[Varmint]

Hi Everyone,
I'm worried about my neon blue goby. He is a juvenile who seems to have lost weight since I got him a couple of months ago. He isn't growing. Food competitors are 2 adult rainbow sp. algae eating gobies, 3 amano shrimp, one yellow shrimp, 2 nerita snails and an unknown number of baby mts snails. They live in a 12 gallon fluval edge that is lit with stock lighting 11 - 12 hours a day. There used to be plenty of food until I added the Amanos last month. Except for the un-killable clado algae, the Amanos have eaten everything.

I am thinking about supplementing his diet with Repashy. I think soilent green would be the appropriate food since my other two algae eating gobies seem to thrive off the biofilm in my tank more than the algae, but I saw someone online saying they use super green (with is vegan instead).

Does anyone have experience with this food especially for the gobies? Does the food spoil the water if it doesn't get eaten (I would have to drain water out of the edge to remove uneaten food).

Thanks for your help!

 

[Varmint]

Well....75 people looked at my question and nobody replied.

In the meantime I found this old thread in case anyone else is curious about this food

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161390

I decided to buy the soilent green since it sounds promising.

 

[deeda]

I've used Soilent green with algae eating species before the super green product came out. I've used it for a Stiphodon species, shrimp, snails and Sewelia species with great results.

It is possible your fish may gain some weight back but it might be too far gone if it hasn't eaten in a few weeks.

You may not have gotten any responses because no one keeps this fish or because at first glance, the fish comes up as a saltwater species, despite your other tank mates. I'm assuming your fish is a Stiphodon atropurpureus, correct?

 

[Varmint]

The fish was sold to me as neon blue goby, but I am pretty sure it is Stiphodon atropurpureus.

Deeda, I'm curious. You are using super green now. Any reason for the preference?

My other 2 stiphodon are healthy and seem to be finding enough food even though the Amanos are eating them out of house and home. There may be a problem with the little one. I purchased each fish at different times and had a similar issue with the second one. He got very skinny, but he eventually either started eating the available food or got better from his problem. He was a lot older than the current skinny goby. I wonder if they are a little wormy when I get them since I understand they are wild caught.

The one thing I found encouraging about the repashy thread I linked to above was that they thought the food felt more naturally like biofilm. I'm hoping it will be palatable for my little blue goby

 

[deeda]

No, I haven't bought the super green yet. I've tried various 'flavors' of the Repashy because of the different fish I keep.

I also forgot to answer your question about feeding Repashy. I make my product in a glass 2 cup measuring cup, using 3/4 cups of water and bring to a boil in the microwave then add 1/4 cup of Repashy, stir with a wisk and pour into a mini ice cube tray. Let it set up at room temp for about 1/2 hour. I store the cubes in a tupperware container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The cubes could also be frozen and thawed slightly before use.

I either feed an entire cube or halve or quarter it, depending on which fish I'm feeding. I spear the cube on a fork and dangle it in the aquarium though some people also use a petri dish placed on the substrate to contain it. Remove any uneaten food, if there is any left, after 48 hours to prevent any possible fouling in the tank.

 

[Varmint]

Dee,
Thank you so much!

 

[deeda]

Once you get the Repashy, the directions are on the bag but if you want to make less finished product you will need to adjust the recipe. 1 part powder to 3 parts water.

I also found it better to boil the water first and then add the powder because it didn't stink up the house so bad.

I also use a spatula to scrape the finished product out of the measuring cup. Anything that has already gelled up can be fed directly to your fish or shrimp. I try not to waste anything, even the leftovers on the wisk. It was a riot watching shrimp and baby fish swimming through the wisk to get every last piece of Repashy.

 

[Varmint]

One more question. Do you make enough to freeze? If so, how do you thaw it before use?

 

[deeda]

One more question. Do you make enough to freeze? If so, how do you thaw it before use?

I think I did once but stuff tends to get lost in my freezer.:frown:

I just put a couple cubes from the freezer in a food storage container in the refrigerator and let them thaw before using.

 

[Varmint]

Feeding them repashy

Well, I am feeding them soilent green for the first time. The shrimp love it. They have been greedily eating it and jockeying for position over it. The gobies were interested but didn't like it enough to fight four hungry shrimp for it . The snails ignored it. My rainbow thread fins and ember tetras smell it and seem really excited about it, but they don't know how to eat something that is laying on the substrate in a huge chunk coated with shrimp.

 

[deeda]

Thanks for the update!

I bought some small metal shrimp cocktail forks from goodwill, cleaned them up and bent the end of the handle so it hangs on the rim of the tank. Spear a chunk of the Repashy and your top swimming fish will have easy access to the food. My Rainbow fish really go nuts for it.

You can also check out tedsfishroom, he makes and sells a suction cup mounted 'dish' that you pour your Repashy food in and hang it from the glass. There may be some other vendors that sell similar items or if you are handy, you can try and make a similar feeder.

 

[Varmint]

Thank you Dee!

I can tell the Ember Tetras and Rainbow Threadfins are being driven crazy by the smell of the Repashy, but they can't figure out how to eat it. I may try your suggestion so they can eat it too.

I am really enjoying watching the shrimp. They gobble every last bit of this stuff and then they go back to the empty spot where it was and they look for crumbs.