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Post by Lance on Mar 17, 2014 13:50:21 GMT -5
So, I've had a Yellow Clown Goby for a while now and he's been nothing but a nuisance to 4 of my Acro colonies. He literally rubs his belly against the coral repeatedly, clearing spots of polyps so he can perch. I've also seen him nip the tips of colonies. Last night I'd had enough. But how to catch a tiny, wily fish in a thicket of Acros, Birdsnest, and live rock? I tried to chase him into a net...no go. Tearing the tank apart would likely result in significant damage to my inverts and possibly to my other fish. I decided to fall back on my Lionfish spear hunting skills. I let the goby get comfy in his favorite hiding place - the middle of my softball size Hyacinth Birdsnest. Then, using a dissection kit probe, I speared him. I'm not sure who was more surprised that I got him...me or him. Probe is outlined in yellow dashes...  The shot went straight through his back. I moved him to my soft coral frag tank and as of this AM he was still alive and swimming. We'll see if he makes it. I give him about a 50/50 chance. So, why am I telling you all this? First, I'm not to advocating spearing your pets indiscriminately. In my case I felt this was the least worst option to get this guy out of the tank before he did real damage to several colonies of Acro. The real reason is to say do your research before putting animals in your tank. I've got a lot of experience with reefs and I've even kept Clown Gobies in them before...just always with mushrooms, zoas, and other softies. I never had a problem. But putting them with Acros was a mistake. I could have avoided it by a simple Google. It never occurred to me that such a little fish could do so much damage, but he did. Happy Reefing! |
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Post by Cowdogz on Mar 17, 2014 14:49:37 GMT -5
Acros are what they eat............
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Post by jasonandsarah on Mar 17, 2014 14:59:57 GMT -5
When I was trying to catch my neon dottyback (for 6 months) lol I got fed up and tried something I thought would never work! diy minnow trap I found online. Built out out of things around the house as you can see. But I'm only telling this because I couldn't keep my goby out of it everytime I baited the trap for the dottyback I would catch the goby. 3 times before I finally got the prize! Lol Don't tell anyone but the night before I tried to catch him with a fishing hook (barbless of course) desperate times call for desperate measures! He was to smart for that anyways! Haha Attachments:
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Post by Lance on Mar 17, 2014 15:49:59 GMT -5
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Post by Lance on Mar 17, 2014 15:51:03 GMT -5
When I was trying to catch my neon dottyback (for 6 months) lol I got fed up and tried something I thought would never work! diy minnow trap I found online. Built out out of things around the house as you can see. But I'm only telling this because I couldn't keep my goby out of it everytime I baited the trap for the dottyback I would catch the goby. 3 times before I finally got the prize! Lol Don't tell anyone but the night before I tried to catch him with a fishing hook (barbless of course) desperate times call for desperate measures! He was to smart for that anyways! Haha That's a great idea. Putting that in the vault for next time! |
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Post by BriMc on Mar 17, 2014 17:24:16 GMT -5
I am kind of appalled that you speared a fish, ever here of a fish or pest trap? With all the advocates trying to shut our hobby down and us supposing to be responsible reef keepers posting this on an open forum probably isn't the best thing to do. This what I use to catch small fish in my tank and my tank is stuffed to the top with corals. www.ebay.com/itm/like/230867450925?lpid=82 |
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Post by spotfin on Mar 17, 2014 20:57:02 GMT -5
Tough call. I probably would have found another way to catch him. In the wild, do clown gobies live in acros? With time, do you think your corals would have adapted to the goby?
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Post by Tucker on Mar 17, 2014 21:44:22 GMT -5
I would agree with Lance. Tearing apart a system and losing prized corals is not worth it for a very small and very inexpensive fish. The clown gobies can be found in many places and are not threatened. Nobody harvests them except for the aquarium trade so they are quite abundant. I would have tried his methods with the net and then tried a pest trap but spearing a fish is honestly fine by me. Innovative, and the fish will recover I bet, I've seen baitfish while ice fishing be hooked 6-7 separate times over a season and still be resilient.
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Post by BriMc on Mar 18, 2014 8:57:09 GMT -5
Great mind set. The price of the fish and availability of the fish has no bearing, Again it is called responsible reef keeping. We use to get Passer angels, Cortez angel and many other fish cheap to and they were plentiful and now you can't get them at all. When he put the fish in the tank what did he think the fish was not going to perch on any of his SPS? This is what the fish does if you read up on them many articles state this. Hopefully the fish does live.
I have a cat at home and he is pissing on my $20000.00 Persian rug, I can't catch him because he is too fast for me so today I think I will go home and harpoon him to catch him. Cats are inexpensive and abundant.
I don't have a cat but the statement is the same.
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Post by gotareef on Mar 18, 2014 9:24:00 GMT -5
I remember when this was recommended, along with fishing hooks.... I would have no problem euthanizing a cat that pissed on my $20,000 rug I dont care if I pd $2600 for the toyger I want, it would be dead.... having said that I would never de-claw a cat that is mean  since we are on the subject of animals. I was watching tv, a commercial came on feed the starving kids in a 3rd world country for only .40c a day. just after that a commercial came on to feed the dogs in america for only .60c a day..... lmao!! then I came to the realization... ship the dogs to the 3rd world country the kids get fed and the dogs dont starve! win win |
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Post by gotareef on Mar 18, 2014 10:19:41 GMT -5
Tough call. I probably would have found another way to catch him. In the wild, do clown gobies live in acros? With time, do you think your corals would have adapted to the goby? clown gobys eat the mucus sps polyps produce when they are irritated. its there natural food |
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Post by jasonandsarah on Mar 18, 2014 10:28:55 GMT -5
Tough call. I probably would have found another way to catch him. In the wild, do clown gobies live in acros? With time, do you think your corals would have adapted to the goby? clown gobys eat the mucus sps polyps produce when they are irritated. its there natural food So they irritate the coral to get it to produce mucus so they can eat it and the stress from this eventually can kill off the polyps if it's continued in the same spot over and over? That how it goes? |
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Post by gotareef on Mar 18, 2014 10:39:27 GMT -5
thats about right if you have a pair and they start laying eggs it gets even worse for the coral the gobies intentionally kill part of the coral to make enough room for there eggs.
this is actually the reason I got my tricolor birdsnest originally. I was working on breeding warpaint gobies but couldnt successfully keep a culture of s strain rotifers going. then my female died and I havnt seen another one since
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Post by Pokahpolice on Mar 18, 2014 11:02:18 GMT -5
Great mind set. The price of the fish and availability of the fish has no bearing, Again it is called responsible reef keeping. We use to get Passer angels, Cortez angel and many other fish cheap to and they were plentiful and now you can't get them at all. When he put the fish in the tank what did he think the fish was not going to perch on any of his SPS? This is what the fish does if you read up on them many articles state this. Hopefully the fish does live. I have a cat at home and he is pissing on my $20000.00 Persian rug, I can't catch him because he is too fast for me so today I think I will go home and harpoon him to catch him. Cats are inexpensive and abundant. I don't have a cat but the statement is the same. I have to respectfully disagree here. I'm a hobbyist but I love to fish both freshwater and in the ocean. I also love to eat seafood. Does that make me an irresponsible reefer? What's the difference between eating a shrimp on my plate or the one in my tank? The abundance of the fish absolutely plays a role in this situation. There is nothing different between the fish we eat and the fish we keep as "pets" except some are prettier than others. |
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Post by Lance on Mar 18, 2014 11:02:54 GMT -5
Kind of ironic that BriMc points me at the "X-Terminator Mantis Shrimp Crab Trap", designed to allow you to catch and eliminate "pests" from your reef. I guess a cute Clown Goby is somehow more intrinsically valuable than a brown mantis shrimp. But seriously, the goby wouldn't go near my trap or net after a few failed attempts. Ultimately it was him or the coral. Also, I have a background in the industry as an importer/wholesaler and retail store manager. If you are appalled at losses, you should get out of the hobby now. Probably 95% of Clown Gobies die of starvation because they won't eat in captivity...most of those before they ever reach your LFS. Ever notice how skinny they are in the retail tanks? I would assume for almost every fish you see at the retail level at least 4 others died. Some mortality rates are much higher. If you don't like that, take up golf. And stop eating shrimp and tuna and scallops and Atlantic salmon and (most) beef, pork, and chicken. The commercial farming and fishing of those food animals is destroying temperate and tropical reefs worldwide by the hundreds of acres. gotareef - I'd like to see a link to something that documents SPS as a significant component of Gobiodon sp. diet. I found this but the findings only support that they eat something with cnidae but that this was only a component of a much broader diet consisting "of algae, invertebrates, and cnidae (stinging cells) of corals, among other things". Mine learned to snarf brine but it not surprising to me that some cnidae would be found in his gut as I saw mine nipping at the coral. In the end, I'm perfectly satisfied knowing that most of the animals that ultimately make it to my tank live, on average, way longer than their counterparts still in the wild. I also propagate coral to reduce pressure on wild collection and I educate people who've never seen live coral on what it is they should be protecting. I feel pretty good about myself. One last thing - if you forgot, the whole point of my original post was to fall on my sword and admit I made a mistake. Asta! |
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