decided to build a Mandarin Goby feeder (thread link below) to see if he would eat the BBS that way. I'm happy to report that after a day or two of being afraid of it, I haven't been able to keep my Goby off of it for weeks. While it is not a permanent solution, now that he is on a reliable diet, I can introduce more prepared foods. I wanted to post here for others trying to get their Rainsford goby to eat. I didn't see anyone suggest trying a Manderin feeder in my research. I hypothesize that sand sifters are predisposed to looking for food that's on the substrate and not free-floating, which is why adding BBS directly to the tank didn't work. My Rainsford always has a full belly, and I hope this works for others! They're a great and undervalued fish, in my
opinion, and with aquacultured specimens now available, hopefully, they'll be more common!

Video of Goby Using Feeder

Brine Shrimp Direct Hatcher

PaulB Manderin Feeder

Great information. Thanks for sharing your experience. I miss the old days when LFS didn't sell a fish until they had it eating. Mine use to quarantine for a minimum of two weeks and sometimes longer before they would sell you the fish.

 

[LacViet]

Yeah, mine Rainsford goby also eats hatched brine shrimp but if you can find blackworms, he will eat that and his belly will always full. one or two blackworms is all you need per feeding. The rest of the time he can find whatever food in sand or on rocks.

 

[jacobc1199]

Some great suggestions and comments thanks, everyone! I recently tried soaking some freeze-dried cyclops in selcon and then carefully leaving it on top of the mandarin feeder. He was not so interested at first but he regularly picks at it now so I'll call that a success!