High-fin Banded Goby is hurting his fins on the rocks,ho

InvertGang

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Hello, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to help my goby.

My high-fin banded goby, Ziggy, has picked a little crevice between the rocks as his home. He'll hover near it with his tail pointing towards it and periodically dart backwards down into the rocks.

I've noticed that on more than one occasion, he has torn his fins on the rocks. He's been the only fish in a Fluval Evo 13.5 with a peppermint shrimp and a snail being the only other residents at the time.

In the past, he has torn half of his right pelvic fin off. That's grown back now but a couple days ago, I noticed he had split his right pectoral fin in half along the rays.



Is there anything I should do to help him heal? Or something I can do to prevent him injuring himself?

20211230_090904.jpg
 

Jay Hemdal

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It is really unusual for a cryptic reef fish to just up and damage themselves on rocks - they spend their entire lives in that habitat, they are pretty adept at maneuvering. I would think that either the fish is getting scared, and causing it to bash into the rock, or more likely, the peppermint shrimp is getting feisty at night.

I don't see any sign of infection, but sometimes, deep splits in fins won't heal up all the way.

Jay
 
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InvertGang

InvertGang

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It is really unusual for a cryptic reef fish to just up and damage themselves on rocks - they spend their entire lives in that habitat, they are pretty adept at maneuvering. I would think that either the fish is getting scared, and causing it to bash into the rock, or more likely, the peppermint shrimp is getting feisty at night.

I don't see any sign of infection, but sometimes, deep splits in fins won't heal up all the way.

Jay
Do you think getting him a pistol shrimp buddy would help? I've been considering a candy stripe pistol shrimp for him, and maybe it could help keep the peppermint shrimp back.

The peppermint shrimp is super active all day when the lights are on. Always scuttling around and picking stuff off the rocks. The peppermint and goby used to be much more skittish around eachother but they now tolerate eachother well, and they don't spook even when the shrimp's antenna touches the goby.
 
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Andresnyc93

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You can use some first defense by dr tim to help the little guy heal a little faster.
IMO he must be skittish around something he sees or maybe a vibration. Fish don’t hit themselves against a rock unless they have Ich which isn’t the case
 
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Jay Hemdal

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Do you think getting him a pistol shrimp buddy would help? I've been considering a candy stripe pistol shrimp for him, and maybe it could help keep the peppermint shrimp back.

The peppermint shrimp is super active all day when the lights are on. Always scuttling around and picking stuff off the rocks. The peppermint and goby used to be much more skittish around eachother but they now tolerate eachother well, and they don't spook even when the shrimp's antenna touches the goby.
Sorry, I've never tried pairing up pistol shrimp and gobies after-the-fact, I've always gotten them as pairs.

Jay
 
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