Could I Keep Some Gobies?

[Ben M]

hi, i would like to add some gobies to my tropical freshwater community tank. the fish are SAE's, kribs (which i am getting rid of soon), Trigonostigma hengeli, cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, serpae tetras, otocinclus, and soon some corries and shrimp. would there be any suitable species? if so, i have a few questions.

are there any that will eat flake/tablets/granules, with weekly live/frozen foods?
are there any that stay small (under 2", the smaller the better)
do they have any special needs.


sorry if i posted this in the wrong section, i'm not sure what type of fish gobies are.

cheers

 

[hamfist]

A number of the Stiphodon sp. gobies would fit the bill very well. The problem being that they are not that commonly seen.
However, having said that, I picked up some Stiphodon semoni ( http/www.fishlore.com/fishforum/catfish/23844-freshwater-goby-series-stiphodon-semoni.html ) at my local World of Water (Romsey, and they still have a few). They were being sold as "Sumatran Cobalt blue gobies" I think.

They seem very peaceful with other species. I have had them with a male fighter, pygmy cories and a dwarf puffer at various times.
They like to tiff between themselves, but apparently this is very normal for gobies and no harm is done.

Mine are very much "graze" feeders, appearing to feed similar to an Oto, but they are very fond of frozen daphnia, and brine shrimp and show great appreciation of it. They will also eat some normal flake, once it gets nice and soggy on the bottom.
They do not seem to like granules or frozen bloodworm (although like live bloodworm). They have no interest in Spirulina flakes.
I have really been enjoying these guys. They took a while to settle in but now are full of confidence and are real characters.

As for your hoped-for feeding regime, I would suggest that fish similar to my ones would need frozen food at least every 2 days, as they are not that fond of dried foods, even though they eat small amounts of it.

As for their size, they are slim, and seem to max out at about 2-3 inches.

 

[hamfist]

Oh, and there's always the Peacock Goby ( http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/gobyfish/peacock.php ). They are not "true" gobies, as such, as their pelvic fins are not fused. But apart from that technicality they would fit the bill as well.

 

[Ben M]

thanks, i've seen the peacock gobies in my lfs, but can't remember the price. are they very expensive? and how many should i get, do they like to live in groups? and are they very confident, or would they be too timid to go for the food if there were lots of other fish going for it. i could feed them earthworms every other day, but would that be ok? if not, i'll have to buy frozen foods. and would they be ok when i go on holiday? i go for a week in summer, but unfortunately, no one can come in to feed them when we're away.

thanks

 

[hamfist]

I've not kept Peacock Gobies myself, but the ones I've seen in a shop were quite timid. Don't know if this is typical though.
They were not expensive ... about £3.50 each I think.

As for frozen/live food every other day. I was really only talking about my specific Stiphodons, as they are not that keen on any dried food. If you can get some gobies that like dried food, then I'm sure that would be just fine as their staple food, with some weekly live/frozen food.

 

[Ben M]

hi, i think that i might possibly get the peacock gobies. would they be ok with my kribs, as i'm not getting rid of them yet.and do they live in groups? or should i get a pair? and how do you sex them?

cheers

 

[hamfist]

hi, i think that i might possibly get the peacock gobies. would they be ok with my kribs, as i'm not getting rid of them yet.and do they live in groups? or should i get a pair? and how do you sex them?

cheers

Info here .. http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/gobyfish/peacock.php

I'd be cautious about keeping them with Kribs unless its a big tank with plenty of space to get away. As I'm sure you know Kribs can be merciless at times, and Peacock Gobies are fairly delicate things really, compared to a Krib.

 

[Ben M]

hi, thanks for the info, yes i do know about the kribs, they've killed a few fish in the past.

cheers

 

[didz04]

I have never kept peacock goby's but I have read and heard from the fish keeper that they are real easy to breed. If your kribs are aggressive then it would be an idea not to keep them with the peacocks, the reason being because they are peaceful fish and prefer not to fight and been chased by other fish. How big are your kribs? Because everytime I go to the lfs shop for peacock goby's I have never seen them over 3cm and on average they stay around 5cm which isn't very big compared to how big kribs can get.

The goby's I have kept are the purple spotted goby and have kept them in pairs which are also easy to breed but not as easy as the peacock's. These purple spotted can get very big and grow quickly in my experience. They can grow to 6" however, in an aquarium they would only grow around 10cm. Here is info on them for you to consider, if you think the kribs are likely to attack the peacock Goby's.
http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/purplespottedgudgeon.php

Thanks

 

[Ben M]

thanks, i'm not sure if i can get any gobies yet, it all really depends if i can sell/give away my kribs. (my mum isn't too keen about it), but the kribs are about 1.5-2" ATM, and are getting a bit aggressive towards my other fish, so i think i should get rid of them. i'll read the link, and thanks for the breeding info!

cheers

 

[didz04]

If you really want them to breed then a good idea would be to have lots of hiding places like ornaments, caves, pipes, shells and plants where they can spawn their eggs on. It will be interesting to see which place they will choose to spawn on or in.