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I'm back in the hobby! Query re stocking, mixing sand gobies
12/9/18 Too many gobies? Fish compatibility
questions/recommendations 9/20/14 Hawkfish-Diamond Goby Question 4/15/14 Wrasses and Gobies, comp.
5/30/12 Valenciennea Genus Compatibility With A
Stonogobiops Yasha 11/28/09 Sleeper Goby sifting substrate >I have a 120g reef system, 90g display tank with a 20g refugium and 10g sump. I have fine aragonite substrate, about 110 lb live rock, 14 corals, one anemone, 10 fish, 3 shrimp, a feather duster worm and a load of hermit crabs and snails. The system is running perfectly, water quality excellent, fish healthy, most corals growing like mad. >A few days ago I introduced a 3-inch Orangespotted Sleeper Goby (Valenciennea puellaris) after almost a month in a quarantine tank. Well, he seems to be doing fine, but he sifts through the aragonite continuously, which causes silt to be circulating all around the tank. The tank is now cloudy with due to these swirls of substrate, and the beautiful purple live rock has now become largely silted over. It looks terrible, and I also wonder if the corals are now getting adequate light. >>It's creating *that* much silt, eh? Sounds as though he's having the time of his life. >Catching and removing him is problematic; he is so fast it was difficult catching him in an almost bare 20g quarantine tank. There is no way I could catch him in the big tank without dismantling the entire reef. Any suggestions? >>Hhmm...well, if he were an invertebrate that didn't swim I'd suggest the jar. If he were a damsel, I'd suggest a tiny, barbless hook. I don't think we should have you use that on the goby, though. So, if it were my tank and my fish, I'd first try to sort out how to reduce the siltiness (I wouldn't worry too much about the corals not getting enough light, unless there's not enough current to move the silt off them). Barring that, I would do some rearranging of the tank, so that I could block off a portion of the tank to trap the goby, thus making it easier to catch him. If you absolutely cannot rearrange the tank to afford this opportunity, then I would find myself the oldest fish shop hand I possibly could, and offer him/her $20 to come and catch the fish. Other than that, you could try some fine netting and literally "recollect" the fish, this could take some wrangling as they usually need to be chased from the rockwork. Sorry I can't be of more help, though I think that someone skilled in netting up fish might be able to do it. Good luck! Marina Jeffrey M. Zegas Twin-spot Goby <Hi Kylee, Mac here> I was talked into getting a twin-spot goby without doing the proper research and now that I've researched it I see that they need to be kept in pairs. My question is should I go get one from a store that isn't a mated pair and see if they will pair up? or should I take back the twin-spot goby that I have. <In all honesty I kept a single twin spot goby for two years by itself. I know that it is recommended that you keep it as a pair but mine did quite well on its own. I will say that it paired up with a shrimp goby. It was probably one of my very favorite fish ever but it did constantly eat in the sand. Constantly sifting sand through its gills. Was nice for keeping the sand stirred up but was tough on the sand critters.> Also will the twin-spot goby compete with the mandarin for food? <Both eat pods so it will provide some competition for the mandarins food source. You might consider supplementing your pods production with some type of refugium where they can breed without being eaten or consider renewing your pods with some type of outside pods that you bring in.> Thanks, Kylee Valenciennea puellaris and Amblyeleotris guttata compatibility 11/17/05 I had a Valenciennea puellaris that jumped from my tank, so I had my LFS order another, but his supplier sent him Amblyeleotris guttata instead. <Not unusual to have suppliers mix gobies up> My questions are: 1) would these 2 fish be compatible in a 135g system? <Mmm, yes, should get along> Since the diamond watchman and the spotted prawn look so similar, I didn't know if that might cause them to fight. <Not likely> 2) I believe I had sufficient 'pods for the puellaris (they are -everywhere- both amphipods and copepods, very easy to find all over the rocks, glass, sand, any time of day). I have about 3-4" of sugar-sized sand throughout, and the live rock offers a lot of places for things to hide (very porous and stacked to make crevices). My concern is if they both eat 'pods that I would not have enough. I planned to add a refugium within the next 2 months, but do not have one yet. Would these two fish compete for food? <Not to the point of starvation here> 3) I know the puellaris likes finer sand than the guttata - would it be possible to put some more coarse sand/gravel on one side for the prawn goby and keep just the finer sand at the other end for the puellaris to encourage them to stay on different sides of the tank? <I would not add, mix the substrates> Thanks! Scott Hardin <Try as the system is currently. Should be fine. Bob Fenner> Mandarin/Diamond Goby question 6/10/06 I have a question or two for you. I have 110 Gallon tank, with about 90 lbs. of live rock. I am planning to run the tank approximately 6 months to a year before adding any piscine buddies; I really want to let all the critters populate the rock and sand. Question; would this amount of time provide enough live food to sustain a Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus), without a refugium? <Likely so... with an absence of competitors> Would he/she eventually eat through all the pods, or would they have enough space and numbers to sustain a healthy population indefinitely? <Likely large enough to sustain an ongoing food population here> I suppose I can make refugium area in my sump, but I don't want to light it since I tend to have heat issues and that is just one more source to worry about. Can the pods grow fine in the dark? <Many types, yes> Actually, it is not completely dark since it is in a fish room and receives stray light from the tank above, but definitely not enough "quality" light to grow any macro algae with. I can put some aragonite sand and some filter floss for them to live in....would this work? <Possibly> Last question; this is regarding a Diamond Goby. Would that be in competition for food with the mandarin goby? <Particularly when small yes. Still as a consumer of benthic, in-fauna that give rise to other organisms with age, size as well> When they filter the sand, do they specifically target pods, or are they just getting the detritus? <Sift most all "large-enough" worms, crustaceans, molluscs...> Thank you for your time, it is appreciated. Take care. Paul <Bob Fenner> Goby Dust 'The 'Engineering' Nightmare? -- 03/06/08 Crew, <<Ben>> Thank you in advance. <<Happy to assist>> I recently added a Diamond Goby to my 240. I made sure he was eating at the LFS for several days before getting him and he continues to eat well at home. <<Excellent>> After finally adding him to the display after QT he is now "going to town" on my sand. <<Indeed 'and likely 'crop-dusting' your rock/corals>> I have a grain size mixture that includes Oolitic sand. He is doing such a good job that I have a good amount of particulate matter in the water column now. <<No doubt 'the fish are quite the 'stirrers'>> Will this be detrimental to other livestock in anyway, gills etc.? <<It may cause some irritation to those organisms that can't slough it of easily (e.g. -- plating Acroporids)'¦but for the most part it should cause no harm>> I understand that the photosynthetic animals will not receive quite as much light until this thing works itself out, but what about fish? <<The fish will be fine'¦ But don't expect this to 'work out.' The goby will always find another place to dig 'or at the least, gobble up mouths-full of sand and sprinkle it around the tank (crop-dusting)>> I'm hoping this is purely aesthetic for the time being and won't hurt anything. Last time I went snorkeling the water wasn't exactly crystal clear, so I hope the fish will be okay. I guess I'm just used to my water being extremely clear with UV, carbon etc. <<Indeed, is/will be more bother to you than most anything else in the tank. I have a 6' Barred Goby (Amblygobius phalaena) in my 375g reef display that keeps quite a bit of the fine substrate/detritus in suspension. If I had it to do over I would forgo the goby 'but not because of any 'harm' it has done to the system/livestock>> Thank you, Ben <<Quite welcome. EricR>> Orange Spotted Diamond Goby afraid of new Two Spot Bristle tooth 12/5/08 Tang Dear Wet Web Media, <Laura> I have an 85 gallon reef tank with a 2.5" live sand bed and plenty of live rock with the following parameters: KH 9 Calcium 450 Magnesium 1350 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Phosphates 0 Temperature 77-78.5 Tank has a very efficient protein skimmer and a refugium with Chaetomorpha growing in it. Water changes are done monthly. I supplement with trace elements, iron, strontium, calcium, and potassium iodide regularly. My tank is 9 months old Inhabitants are: 1 Multicolor Pygmy Angel 1 Golden Rhomboidalis Wrasse 1 Fiji Yellow Sailfin Blenny 2 Black and White Ocellaris Clowns 1 Midas Blenny 1 Royal Gramma 1 Diamond Watchman Goby 2 Cleaner Shrimp 3 Fire Shrimp 2 Emerald Crabs Cleaner crew of Blue Hermit Crabs and Cerith Snails obtained from GARF. Many SPS and LPS corals and one Crocea clam I did have a Citron Clown Goby that recently passed away, due primarily (my best assumption) to malnutrition. Her stomach was concave most of her life (I had her about 6 months) and she would never eat well enough for me to feel comfortable. <Very... too common> With the exception of my Sailfin Blenny (loves Julian Sprung's Reef Veggies!), my tank thrives of Spectrum Thera-A pellets, Cyclop-eeze, Phytoplankton, and the Sea Veggies daily. Now for my dilemma...My last and final fish was added approximately 6 days ago - a "teenage" Two Spot Bristletooth Tang. It is by far the largest fish in the tank (that is why I added it last) at about 4 inches. She has settled in quite well, eating the Spectrum Thera-A pellets and Sea Veggies voraciously. My Multicolor Pygmy Angel has definitely had some stress issues with her, I say this because she has been swimming in kind of a loop at one end of the tank, something she was not doing before the Tang came in. But, she seems to be settling down as each day passes and I don't see a real issue here. My Wrasse hid behind a rock the first day the Tang came in, and since has been out and about and acting completely normal. The problem (surprise!) is with the Diamond Watchman Goby. <This is surprising to me as well> She is very frightened of the tang, and will not venture out from under her rock covered with mushrooms. If she does come out, the tang zooms down to see it, and with a cloud of sand, the goby is back under the rock. I don't know if there is true aggression on the part of the Tang - I have seen her zoom at the Goby a few times when the Goby gets enough nerve up to try to come out. I have been very worried and have been spot feeding her the Spectrum Pellets (she loves these) with a turkey baster near her home twice a day. This just makes the Tang hang around there more, increasing the problem! I am not sure what to do. The Goby was incredibly active and entertaining before the Tang came in, and sifted sand the entire day, even ate Sea Veggies from our veggie clip when she could sneak them in, and shut herself in her "apartment" every night at 6;30 P.M. You could literally set your watch to it! I feel as if I have really upset a lovely community of fish with the new Tang. He is a beautiful fish, and I researched the compatibility levels very carefully before adding him. My Goby's behavior is really throwing me, and I would welcome any and all suggestions you could provide. <Mmm, patience at this point...> Getting the Tang out of the tank would require breaking the whole thing down - basically a nightmare. Your help is very much appreciated. On another note- I chose the Two Spot Bristletooth Tang because they are, for the most part, hardy, don't get too terribly big, great algae eaters, and just a great reef fish. I was assured by many trusted sources (including much web research) he should be fine for the size of my tank, but I would like your opinion on this as well. Thank you, Laura Garmizo <Thank you for providing so much information so well... If it were me, I would do nothing outside what you have been doing... At least for another week. I suspect the new social dynamic will set in by then... with all becoming "used to" each other. Bob Fenner> Re: Orange Spotted Diamond Goby afraid of new Two Spot 12/5/08 Bristletooth Tang Hi Bob, <Hello Laura> Thank you so very much for the prompt reply - and the reassurance. <Glad to render it> Will do. This Diamond Watchman Goby was quite a character before the Tang came in. I hope her "chutzpa" will get the better of her soon! Thank you again, Laura Garmizo <I have high confidence that s/he will... What you relate so well is often seen... in captivity, a new animal being added, resulting in a period of readjustment in extant population behavior. Particularly amongst/between organisms utilizing similar space, habitat, food resources... I do think you will have no real problem here in the longer haul. Cheers, BobF> |
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