Yasha goby breathing heavily

[seaofbytes]

Hey Reef,

My tank has been cycling for a month and today I added my first fish, a Yasha goby.


After temperature and drip acclimation, I put him in the tank and noticed heavy breathing. Is this normal? He just sits in one place and does not move too much. It has been about 10 minutes, and his breathing slowed down..although still heavy.


What should I do? Is this normal?

I have some snails in the tank, and they are doing fine.

Temp is 25c
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2

Thanks for the help. Video included.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

If you just put him in the tank, he is stressed and will need time to acclimate. This is normal.

 

[seaofbytes]

Breathing seems way better, he moves when startled but other than that still sits in one spot mostly. He acted the same in the bag.

 

[seaofbytes]

If you just put him in the tank, he is stressed and will need time to acclimate. This is normal.

How long can I expect this to last? He is a lot better, he swam around the tank a bit...tried feeding him but he just ignored it, he pooped twice tho. He's chilling under the heater now.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Give him some time. Like people, each fish has their own temperament. We don't know what he has gone thru from the moment he was shipped. Some fish hide out for days.

 

[Chortanator]

I just bought a yasha yesterday and was worried too. It swam against the glass like crazy when I first put him in, and now he's sitting in the corner, not eating and barely moving. My LFS told me to just give it time. Hoping yours acclimates well too!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Gobies typically display faster respiration as they become setlled upon introduction. There is elevated and there is labored. Labored is the one to be concerned with.

If newer tank, do monitor levels. Yours has a few zero readings.
WHAT TEST LITS ARE YOU USING ?

 

[seaofbytes]

Gobies typically display faster respiration as they become setlled upon introduction. There is elevated and there is labored. Labored is the one to be concerned with.

If newer tank, do monitor levels. Yours has a few zero readings.
WHAT TEST LITS ARE YOU USING ?

Ammonia - salifert and Colombo to double check
No2 - salifert
No3 - salifert

The goby seems better by each hour. Was swimming around exploring earlier, and is sleeping now. Will try feeding in the morning, and also do a new test run.

 

[seaofbytes]

I just bought a yasha yesterday and was worried too. It swam against the glass like crazy when I first put him in, and now he's sitting in the corner, not eating and barely moving. My LFS told me to just give it time. Hoping yours acclimates well too!

Yeah, pretty similar behaviour. It's looking like it's getting better tho!

Thanks and good luck to you too!

 

[seaofbytes]

UPDATE:

He made it through the night. Tried feeding this morning by puting frozen in front of him with a baster, did not even look at the food.

I dumped a aquaforest bio FIL bag in the hang on back filter yesterday, to help with the filtration in case that's a issue. I also got prime, just laying on the shelf but I never used it so far.

Seems worse than yesterday, doesn't move much today and just stays in one spot..also does not have his fin up. All the snails are fine and constantly moving and have their feelers out.

Just tested the water.

Salinity 1.025
Temperature 26c
Ammonia - salifert 0, Colombo 0.3
Nitrite - 0.2~
Nitrate - 3


Video included, poor little guy...I feel like I'm killing him

Is this still normal?


Edit: I noticed his fin is down a lot today, doesn't raise it up as much. He is also being swayed by the flow a little bit while on the sandbed. The flow is not that strong.

 

[seaofbytes]

Another video with a different angle and zoom.

Sorry everyone, I might be overreacting, but I want to make sure I do everything I can to make sure he survives.

Thank you everyone!!!

 

[fishguy242]

can you dim the lights a bit for a day or two ? let him get comfortable and eat ?
seems a little bright. may help ?

 

[seaofbytes]

can you dim the lights a bit for a day or two ? let him get comfortable and eat ?
seems a little bright. may help ?

It's not that bright, I have no LEDs or any lightning in the room right now, the video just makes it seem so. I can cover the tank to give him some darkness tho...based on the videos, would you still say this is normal?

He doesn't move much even when scared..I could just pick him up with my hand if I wanted, 100%

I just need some kind of a confirmation haha

Should I take him out maybe??

I covered the tank, should be better for the little fella now.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

is it in the display tank or QT tank? You mentioned you "watched him sleep", how?. Gobies will usually dart into the rocks, and it will usually build a home under a rock, its normal not to see the goby for the first few days, but seems like your has no where to hide. Does it have any hiding spots?

 

[seaofbytes]

is it in the display tank or QT tank? You mentioned you "watched him sleep", how?. Gobies will usually dart into the rocks, and it will usually build a home under a rock, its normal not to see the goby for the first few days, but seems like your has no where to hide. Does it have any hiding spots?

He's in the DT. The store had him in qt for 15 days. I picked him up myself.

There's a lot of holes and hiding spots, I made sure of that...he could disappear if he wanted. He "slept" under a rock in a hole, but is out on the sandbed in one spot 90% of the time. Only fish in the tank.

 

[obee2732]

He's in the DT. The store had him in qt for 15 days. I picked him up myself.

There's a lot of holes and hiding spots, I made sure of that...he could disappear if he wanted. He "slept" under a rock in a hole, but is out on the sandbed in one spot 90% of the time. Only fish in the tank.

Did your yasha goby survive? I'm observing similar pattern with my yasha goby

 

[killer2001]

I've had my Yasha for about 6 months now, they are extremely timid. One thing I noticed is that they really need to be paired with either a pistol shrimp or another Yasha. When mine was separated from her pistol she was extremely stressed out and aloof. Swimming around at night, not really knowing where to go or what to do.

So if starting a new tank, I'd highly recommend pairing a Yasha up first before adding any other fish, once they are established, slowly start adding other fish (preferably ones that won't fight for ground space).

Another thing, once established they will not swim out very far from their home. So you need to make sure food reaches their general vicinity. When I first got mine I purposely dropped pellets from the top of the water so they slowly fell right in front where the Yasha lived. You have to make sure the food size is appropriate. If the food is too big they will literally jump back into their cave, they are terrified of large food (well at least mine is) lol.

Good luck!

 

[obee2732]

I've had my Yasha for about 6 months now, they are extremely timid. One thing I noticed is that they really need to be paired with either a pistol shrimp or another Yasha. When mine was separated from her pistol she was extremely stressed out and aloof. Swimming around at night, not really knowing where to go or what to do.

So if starting a new tank, I'd highly recommend pairing a Yasha up first before adding any other fish, once they are established, slowly start adding other fish (preferably ones that won't fight for ground space).

Another thing, once established they will not swim out very far from their home. So you need to make sure food reaches their general vicinity. When I first got mine I purposely dropped pellets from the top of the water so they slowly fell right in front where the Yasha lived. You have to make sure the food size is appropriate. If the food is too big they will literally jump back into their cave, they are terrified of large food (well at least mine is) lol.

Good luck!

Thank you for the reply. What pellet food do you use? I was told to use frozen brine shimp only.

I agree with you about pairing with pistol shrimp. The shrimp somehow found a way to rear sump (by the overflow I believe) and the yasha goby was hiding all day long.

Right now, the goby and pistol are together - but the goby is unwell with a similar presentation as the original poster. I'm worried the goby has ich and not sure what to do next

 

[killer2001]

Thank you for the reply. What pellet food do you use? I was told to use frozen brine shimp only.

I agree with you about pairing with pistol shrimp. The shrimp somehow found a way to rear sump (by the overflow I believe) and the yasha goby was hiding all day long.

Right now, the goby and pistol are together - but the goby is unwell with a similar presentation as the original poster. I'm worried the goby has ich and not sure what to do next

Hikari Marine -S- pellet food. Although I no longer feed the Yasha pellets once it gained a little more confidence. She will now eat frozen mysis and flake food if it passes by her cave area.