Watchman Goby missing for 3 years

kristynb · Nov 27, 2023

My husband and I have been together for 2.5 years & I have lived together for 2 years. He has had his 30 gallon tank with live rock for a little over 3 years & his first fish was a Watchman Goby. A couple months went by & he couldn’t find the fish. He knew they liked to hide, so he waited. and watched. and waited for 3 more months. No Goby. Finally, he got a pair of mid size clown fish that are total jerks, which he had when we started dating. Since then, we have added a starfish, anemone, snails & a hawk fish & they surprisingly live well together most days. The 2 cleaner shrimp and small emerald crab we had last year weren’t so lucky & were bullied for about 2 weeks until their demise.

After 2 years of me living here and checking on things & my husband constantly caring for and maintaining the tank, taking rocks out, shifting sand around, etc- a Goby was out and about swimming today in the middle of the day! He was once yellow & is now brown (I understand they change color with age).

Has anyone else had an experience with their fish going missing for not months but years?! This is absolutely bizarre to me & the longest we have found people reporting their fish missing is a couple of months.

I’m quite offended that I’ve been paying bills to keep his current running & he has taken so long to introduce himself.

littlefoxx · Nov 27, 2023

My yellow watchmen has been MIA since January. Thought he died in my velzvet outbreak first week or so of January. Added a pistol shrimp with him too. Also MIA. But a few months ago I saw the shrimp and hear him snapping a lot. Then about two weeks ago I saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye and when I looked in the shrimps hole sure as s- there this dude is! 3 years is crazy but these guys are strange fish. Lol

besskurz · Dec 26, 2023

Haha that's a great story. Never heard of a fish missing for so long.
Show us a photo of this Houdini watchman goby!

SteveMM62Reef · Apr 17, 2024

I couldn’t find my Mandarin Goby, went on vacation, came back and still couldn’t find it. Was perched on top of the Return Tubes. I’m guessing it went up there to eat the Pods, as there’s Algae growing there. It’s back on the sand, and going over the rocks for pods now.

Wrinkled Fingers · Monday at 10:31 AM

Thanks for sharing! I have a Tiger Watchman in my 120 that I have not seen for months. I thought it gave up the ghost, but perhaps there is hope for the little guy.