Golden Headed Sleeper Goby - Will I Ever See Him?!

So I purchased a Golden Headed Sleeper Goby (Blue cheek, blue band) this Saturday, put him in the tank, and I haven't seen him since...LOL! He's dug out a hole underneath one of the rocks, and has been staying in there ever since he was put in.

I know I've seen videos of these fish out in open water in tanks, and I'm wondering if something isn't right in my tank, or is it just that he's scared and will warm up to the place eventually.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
David

 

Dave,
What else do you have in your tank?
What size is the tank?
Do you have ample open space for it to swim and sift sand?
Golden Head Sleeper Gobies are fairly hardy and do a good job of sifting sand. This is important for two reasons:
Helps keep your sand bed free of uneaten food and increases the time detritus is suspended in the pelagic area of your tank for filtration and living animals to remove.
stirs the substrate which aerates it and reduces the likelihood of calcuim precipitating out of your water and solidifying in your sand causing it to harden.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the fish, atleast at this time, but keep an eye open to see if it becomes visible in a day or so. Also, they are notorious jumpers...any sign of the fish on the floor by your tank looking like fish jerky?

 

gobies tend to be like that.... how many other fish in the tank? i introduced my goby first (he doesnt get bigger then an inch) and he hid at first but now hes king of the tank ;D

 

pretty normal behavior, it will create a burrow and hide for a day to several weeks, eventually it will get hungry enough or comfortable enough to come out in the open.

good luck, the wait should be worth it

 

i wish mine had a burrow :-X he hides in the holes in my rock...but when hes not in the rock hes hanging upside down ;D

 

I've got 2 baby Tomato Clowns, and a Spotted Hawkfish.
It's a 37 gallon aquarium.
There's a lot of sand in the aquarium (40 lbs). There's not that much rock yet so he's got plenty of room to swim.

No fish jerky here.

 

does it have a good hiding spot(s)? and how big is the goby compared to the hawkfish?

 

Well, as I live and breathe, guess who pokes his head out when I dump a load of mysis shrimp in tonight?! He came out and started working like a steam shovel on the sand.

I gotta say this is probably my favorite fish to watch of any of the marine fish. Just like little worker ants. Turns out he's dug out quite the pad under a few rocks. Seems to be getting on just fine now.

Thanks to all for easing my fears!

David

 

LOL glad he finally got hungry enough to get brave. I love mine a lot. I swear he know's exactly which corals to sift onto to irritate me the most. But he's probably my favorite fish in the tank.

 

i had 2 that i didnt see for weeks you gotta use a turkey baster or something and squirt food into the sand i found this out after mine both died