Yellow watchman goby nowhere to be found.

[Kirschy17]

hey guys,

I need help on how to react to my current situation. I introduced a yellow watchman goby and a pistol shrimp to my tank on friday.

Since the first night i cannot find any trace of the goby. When i added the pair i put the shrimp first and the goby second. The shrimp ran into rockwork immidiately while the goby was pannicing quite a bit. I was worried the shrimp the pair wouldnt find together in my 65g so i tried to get the shrimp somewhat close to the goby. I gave up eventually. Now 3 days later the shrimp has found a home under one of my rocks in the front. I see him digging and even saw him get some food once. After googling that my goby is missing i heard plenty of people having a similar issue. There were some that found theirs in their filters and some said its normal for them to hide.

Im worried the fish is not well. I checked my filtration twice. No sign of the fish. Im kinda woried. Could u give me advice on how to handle this. Should i take my rocks apart and check for him? Ty in advance

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

IMO, just wait and observe. Tearing apart the tank is not going to help the goby get settled. They will find each other eventually.

Consider too that he might have jumped, so check your overflow, sump and (unfortunately) floor around the tank...

 

[SaltLifer]

It’s not uncommon for any fish to hide out for a couple days after you add it. Give it time.

 

[K. Steven]

I've had a YWG vanish over a weekend while I was away. I checked around the tank to see if he jumped and inside the tank for any carcass, but couldn't find a thing. I would wait and see if he comes out for feeding.

 

[EmdeReef]

If you have an ammonia test kit perhaps try to test, though in a well established tank may not notice much of a spike. If it's not coming out for feeding at all that's not a great sign, though as previously stated it could be hiding as well...

 

[themcfreak]

I had a very similar situation. I would see my shrimp come out, dig around, be very active, and no sign of the goby. A week or 2 later, after figuring the goby was lost and had been eaten by the shrimp or my coral banded (which has happened previously), I saw it! It was right behind the pistol shrimp, which was barely coming out of the rock. If you can see in the hole, try shining a red colored flashlight in the hole. Thats exactly where mine was, just in the hole, but in the dark enough that I couldn't see without an extra light. (Seen it several times since thin, but only have seen it peeks his head out from the rock once in a 2 month period, and then only for a second).

 

[FloodWaters]

My YWG is a little wuss and has not managed to find my very successful pistol shrimp on the other side of the tank in almost a year. Sometimes he will go missing for days at a time and I have to lure him out with some food just to confirm the guy didn't die off. The best advice I have is to get 1 of those extra long eye dropper that places like BRS carry and shoot some Misys shrimp into the edges of the rockwork. If you do this very carefully it will look like a game of hungry hungry hippos as his little head darts out for a second to gobble some shrimp. Good luck!

 

[bigroost]

Mine is pretty reclusive, he will come out when I'm around but hides from strangers. Even with that I may go days without seeing him. I was sure he was dead one time hadn't seen him for 3 months, I found him living in my sump. I keep a pretty close eye on everything and he still managed to hide out that long.

 

[ca1ore]

Expect that a new fish will hide, often for days. Don't go hunting for it. Also that fish will jump, so make sure you have a tight fitting lid. Otherwise patience is the order of the day.