Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Valenciennea strigata (Yellowheaded Sleeper Goby) My poor fish has lost most of his body weight looks all head skin and bone, these photos were taken in sept. Reasons? went missing so I looked for him in his cave found him in there but maybe he had been trapped in.orI have changed the sand pinched all the sand out to make a deep sand bed and replaced it with new, no goodies in it for him to sift orI don't know. Anyway I have got him eating again but very timid, never used to be. Hope he makes it he is a great fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 That's a nice fish! I like the electric blue streak. In a tank that big, I'm sure there is some food for him somewhere. Does he eat food you put in the tank, or does he live off pods and other critters? Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 He likes whitebait and mysis, brine shrimp anything really he has been a hardy out the front all the time fish, he shares a cave with Ptereleotris zebra (Zebra Dart Goby) You can see them peeping out side by side so cute, the Zebra is more timid but is getting better. Anyway thats why I can't understand whats happened I think he must have been trapped. I could recommend this fish but he does need to sift sand, I have been feeding my other sand sifter (big boy) by hand since I put the new sand in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 i hope he fattens up for your fay, its a very pretty fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 INFO Since these fish are sand sifters, internal parasites can be a common problem. A positive identification of intestinal worms would require a microscopic examination of its fecal matter, or the liver, intestines, or abdominal cavity of deceased fish. Obviously, this is beyond the capabilities of most hobbyists, so it is best to presume the fish has intestinal worms. This presumption is not without merit, however, as an estimated 75 - 85% of imported marine fish have intestinal worms (Bassleer, 1996). The induced stress from poor shipping practices exacerbates this ailment, likely leading to the death of the animal. Normal signs indicative of internal worm infestations are: weight loss while a healthy appetite is present, scraping or flashing against rockwork or sand, and finally, loss of appetite occurring just prior to death. Treatment for internal worms must be administered to a fish that is eating. Live foods are best, as this allows "gut loading," which is the practice of feeding live foods additional vitamins or medicines just prior to feeding. If live foods are unavailable, the next best option is to use freeze-dried foods. The dry food will soak up and retain a majority of the medicine. Piperazine is a good first choice for treatment. Add 250mg per 100g of food each day for a period of 10 days. Praziquantel or lecamisole can be used as a second choice, with the same dosage and time frame. Niclosamide can also be used at 500mg per 100g of food for 10 days (Bassleer, 1996). It is highly advisable to keep these gobies as pairs in the home aquarium as single individuals are typically noted to succumb to an early death. Spawning of paired individuals is not uncommon in the home aquarium. The eggs, usually between 1000 and 2000 eggs, will be attached to the roof of the burrow. The female will stay in the burrow with the eggs until they hatch, reportedly from one to four days for V. strigata (Michael, Coral Realm) and three weeks for V. sexguttata (Baensch, 1994), while the male remains outside the cave, presumably guarding the female and the eggs from danger. When the eggs hatch the male will seal the burrow entrance with the female inside until nightfall, at which time the male opens the burrow door and along with the female, herd the fry into the open water column (Baensch, 1994). The Sand Sifting gobies certainly live up to their given name, and in doing so can make an interesting addition to some home aquariums. Their unique eating behavior is certainly something not seen too often, and possibly thankfully so. The eating behavior can become terribly destructive when the fish is placed into the wrong setting. Ignoring the advice given above will yield results that will make for both unhappy hobbyists and corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 O.K. read that now what do I do where can I get the meds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 I can get you some, BUT how will you catch the fish.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Piperazine was also the anti-worm drug used by some importers in the states to combat the bangaii cardinal deaths, apparently it works reasonable well. As for where you can get these? I don't know, maybe a vet can get hold of it, or something similar? There are many drugs for killing these nematode worms. Usually they are not a problem, but sometimes they can get out of control and eat fish from the inside out. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Reef I don't think I can catch him at the moment he to skittish?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 It's a shame when this happens, when a fish becomes sick for whatever reason, it is near impossible to get them out of the tank to treat them, without inducing even more stress, and your left wondering, if it would have survived if you hadn't stressed it more by catching it. I would be inclined to just leave him, if he is eating, it is a good sign. Has he been eating continuously through the sand change? Or did he stop eating for a while? If he has been eating right through, and is still losing weight, i suspect that the worms will kill him if not treated with one of these medications. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 I think I will just wait like I said he went missing, so I don't know if he was eating, now I found him I will try and feed him up for a few days and see if that makes a difference. If he doesn't pickup then I'll know its worms. I had another thought I did read somewhere that they can injure themselves when sifting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calvin Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 You can always send it over to my place for a feed. I would love one of these fish, but apparently my tank is too small for it to survive. Suppose I’ll have to resort to drooling over someone else’ fish then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Used to use ground up dog worming tablets mixed in with their frozen food to treat my discus (on advise from many forums). Did it every time a new fish went into the system and never had any problems. Not sure if it would work as well in marine but can't see why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 I've got these dog pills but I don't think I can use them in a reef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 Does the packet tell you whats in them? Likely be the same stuff as recommended above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Managed to take some photos of my sickfish notice the weight loss from the pics at the start of subject I've had this fish for well over a year and his weight loss was sudden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 worms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Will it spread to my other fish? I don't think I can catch him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do for your fish, even if you could catch him. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 lduncan do think it will spread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 no, it will not. try mixing all your food with garlic. might help with resistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 From what i've read, most fish actually have worms. I wouldn't be too concerned. But if it does die, I would remove it before other fish start to pick at him. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Reef I have been giving him the garlic treatment from Hollywoods for the last couple of days. Mixing with grated Whitebait and putting it in a syringe like you said you do. Thanks for the help will see how he goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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