Help with dragon gobies having seizures and dying..

[Moochie]

I used to have dragon gobies. My first dragon goby was a small one then I got a slightly larger one. The first one died.. It was stiffening up and having weird twitchy seizures. Then my second one got to a foot long and was as thick as a man's finger, I loved it! But he died too. Same way as the first one, stiffening up and twitchy seizures. I saw a video where this woman has HUGE gobies. Here's the link

Absolutely beautiful! I kind of want gobies again but I'm afraid they'll seizures again.. But today I got a black ghost knife fish and I hope he grows big too! I also have a golden dojo loach in the same tank with the knife fish, along with other fish, and that loach is my favorite fish cuz he's so cute looking and he does a fine job of bottom feeding. He's not as big as the one in the video but boy I really hope he grows as big!
How do I get my dear fishies to grow big and not have seizures? I'm not an aquarium genius, but I do change the water every now and then, and I change the filters as needed. I feed them what is recommended to feed them. I put de-chlorinater in when tap water is put in, but we use filtered water, tap is usually a last resort. And I stare at them alot.

 

[Kevin565]

What are your PH and Salinity LVs? They are brackish fish and if levels fluxuate too much it can cause death

 

[Moochie]

Oh I don't know. I know they are brackish fish and the bigger one lived for almost a year, so I'm not sure what happened. I have no idea what the levels are, how do I check that?
I went to Petsmart and I got more fish. I got some rainbow fin sharks, more plecos, a black knife ghost fish (it was on sale and it's gorgeous), some clown loaches, and something else I think. I don't really like these fish though... They don't swim in the open water as much as the 3 fish I got a year ago do. The rainbow sharks lurk around the bottom and around the plants/rocks. :\
Can someone recommend a fish that swims in the open water that's semi-aggressive?

 

[Kevin565]

Checking Salinity

http://www.ehow.com/how_2318354_test-aquarium-water-salinity.html

 

[Stacykins]

Oh I don't know. I know they are brackish fish and the bigger one lived for almost a year, so I'm not sure what happened. I have no idea what the levels are, how do I check that?
I went to Petsmart and I got more fish. I got some rainbow fin sharks, more plecos, a black knife ghost fish (it was on sale and it's gorgeous), some clown loaches, and something else I think. I don't really like these fish though... They don't swim in the open water as much as the 3 fish I got a year ago do. The rainbow sharks lurk around the bottom and around the plants/rocks. :\
Can someone recommend a fish that swims in the open water that's semi-aggressive?

...how big of a tank do you have?

Because ALL of those fish get very large and need a very large tank to accommodate them. I'm not talking a 20 gallon tank, either. Rainbow sharks should have a 55 gallon minimum. The common pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus) can grow up to 24" in size, also a 55 gallon minimum. Clown loaches are a rambunctious social species that also gets huge. To be comfortable they need a 75 gallon tank minimum. The black ghost knife, a rather aggressive fish, needs a 55 gallon. With the large number of fish you got, you can't just cram them all in a 55 gallon tank and call it a day. It'll be massively overloaded, both with the bioload and room. You need a bigger tank..

Most of the fish you got are shy, and also fish that inhabit the lower water column anyway. To see a ghost knife, you need to get a glass tube slightly larger than the fish, this will allow it to 'hide' in plain sight.

I know it isn't very kind of me to say, but you need to do research before getting any animal, even fish. You need to know if you can provide the correct environment for them. You can't just choose a bunch of pretty fish and toss them in a tank. Many just aren't compatible, both behavior wise (many gorgeous cichlids are very territorial, for instance, and will tear other fish to sheds or just kill them), or they don't have the same requirements (some fish need soft water, others hard).

People on aquarium forums can definitely advise you on fish that work for you, both in looks and in care. You can have a properly stocked tank of flashy, compatible fish. Learning what works gets easier with research.

 

[Moochie]

...how big of a tank do you have?

Because ALL of those fish get very large and need a very large tank to accommodate them. I'm not talking a 20 gallon tank, either. Rainbow sharks should have a 55 gallon minimum. The common pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus) can grow up to 24" in size, also a 55 gallon minimum. Clown loaches are a rambunctious social species that also gets huge. To be comfortable they need a 75 gallon tank minimum. The black ghost knife, a rather aggressive fish, needs a 55 gallon. With the large number of fish you got, you can't just cram them all in a 55 gallon tank and call it a day. It'll be massively overloaded, both with the bioload and room. You need a bigger tank..

Most of the fish you got are shy, and also fish that inhabit the lower water column anyway. To see a ghost knife, you need to get a glass tube slightly larger than the fish, this will allow it to 'hide' in plain sight.

I know it isn't very kind of me to say, but you need to do research before getting any animal, even fish. You need to know if you can provide the correct environment for them. You can't just choose a bunch of pretty fish and toss them in a tank. Many just aren't compatible, both behavior wise (many gorgeous cichlids are very territorial, for instance, and will tear other fish to sheds or just kill them), or they don't have the same requirements (some fish need soft water, others hard).

People on aquarium forums can definitely advise you on fish that work for you, both in looks and in care. You can have a properly stocked tank of flashy, compatible fish. Learning what works gets easier with research.

Oh I don't mind the ghost fish and the loaches. I know they want their private time. Well, it will probably be a long while until the fish get to their big sizes. And we actually have a bigger tank out in a storage shed. I can't say how many gallons it is, but it's 6 feet long, 2 feet wide (I think, maybe more) and 3 feet high. It's extremely heavy to move and it's stand is pretty heavy too. If all my fish live and get to those large sizes they will be moved into our huge fish tank. My mother is somehow grossed out my big fish anyways, and I'll be moving out hopefully in a couple years time. I'll gladly take all the big fishies with me. My dad would probably know how many gallons our huge one is and how many gallons is the one we're currently using.
I miss my dragon goby though.. I remember when a black molly we bought from Petsmart had babies and that little bugger ate some of them. She had the babies the day after we put her in the tank, and we didn't have a baby fish divider thing at the time, but we bought one immediately after it happened. About 3 out of 20 or so did live though.
I know plecos get big. Right now they're tiny, as are the other fish we bought, but as they bigger we'll move them. We actually have 4 fish tanks (well one is technically a lizard/turtle tank, old style kind) all in different sizes from biggest to smallest, when the time comes we can accomodate them. Right now since they're tiny they're fine in my opinion.

 

[Moochie]

The golden dojo loach in there is like 5 or 6 inches right now, and I've had him for a year. He's a little bit thicker than a bamboo touch pen stylus.

 

[Moochie]

And I usually do research before I get animals. I did alot of research before I got my chickens and I got the storey's guide for ducks. Unfortunately that book doesn't answer all my questions. I thought the Petsmart people would know about the fish though.. Sorry. :/ The guy there was telling us what fish to get with what and recommended this and that to us. And what not to put in the tank.
The tank in our living room, according to my dad's guess, is 30-35 gallons. Now before any of you fish activists jump on me like pirahna on a lamb, the fish are tiny. Compared to what I've heard and seen my guess is they're still babies or young. The tank out in the storage shed is around 80 gallons, but because it hasn't been used in years my dad guesses the seal on the glass is chipping off from the heat and cold weather. He said one would have to replace the seal and I've never heard of that but I'm sure somewhere sells seal for fish tanks so water won't leak.
If the fish we recently bought gets bigger (I mean if they get bigger quickly) one of these things will happen 1) Be moved to different tanks around the house in order to keep happy and what not. 2) If they reach the big sizes by the time I move out, they come with me with the 80 gallon tank. 3) If they get big before I'm ready to move out and my mom and I are no match for the 80 gallon tank, dad says we could eat them.. 4) If they get big and because mom and I cannot move the tank we could always find new homes for them/sell them. 5) Taxidermy could be an option.

My mom is fighting cancer right now and my dad is handicapped so moving the 80 gallon tank right now isn't an option. Especially since the fish don't need it right now. I kind of wanted the tank for reptiles or amphibians though. >_> It can even be used as a huge see-through brooder.

 

[Stacykins]

And I usually do research before I get animals. I did alot of research before I got my chickens and I got the storey's guide for ducks. Unfortunately that book doesn't answer all my questions. I thought the Petsmart people would know about the fish though.. Sorry. :/ The guy there was telling us what fish to get with what and recommended this and that to us. And what not to put in the tank.
The tank in our living room, according to my dad's guess, is 30-35 gallons. Now before any of you fish activists jump on me like pirahna on a lamb, the fish are tiny. Compared to what I've heard and seen my guess is they're still babies or young. The tank out in the storage shed is around 80 gallons, but because it hasn't been used in years my dad guesses the seal on the glass is chipping off from the heat and cold weather. He said one would have to replace the seal and I've never heard of that but I'm sure somewhere sells seal for fish tanks so water won't leak.
If the fish we recently bought gets bigger (I mean if they get bigger quickly) one of these things will happen 1) Be moved to different tanks around the house in order to keep happy and what not. 2) If they reach the big sizes by the time I move out, they come with me with the 80 gallon tank. 3) If they get big before I'm ready to move out and my mom and I are no match for the 80 gallon tank, dad says we could eat them.. 4) If they get big and because mom and I cannot move the tank we could always find new homes for them/sell them. 5) Taxidermy could be an option.

My mom is fighting cancer right now and my dad is handicapped so moving the 80 gallon tank right now isn't an option. Especially since the fish don't need it right now. I kind of wanted the tank for reptiles or amphibians though. >_> It can even be used as a huge see-through brooder.

Ah yea, most employees at petsmart or other pet stores don't know anymore about fish than what the little info card says. I've heard one saying that dwarf pufferfish can be put in with angelfish, once. But those tiny dwarf puffers are insanely aggressive and will bite up most tankmates, especially calm ones like angels.

I don't think they'll grow too fast on you. But they will eventually need an upgrade. Sorry for being so short, I really should have stopped and thought about it better.