Suicide goby

[DrHank]

A friend of mine just called to inform me that his orangespot diamond goby went carpet surfing last night. The thing That I find puzzling is that he has eggcrate over his tank and a top over the eggcrate. I'm wondering if this is just an isolated incident or if others are having trouble keeping this fish inside their tanks. What else could he do? Is there an equally effective sand sifting goby that does not possess this desire to go tank jumping?

I don't see how this could have happened but it did.

 

[msbdiving]

I have two diamond gobies. I have seen one jump out when I was trying to put it into the quarantine tank. After that one incident neither has made a run for it. I have a kole tang in my DT that will pick on the diamond goby if it feels that it is in his way. It must not feel too threatened by him because it just scurries out of the way never wanting to jump. I think it might be the distress level that you have to look at. Is there something in there that makes it feel mortally threatened?

Here is a link of sand sifting gobies. Hope this can help you in your search for one.
Reef Tank Safe Sand Sifting Gobies

 

[DrHank]

Possibly a pair of mating clownfish. Hadn't thought of that but I guess it's possible.

 

[zy112]

I had 2 firefish and what I thought was a closed top and they eventually both jumped

 

[glampka]

To keep your fish from jumping I have found 2 things that work rather well - the first is to get a small leash & choker collar for the fish. Have to make sure the leash isn't too long though. The other thing that works rather well are the new shock collors they have come out with. They are similar to the invisible fences they have for dogs. If the fish goes too high in the water column- ZAP! It only takes 1 time & the fish learns how far it can go.

 

[Varga]

thats funny. you can also place several tanks around your display tank, incase it jumps, it falls into the other tanks. then you need more tanks around your back up tanks in case it jumps out of those. line up tanks all the way to the ocean and now you can relax

 

[George771177]

i dont know but i would like to here a good answer to your question the same thing happened to me. i have a pair of mated gold stripe maroons also. maybe the goby is threatned. i didnt have anything on the top of my tank.

 

[msbdiving]

I can't imagine how a mated pair would be. I have a maroon that will attack my hand at the drop of a hat but leaves the goby alone. I know maroons are supposed to be just a hair more friendly than a clarkii. Pretty stinking territorial.

 

[thelastmucci]

I had read somewhere that you could use that window screen stuff you buy at the hardware store and glue that onto eggcrate...only get the one with bigger holes so more light goes though....or you could use the zap collars...either or.

 

[DrHank]

Or maybe I could lower my water level in the tank to 3" above the sand. That way the fish wouldn't be able to jump high enough. I appreciate your insight.

 

[vdituri]

Hey Jim,
I had a diamond goby that surfed pretty quickly after arrival.
My yellow headed goby has no inclination to jump. I think he's just lazy.

The big difference though is the diamond goby sifts sand sitting still in one place.
The yellow headed goby grabs sand and eats on the run dropping sand pretty much everywhere. Great cleaner though.

 

[nikkipigtails]

goldenhead sleeper goby

 

[Doot77]

Hey Jim,
I had a diamond goby that surfed pretty quickly after arrival.
My yellow headed goby has no inclination to jump. I think he's just lazy.

The big difference though is the diamond goby sifts sand sitting still in one place.
The yellow headed goby grabs sand and eats on the run dropping sand pretty much everywhere. Great cleaner though.

My roomate had both of those gobies and his diamond went carpet surfing also and the yellow does exactly what your does, speading sand everywhere.
I myself have the diamond and I have the glass tops over my tank so I've had no problems.

 

[DrHank]

Thanks folks. I'm going to tell him to try the goldenhead. May even get one for myself too.

 

[cheeks69]

They all jump unfortunately. I have lost several Gobies to carpet surfing including my beautiful pink-bar Goby, it really sucks :waa:

I have a canopy but there's an small open area near my fans and they always seem to find it, I think the screen material or Gutter Guard is the way to go.

 

[Varga]

do they jump out of bigger tanks?