Rainford Goby care

[David & Katie]

Hi all. My wife and I have been in the hobby for less than 10 weeks. This is my first post to R2R. There is an incredible amount of information here and my go to source for advice, tips, and opinions.
We came home with a Rainford Goby after talking with our LFS guy about our level of experience and tank set up. He assured us that the Rainford would be a good fish for us. However I am concerned about the diet of this fish. I haven't witnessed it eat anything prepared. It does sift a little sand and peck at live rock, but that is it. I have tried frozen mysis, brine, live black worms, new life spectrum, and Coral frenzy. I have read that a fuge is needed to successfully keep him. I have included a photo. He seems to have energy and acting "normal". We have had him 9 days and are thinking we will have to take him back. We really don't want to lose him. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[I_Got_Crabs]

Hi all. My wife and I have been in the hobby for less than 10 weeks. This is my first post to R2R. There is an incredible amount of information here and my go to source for advice, tips, and opinions.
We came home with a Rainford Goby after talking with our LFS guy about our level of experience and tank set up. He assured us that the Rainford would be a good fish for us. However I am concerned about the diet of this fish. I haven't witnessed it eat anything prepared. It does sift a little sand and peck at live rock, but that is it. I have tried frozen mysis, brine, live black worms, new life spectrum, and Coral frenzy. I have read that a fuge is needed to successfully keep him. I have included a photo. He seems to have energy and acting "normal". We have had him 9 days and are thinking we will have to take him back. We really don't want to lose him. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Never trust an LFS worker until they've proven themself worthy of your trust. Always research your fish extensively before you buy one. These are lessons many of us learn the hard way. I've heard Hectori gobies are slightly easier but both them and Rainfords are hard to keep alive without a large well established system with lots of fine grain sand to sift. They will slowly starve without that.

Take the goby back, say their employee is either incompetent or decietful (in a diplomatic way if possible) and demand a refund or store credit.

Sorry this happened to you! Never fun to lose a fish you've grown attached to.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Welcome to R2R!

Never had one. Heard they were difficult to keep long term.

I thought I saw where they are captive bred now.
Some one must know how to feed them well if that is true.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Have you tried adding copepods to the tank?

If that works, there is a thread for culturing them so you don't go broke feeding your fish.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=339906&share_fid=1020&share_type=t

 

[minus9]

They eat pods and micro/filamentous algae (GHA and the like). What size tank do you have? Also, a 10 week old system really hasn't established a good amount of pods, even if you have a large tank. I probably have more questions than answers right now, but as mentioned above, research potential fish additions before purchasing. Also, consider their diet and if there will be competition for food?
I have a rainford goby in a 90g and I've never seen it eat prepared food. He sifts through the sand and pecks at tiny bits of algae all day long. Maybe if it's captive bred, it will take prepared foods, but most rainford's are wild caught. I would list them as a 6 or 7 out of 10 for difficulty, based on their diet alone. Definitely not a beginner fish as many sites have them listed.

 

[David & Katie]

They eat pods and micro/filamentous algae (GHA and the like). What size tank do you have? Also, a 10 week old system really hasn't established a good amount of pods, even if you have a large tank. I probably have more questions than answers right now, but as mentioned above, research potential fish additions before purchasing. Also, consider their diet and if there will be competition for food?
I have a rainford goby in a 90g and I've never seen it eat prepared food. He sifts through the sand and pecks at tiny bits of algae all day long. Maybe if it's captive bred, it will take prepared foods, but most rainford's are wild caught. I would list them as a 6 or 7 out of 10 for difficulty, based on their diet alone. Definitely not a beginner fish as many sites have them listed.

I saw them listed as moderate care. I didn't see anything about it needing copepods. I read that they eat filamentous algae, mysis and brine shrimp. He too spends all day sifting sand and nibbling bits of algae from the rocks. He was brought home with a Bullet Goby. The Bullet was chosen for it's sand sifting, and the Rainford for it's diet of GHA. I have the Red Sea Max E260. Started with LR and LS. The rock was purchased from a local store that sells Coral. It came from their 8 year old system. The tank cycled quickly. I was encouraged to begin stocking my tank around the 2nd week. But only added snails. After 4 weeks I added two Percula and a blue tuxedo urchin. Last weekend the Rainford, Bullet and Fire shrimp were added.
We love the Mandarin, but have stayed clear of them for the very reason of not having a refugium. Does the Rainford look emaciated in the photos I posted? He appears to be eating, just not anything the others are interested in. I have ordered copepods. I have read that a refugium is not necessary for a healthy population of pods.
If he is grazing all day, should I even be worried?

 

[David & Katie]

Have you tried adding copepods to the tank?

If that works, there is a thread for culturing them so you don't go broke feeding your fish.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=339906&share_fid=1020&share_type=t

Thanks for the link.

 

[jd371]

I've had mine for about 8 months now in my 75g. I have seen him peck at algae on the rocks occasionally but spends most of the time sifting the sand, I've got that Oolite very fine sugar like sand so he has no problem getting mouthfuls to sift. Recently it has started to eat live Black worms, it knows when it's feeding time and will stop sifting and wait close to the surface with the other fish for the worms.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Try rubber banding nori to a rock. I have a captive bred one - had it for 3 or so weeks. She behaves very similarly in terms of feeding. I have never actually seen her eat the nori but it disappears over night and the next day she poops a giant green poop that looks a lot like nori (tmi?)

Also try vegetarian frozen food like sf bay emerald entree. I’ve never seen her eat this either but right now she’s my only fish in a hospital tank (TTM for ich) and it disappears after I put it in. So either she’s eating it or it’s being sucked into another dimension.

Also she doesn’t look skinny to me.

 

[David & Katie]

I've had mine for about 8 months now in my 75g. I have seen him peck at algae on the rocks occasionally but spends most of the time sifting the sand, I've got that Oolite very fine sugar like sand so he has no problem getting mouthfuls to sift. Recently it has started to eat live Black worms, it knows when it's feeding time and will stop sifting and wait close to the surface with the other fish for the worms.

Thanks so much for that. I too have oolite. However, it is mixed with pink Fiji sand. Do you think it is too course? I have only just introduced the live black worms. He didn't seem very interested. Although, the Bullet Goby seems to push him around a little. He is eating algae from the rocks and sifting some sand. Do you think he hasn't approached the worms because the Bullet is a jerk? Or because he just isn't ready? Thanks again for giving me hope that the Rainford can stay. But now I wonder if I will need to choose between the two. Do you have any thoughts on their compatibility? Again, I haven't seen anything to say the wouldn't. I was told they would. But I know it can be hit or miss with animals.

 

[David & Katie]

Try rubber banding nori to a rock. I have a captive bred one - had it for 3 or so weeks. She behaves very similarly in terms of feeding. I have never actually seen her eat the nori but it disappears over night and the next day she poops a giant green poop that looks a lot like nori (tmi?)

Also try vegetarian frozen food like sf bay emerald entree. I’ve never seen her eat this either but right now she’s my only fish in a hospital tank (TTM for ich) and it disappears after I put it in. So either she’s eating it or it’s being sucked into another dimension.

Also she doesn’t look skinny to me.

Thank you for the advice. Also for your comment on her appearance. That gives me some relief. I have a good plan moving forward knowing that it is possible if you are attentive to their needs. I was discouraged and a little embarrassed after the first comments I received. Now if I could get rid of ALL my gorilla crabs.

 

[David & Katie]

Thanks again to all that offered help.

 

[Pbh-reef]

To me these fish are a bit of a mystery. I would love to better understand their care too. I thought getting a captive bred one would ensure she ate, perhaps with time I will see her actually put the food in her mouth!

 

[jd371]

Thanks so much for that. I too have oolite. However, it is mixed with pink Fiji sand. Do you think it is too course? I have only just introduced the live black worms. He didn't seem very interested. Although, the Bullet Goby seems to push him around a little. He is eating algae from the rocks and sifting some sand. Do you think he hasn't approached the worms because the Bullet is a jerk? Or because he just isn't ready? Thanks again for giving me hope that the Rainford can stay. But now I wonder if I will need to choose between the two. Do you have any thoughts on their compatibility? Again, I haven't seen anything to say the wouldn't. I was told they would. But I know it can be hit or miss with animals.

Mine only started to eat the worms last month so it might take sometime if it does. I don't have any other Gobies so I don't know about the harassment issue but my Falco Hawkfish will shoo him away if he gets too close to where he's perching.

 

[jd371]

Here's a short video of my Dragonet eating the worms and the Rainford eating some on the sand.

Is there an easier way to upload video to posts? I had to load it from Imgur to Youtube and back and it cut some of the video out.

 

[ReeferBean]

I have a captive bred one from Biota. It doesn't seem to go after anything I feed, but I do notice it taking in sand and small bits from the top of the substrate. I've had it about a month now.

 

[lapin]

Hi all. My wife and I have been in the hobby for less than 10 weeks. This is my first post to R2R. There is an incredible amount of information here and my go to source for advice, tips, and opinions.
We came home with a Rainford Goby after talking with our LFS guy about our level of experience and tank set up.

I have had mine for 8 months. She made it thru 2 weeks QT. I'm sure she eats something. I dont see her changing her habits when I feed so its hard to tell if she has a feeding response. She is now about 2" long. I feed live hatch brine, live white worms and a mix of frozen cubes. I also have copepods and amphipods in my fuge and tank. I do see her picking at the macro, rocks and the sand.

 

[Stigigemla]

In my quarantine they "always" eat frozen thawed cyclops from day 2. But I do believe they are impossible to keep in the long term without some live algae.

 

[David & Katie]

In my quarantine they "always" eat frozen thawed cyclops from day 2. But I do believe they are impossible to keep in the long term without some live algae.

I bait a trap with a chunk of rinsed table shrimp almost every night lately to try and catch a gorilla. Unfortunately I seem to only be feeding bristle worms [emoji852]️. So I am growing a good bit of algae for her ATM. I will be supplementing that when/if I can turn this into the reef tank we wanted, not a little box of horrors. Will definitely be taking the advice given by all who also keep this fish.

 

[salty joe]

I had a rainford for several months until the sump burst a few years ago. It never ate what I fed the tank but picked the rocks and sand all day. It looked great.
As far as getting a gorilla, I feel your pain. I tried every trap known to man. To my surprise, placement seemed more important than trap type. I caught several with the trap away from the main rock structure. Never caught a single crab with trap right beside the rock.