# Dragon Goby, Small Tank



## vxalexanderxv (Apr 23, 2011)

I would like to get myself a Dragon Goby, but after doing some reading, I'd like to get my facts straight and everything in order before I proceed any further.

First lets get what I know out of the way;

While this particular fish can adapt to different levels of salinity, brackish water is recommended for the health of the fish.
Dragon Gobys are more active at night, like to have places to hide, and can be bullied during feeding time due to their poor eyesight.
Sand if recommended as they like to sift out the algae in their mouth, and expel other materials through their gills, and gravel can injure said gills.
 
My main concern is with the tank size. Reading around it seems everyone recommends a 45-50 gal. tank minimum, but many also seem to have many larger fish in the tank with it.

My Dragon Goby would be starting (at least) in a 10 gallon tank, all by his lonesome (maybe with 1 or 2 tank mates, but we'll get to that in a second). Is this still to small, or will the absence of other, larger fish allow him adequate room?

I've started the tank out as freshwater as the store (Wal-Mart -.-), has them currently acclimated to freshwater, but am planning to gradually increase salinity .

I also have normal, smoothed gravel as substrate, as I've not the adequate pump to use sand. They seem to be doing fine at the store with died gravel.

And last but not least, what would be some small tank mates for this type of fish and water environment? I planned on getting a couple plecos before I read this was a brackish fish. But as I said, I want to allow for as much room as possible for the goby.

I'm very thankful for any constructive criticism received.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Ok, you can purchase fine grain non sand products. But really most filters can handle sand if it's cleaned properly (reduces cloudyness of the water on setup).

I would purchase some African Cichlid substrate (looks red and white) which is very fine this will help you buffer the water to maintain a more steady PH.

Brackish tank for sure i believe the reading should be around 1.03 salinity so make sure you have a meter to test this.

feeding you can buy a syringe and inject food stuff for the goby down at the gravel so other fish don't eat it before it reaches his level.

10G tank yes it will be to small for him eventually. I would recommend buying the smallest one they have to allow you time to settle in with caring for him before you need to upgrade. The size of the tank is relative to the adult size of the fish. 55+ and you wont need to upgrade. Anything less and you will eventually need to upgrade so it has good room to swim around.

yes they have very poor eye sight, but what I read is they are aggresive and will eat any fish smaller than themselves. Keep this in mind as some fish like to rest on the gravel when the lights go out.


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## vxalexanderxv (Apr 23, 2011)

Thank you, a quick response is exactly what I needed! A trip to my local aquarium shop is on the agenda for pricing and such. Once again, thank you. It is much appreciated.

Happy fish-keeping!


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

For a brackish tank, depending on how you want to keep it and what you want to keep, you can range the salinity from 1.003 all the way up to 1.014. For the dragon goby, i read it should be kept between 1.005-1.008 for optimum conditions. Hiding places are key, get some live or fake plants as well as a nice rock for it to hide in. Some indian glass fish (parambassis ranga or chanda ranga by its old designation) could go well in the tank with it. When you add salt, do about 1/2 a teaspoon a day premixed into water. This needs to be marine salt. You'll need to get a hydrometer to check the salinity. Water movement is also a key thing. You'll need to get a power head or HOB that is rated higher than the tank size usually is. Brackish and saltwater animals need more oxygen than freshwater fish. Another thing to look for are ghost shrimp and blue legged hermit crabs. They are also brackish (brackish to saltwater for the crabs) and fully aquatic. Nerite snails can also be adapted to brackish and help to control algae. You may want to get some sand for the tank, they like to filter it through for food and since its smaller, it'll be better for it. Some live sand or marine sand works well. i have this in my brackish tank. HOB or internal filters work fine with this sand. Here are a few sites that will help you out a lot. 
Caring for your new dragon goby, Gobioides brousonetti, with pictures
Tropical Fish for Freshwater & Brackish Aquariums: Prehistoric Dragon Goby
Starting a Brackish Aquarium, what you need and what you can keep.


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## vxalexanderxv (Apr 23, 2011)

Thanks to all who have taken their time to help me out. I do however have a few more questions.

Since this guys will be living alone (maybe some bumblebee gobies later on once I'm comfortable with the dragon goby), what are appropriate methods of feeding?

All I can seem to find are ways to feed him to minimise competition with other fish, but in my situation... What competition? 

Since they sometimes sift through the substrate looking for food, will dropping freeze dried blood worms/shrimp pellets/other various foods in like flakes work, or will a feeding device give me any other advantages?

Once again, glad to be here, and thank you in advance.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

as i've noticed with my neon blue spot goby, it'll get used to whatever you feed it. i think the best stuff to feed them are a frozen 50/50 mix of blood worms and shrimp. You can pick it up from your LFS. do about 1/4 a cube and see how long it takes for it to eat it. Mine will also eat flakes but doesnt seem to prefer dried bloodworms. Since there is not competetion, then just drop the stuff in there.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Yup, no competition so just drop it in. They are bottum dwellers for the most part and yes sift through the sand for foods so make sure you feed foods that will sink to the bottum of the tank. Also I believe they are mostly semi nocturnal (unless they learn otherwise), so feeding a little at lights on and a little more during lights out is probably a good feeding cycle. 

Someone can correct me on this or maybe information links posted by Phys will give a better understanding.


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## vxalexanderxv (Apr 23, 2011)

Well, I've decided to name him Jormungand, the "World Serpent," of Norse mythology. According to myth, Odin cast him into the ocean, where he grew so large that he was able to surround the Earth and grasp his own tail. While my dragon is no sea serpent, it just rang as kind of fitting, and most artistic representations actually look similar.

He is way more active when its darker than when its light. With the lights on he likes to sit in his hollowed log decoration while periodically poking his head out of random entrances. When the lights go out however he is a pretty graceful little swimmer, likes to sort through and burrow into the substrate a bit, and generally stays out of his dwelling.

I'm currently doing a bit of research trying to find a method of sinking freeze-dried food, but give him algae wafers and as I said before, he loves sorting that sand for food.

Even after such a short time he's looking in better condition than in that cramped Wal-Mart tank.

The next step I want to undertake is acclimating him to brackish water so he can truly thrive. I want to acclimate him while in-tank, and have heard that drip-acclimation would be the best way to go. I, however, can only seem to find information of acclimating them in small buckets with brackish tank water already prepared. I have a hydrometer and marine salt.

How should I go about acclimating this awesome fish to his natural brackish-water surroundings? Which is less stressful on the fish?

I cannon express how much I appreciate everything!


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Do 5-10% water changes with brackish water at the target salinity you want to reach. Do them every day until your salinity overall equals the salinty you want. It will take a few weeks but you'll not have to worry about salinity jumping too high too quickly. Also, make sure to add the new water slowly and to use marine salts, not regular aquarium salts for fw or table salt.


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