Rainfordi Goby Disappears

[Moneymaks24]

Got my Rainfordi goby a few weeks back, he always used to swim around, hes my my favorite fish I think, now he's been hiding for like 2 weeks I don't even see him during feeding time anymore

I thought he was dead but when I moved some rocks I found him alive and well, anyone had these before is this typical?

 

[basiab]

I have had a couple over the years in my 24 gallon and they just can't survive in small tanks unless you can get them to eat the food you feed. They get their food from sifting sand. So you have to have an established tank with plenty of live stuff in the substrate.
Small tanks just won't work. They will eat whatever is there in a short time and then will starve.

 

[Moneymaks24]

Yea my tank is only 2 months old so nothing alive in here, but I coul of sworn he was eating whatever I fed. What a shame my favorite fish so far.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

Fish can eat very well, and will die of starvation if the nutrients are wrong. I've kept rainford's alive in a 30 for at least a year...mine eventually disappeared also. I tried a relative, banded bullet goby, also a sand sifter known to eat hair algae, back in my 55 gal tanks younger days when it had a hair algae outbreak. It quickly gave up sand sifting to gobble down hair algae non-stop. It died of starvation, with a full belly, a few weeks later.

 

[Waleedwale1]

Fish can eat very well, and will die of starvation if the nutrients are wrong. I've kept rainford's alive in a 30 for at least a year...mine eventually disappeared also. I tried a relative, banded bullet goby, also a sand sifter known to eat hair algae, back in my 55 gal tanks younger days when it had a hair algae outbreak. It quickly gave up sand sifting to gobble down hair algae non-stop. It died of starvation, with a full belly, a few weeks later.

+1
This is called rabbit starvation and even happens to humans sometimes. I think that this is probably the case.

 

[Moneymaks24]

What a shame, that's what I get for thinking I can keep any fish I want just coz its cool looking. I guess ill wait till I have a Refugium and a mature tank to get another 1. Thanx the info guys n gals