dragon fish??????

[canufeelme]

okay, so i purchase this guy about a week ago. he seems extremely happy. loves to eat the bubbles. lol. well ive been feeding him the carnivor pellets and i would like to feed him different things here and there. i know he would like blood worms but should i get live ones or frozzen?

thanks

 

[StreetCypher]

There are a couple fish known as dragonfish.

Is it an arowana? Is it a violet goby? Is it a polypterus senegal?

 

[canufeelme]

im sorry, its a violet goby

 

[liv2padl]

Gobioides broussonnetii - is a brackish water fish that prefers to live in estuaries and muddy bays. though some references will tell you it can acclimate to freshwater, my experience suggests that they do far better in brackish water. they can grow to two feet, ... prepare to trade him up to a LARGE tank. as far as feeding, the violet goby is a peaceful scavenger, and if well fed, should not bother smaller fish. they can and will however, inflict severe wounds with sharp teeth on other fish if 'annoyed'. i'd avoid keeping other bottom feeders in the same tank, especially slow movers like kuhli loaches since you may get to witness the wounds i've mentioned.

 

[canufeelme]

i was told i can keep him with my tiger barbs...but im not sure if he was wrong cuz i came home lastnight from work with two of them dead. one with what looked like internal bleading. all the other fish look health and active. i had never seen them fight before but maybe they had and he finally had enough.

 

[RTR]

You were given incorrect information, common for such fish. liv2padl is correct. They are BW, not FW. they are also almost fiter feeders, so need either the smallest sinking pelltes or those that break up quickly into fine particles.

 

[monkey_toes]

i was told i can keep him with my tiger barbs...but im not sure if he was wrong cuz i came home lastnight from work with two of them dead. one with what looked like internal bleading. all the other fish look health and active. i had never seen them fight before but maybe they had and he finally had enough.

If anything, the goby is at risk from the barbs. Dragonfish are extremely peaceful, even with tiny fish like livebearer fry. However, I agree with the other statement that the fish needs brackish water. If you must kep it in a freshwater tank, don't expect a long-lived or healthy fish.

I had one years ago (like 15 years ago) that I bought at Walmart of all places. I had no idea what it was but was told it would do OK in my freshwater community tank, which it did — for about six months. Over that time, it slowly paled out from violet blue to silvery gray. It ate shrimp pellets after they had softened up for a few minutes on the bottom. It stopped eating a few weeks before it died and just wasted away. Now that I know more about them and their requirements, I'm considering setting up a brackish tank just to house a small group.

 

[Mudfrog]

Check my sig to see my VG's.

Anyway, feed them Wardley Shrimp Pellets as these break up into fine pieces which are ideal for this fish. You can also feed them Algae waefers as a treat but I would use the shrimp pellets as a staple.

As stated they are strictly brackish, well the most common kind at least, there are actually 3 species of violet gobies, the most common one is strictly brackish. They are peaceful and only show signs of aggression to other violet gobies. I strongly suggest changing him over to BW as it will eventually develop tumors from living in FW. Any questions just ask..