Hello again,
Here's another post about trouble with my dragon goby -.-
I got an old tank from a friend and the cover it came with wasn't able to accommodate my waterfall type filter. So I made the stupid decision to not put a cover at all and of course I found my fish on the floor the next morning. That was about a week ago, and since then I have bought a new lid which suits the tank. Unfortunately, this lid has a small flap so I can just lift it and put food in there and somehow last night my dragon goby was able to push the flap open and jump out again. This time, I didn't find him until much later since I thought he was hiding in his cave and it turned out he was wedged behind the couch. He hides as soon as the sun comes out in the morning around 7am and I found him a little after 11am so he's been out for 4+ hours. When I found him he wasn't very moist, the best I can describe him is sticky. He seems in a lot worse shape than the first time, a lot of his fins cracked off and right now he's just hiding in his cave. As far as I know he's still alive but I don't want to stress him out and poke him just to double check. So my questions are... Do you think he can make it? Can fish breathe some air while out of water for so long? Could there be any long term effects if he does survive, like going blind cause his eyes got dry? Anything helps, I'm really worried =(

Also, theres a weight on the flap of the lid now...

I would treat the water with an treatment that boosts the slime coat like top fin water conditioner and follow the directions for correct dosing for your tank size.
and give him time. And hope for the best.

I haven't had a problem with a fish jumping out before.
also I would lower the water level in the tank by a inch or two.

I did lowered the water level earlier today. I have stress coat, would that work?

Stress coat would be perfect just be careful not to over dose the tank.