gobs of gobies

[LoyalConvict]

ok a very brief history , a few questions, and my thoughts

history: me and my girlfriend set up a 75 gallon with a 30 gallon fuge a little over a month ago. i used 30-35 lbs of rock from my fuge and an ice cream bucket or 2 of chaeto and a few cups of sand. and plan on getting 50-100 lbs of marco rocks.

my thoughts: what i envision is to have a pair (2) of each

brown clown gobie's

citrinis or citron clown gobie's (depends what site your on)

green clown gobie's

panda clown gobie's (just freakin awsome)

catalina gobie's

1 wheeler watchman gobie and pistol shrimp

a blenny (currently undecided)

and a volitan lion fish - i'm kidding of course

alredy have a perc clown (currenlty in my tank as it has been a resident for a year)and a flame angel

questions:

1) i know that sounds like alot of fish but they are pretty small, apart from the angel. but does this sound feasible?

2) i'm worried about the perc as it is kind of an (expletive deleted) and a little worried about the pistol shrimp

3) sexing the clowns, is there a distingushable way to tell the difference?

4) i figure a (6 month to 1 year period to add all these guys) depending upon ammonia spikes and cycling time

5) your thoughts, input, and advice, is welcome and pleaded for

thank you for reading and TIA for replying

[redfishsc]

Right off hand I'd say you may have a lot of territorial squabbles.


However, beware the Catalina goby Make sure that, if you decide to buy them, they were collected in a further-south area. Many catalinas are caught in waters that are a good bit colder than our reef tanks and they often die after a couple of months.

I have some friends with catalinas in their reef, and they were caught in the Carolinas, and they seem to be doing well for the past 6 months or so. Carolina water temps in the summer go way over 80, so warm water isn't a problem for them.

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by redfishsc
Right off hand I'd say you may have a lot of territorial squabbles.


However, beware the Catalina goby Make sure that, if you decide to buy them, they were collected in a further-south area. Many catalinas are caught in waters that are a good bit colder than our reef tanks and they often die after a couple of months.

I have some friends with catalinas in their reef, and they were caught in the Carolinas, and they seem to be doing well for the past 6 months or so. Carolina water temps in the summer go way over 80, so warm water isn't a problem for them.

thanks for the advice on the catalinas excelent input. i never really considered squables betwean the gobie's, i thought about it for 2 minutes but thats as far as it got. but thats because when i first set up my 90 i had 2 green clown gobie's and 2 black clown gobie's and the never bothered eachother. i ended up giving them away 6 months later as i've read they like to perch on SPS' and pairs of them tear the skin off SPS corals and decided to get rid of them before i went to a reef system. but then again that was 4 compared to 10.

[Elysia]

I thought Catalina gobies were Pacific fish, that tend to be caught in cool California and Mexico waters?

There are so many cool gobies -- why narrow yourself to one body shape?

[macchicks]

Asking questions for your and my knowledge I love clown gobies and would like to do something similar on a smaller scale.

how are you finding a pair? Just buying two and hoping?I never see them offered as male or female individuals like they do with anthias.

I know some listing for clown gobys say they may be aggresive to other like them, Does that mean only to others that are the same color or just all other clown gobies?

[Ritten]

I'm doing the same thing with a goby tank, I love the little guys. I have decided against any kind of blenny. I have observed them pick on gobies too many timesto chance it. I had luck putting pairs of gobies in a large tank (62 gallon), but never a smaller tank without fighting, I did not observe them actually pairing up in the larger tank. I don't know if you follow Paul B's 35 year old reef tank thread or not, but I just asked him how many gobies he has in his 100 and he thought about 17. You may need to feed with a turkey baster to make sure and get food down to each goby near their caves.

[sikpupy]

I thought I read that the clown gobies were like Nemo clowns and sex on the dominant/submissive theory. I have basically the same setup of fish you talk about. I have a O clown/chalk bass/YWG/blue-pinkspot/lawnmower bleny/midas blenny in the DT. In my QT, which they will go into the DT tonight... a whelers watchman, 2 yellows and 2 green clown gobies. The yellows have seemed to work something out and i sometimes see them side by side together. Green gobies, not so much. We will see what they do in the 90 tonight, lol.

[macchicks]

sikpupy thank you for that knowledge. I am going to have to try again to research that.

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by Elysia
I thought Catalina gobies were Pacific fish, that tend to be caught in cool California and Mexico waters?

There are so many cool gobies -- why narrow yourself to one body shape?

i just like the way clown gobie's kinda hop around, and the girl friend has some say in it too, and the panda clown and citrin clown where my first suggestions, and she isnt all to keen on the other gobie's....and she says and i quote "well if you really want that, then put it in your tank" so the clown gobies are a very mutual choice...plus i have a few reefer buddys out here that will take some free fish. or if i "decide" that "they dont like eachother and we gotta get a few out of there" or if WE decide we would like a different look

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by sikpupy
I thought I read that the clown gobies were like Nemo clowns and sex on the dominant/submissive theory. I have basically the same setup of fish you talk about. I have a O clown/chalk bass/YWG/blue-pinkspot/lawnmower bleny/midas blenny in the DT. In my QT, which they will go into the DT tonight... a whelers watchman, 2 yellows and 2 green clown gobies. The yellows have seemed to work something out and i sometimes see them side by side together. Green gobies, not so much. We will see what they do in the 90 tonight, lol.

thanks for the info...i know i need to do alot of googling and reading, i'd like it if you would be so kind as to keep me posted on the out come of your tank over the next few weeks or days if any teritorial squables insue, or just harassment in general

i love your fish selection

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by Ritten
I'm doing the same thing with a goby tank, I love the little guys. I have decided against any kind of blenny. I have observed them pick on gobies too many timesto chance it. I had luck putting pairs of gobies in a large tank (62 gallon), but never a smaller tank without fighting, I did not observe them actually pairing up in the larger tank. I don't know if you follow Paul B's 35 year old reef tank thread or not, but I just asked him how many gobies he has in his 100 and he thought about 17. You may need to feed with a turkey baster to make sure and get food down to each goby near their caves.

i was thinking of a starry blenny / segmented sailfin or a plain ole' sailfin blenny... i dont know if these are the ones you were refering too. and i have browesd through pauls therad before, but i did forget that he had tons of gobie's i'll be reading through that thread later. thanks for the reply and input

[sikpupy]

Your welcome, always like to help with what I know. Again though, just double check on the sexing thing as there is always conflicting info out there. I am trying to grow Gracilaria and getting total opposite ways/ends of the spectrum for optimal growth info, grrrrrrrrrr!!!

As of now, everyone has settled down. My pink and blue spot is on the left side of my tank (if you do a search for my "how does my tank look" thread, you will see the tank.) in the front area under the rock with the two shrooms on it. I added him and my YWG a week later. Ol YWG likes to be on the left side next to the glass but Spot doe snot like that. He chases him away, but, YWG returns. Spot finally puts up with him as long as he stays middle to back area. He can even scoot along the glass towards the front as long as he does it slooooowly. If YWG moves around too much, Spot will come out and chase him off again.

As far as the blennys go, the sailfin chased the yellow goby around a little, but, now not so much. I have the basic sailfin blenny, aka lawnmower blenny. Not sure if sailfin is adjusted and does not care anymore or that YWG is on the left side and out of sailfins line of sight. My Midas bugged, but not chased, my sailfin around. She casualy comes over to him and stares him in the eye, which in turn makes him flee. Kind of like "my finger is right next to your nose but I am not touching you". Or even "hey baby, whats a fish like you doing in a place like this?". Maybe I should put on a little love music and see what kind of blenny babies I can get?

Chalk bass is territorial of his over hang you see in the picture on the right side 1/4-1/3 way up. He would chase my diamond (RIP) if he came near.

Now, everone is happy and doing good.

[sikpupy]

Okay, just got home and loaded them up. No one paid any attention to the yellows. One yellow was "behind top" where chalk bass was and chalk popped up to see him, looked around and was like "hugh....okay". I belive yellows have paird as one swam right to the other from across the tank and new right where the other yellow was under some rocks. They then moved together to the back of the tank and clung to the tank wall together, but, now moved off, after 3 minutes, in differant directions. Clown stared at one yellow close up for a sec like "what the????". Wheelers goby went into Spot and YWG territory. Spot casualy chased wheeler to YWG and YWG has his mouth wide open and was kind of crawling on top of wheeler and bucking him, to get him to move. Took wheeler a bit to get the message to MOVE! Wheeler is now in the front middle of the tank up against the glass with chalk bass watching it closely. Two green gobies vanished, MIA at this point. Up, its 30 minutes later and my friend says she found one, lol.

Time will tell how this saga plays out. I am still wanting to get a tangora goby and a diamond goby .

[LoyalConvict]

first off, i would have to recomend some barry white for "love music".

second, as far as i can tell you are right. all i've read in the past 2 hours that most if not all clown gobie's start life off as female's and if they pair up the larger one would turn male, unless a smaller male was introduced to a new female mate that is larger.

third, thank you for the detailed observation of your fish. i havent been able to find your thread, i've tried the reef central google search but with no avail. i'll search again later using the usual search function... i'm glad everything is working out for you so far, my optimism is peaking at this point.

and as redfish stated, catalina's are a colder water fish, and i think i'm not getting em. the hottest tank recomended is 74 but prefer 50's and 60's

[sikpupy]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1659803

Yea, i was about to get a catalina myself till I saw that. Second choice "might" be http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...28&pcatid=1728


Then there are these small ones, but mine keep getting eaten or squashed on delivery http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...13&pcatid=2613

[LoyalConvict]

i like the red stripe i recomended that to the girl friend but got a big negative on that i had to plead to get the wheelers watch man pistol shrimp combo. and the gold neon is ok, but again the GF is paying half for everything so i'll have to get her input

I just checked out your tank i like the look, kinda dense though in my opinion, but I LOVE all the little cracks and caves in it

and i LMAO when i read this...

339 views and 17 comments? That means there are 322 negatives out there (cause all the ones in here are posotive) since everyone here I am sure does not say anything at all if they cant say anything nice. Come on, need to hear some negative, I know it is out there, its all good! Heck, the snails think it looks horrible! Why else would they be in the overflow trying to get away? One just shot himself because he could not take the embarrassment

after the brewers game i'll post a few pics of the 75 and the 90

[sikpupy]

Thanks, yea, it is a little dense, wanted a lot of rock for biologial filteration. Rock has a LOT of tiny porous holes, nooks and crannies for bacteria to grow and water to flow. Been looking it over and think I need to open some of the crevices in the rock work a little. Wish the shot came out a little better as there are billions of holes that would easily fit gobies to crawl through all day. Its like goby jungle gym heaven in there. Some rocks have chambers where they could rest and have a beer with a few friends in side the rockwork.

Well, I know one thing.... I am definitly getting my tangora as there is still places on the sand left for rent with option to buy, lol.

[LobsterOfJustice]

Originally posted by LoyalConvict
i like the red stripe i recomended that to the girl friend but got a big negative on that i had to plead to get the wheelers watch man pistol shrimp combo. and the gold neon is ok, but again the GF is paying half for everything so i'll have to get her input

I just checked out your tank i like the look, kinda dense though in my opinion, but I LOVE all the little cracks and caves in it

and i LMAO when i read this...

339 views and 17 comments? That means there are 322 negatives out there (cause all the ones in here are posotive) since everyone here I am sure does not say anything at all if they cant say anything nice. Come on, need to hear some negative, I know it is out there, its all good! Heck, the snails think it looks horrible! Why else would they be in the overflow trying to get away? One just shot himself because he could not take the embarrassment

after the brewers game i'll post a few pics of the 75 and the 90

Alright, I'll bite.

Boring tank.

Your girlfriend said it - it's your tank, put whatever you want in it.

A tank full of gobies is kind of cool - but why limit yourself. If your going to do it, at least get some diversity in body form. If the girlfriend wants a few clown gobies, that's fine, but that doesnt mean that has to be the only fish in the tank. I'd get some evoita/trimma gobies, some watchman gobies, dartfish, etc. And honestly I'd get a few other small fish too just for diversity (chromis, cardinals, talbot/alleni damsels).

[reefboy1994]

will the lionfish mistake the gobies as food???

[reefboy1994]

whoops i read that wrong, he says hes kidding

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice
Alright, I'll bite.

Boring tank.

Your girlfriend said it - it's your tank, put whatever you want in it.

A tank full of gobies is kind of cool - but why limit yourself. If your going to do it, at least get some diversity in body form. If the girlfriend wants a few clown gobies, that's fine, but that doesnt mean that has to be the only fish in the tank. I'd get some evoita/trimma gobies, some watchman gobies, dartfish, etc. And honestly I'd get a few other small fish too just for diversity (chromis, cardinals, talbot/alleni damsels).

technicly its her tank. my tank i wouldnt wanna risk adding clown gobie's...tonight i put the percula clown in there with the flame angel, right now we are thinking of this....

2 black clown gobie's

2 citron clown gobie's

2 green clown gobie's

2 panda clown gobie's

instead of a wheelers we are thinking of a yasha shrimp gobie and a pistol shrimp

1 starry blenny

and we are still looking at what else we can agree upon

i was able to talk her out of the brown clown gobie's. along with the catalina gobie's

it's hard trying to find a some thing we both like. except all the larger angels we both love em but i wouldnt wanna jam one in a 75 same goes for most tangs.

i'm trying to talk her into a pair of helfrichi fire fish but its hard work

and no way would i ever add a damsel to any tank. or chromis'. i had 7 chromis' 4 years ago to first cycle my 90 for 2 months or so and after that gave them all away. and cardinals? come on now.

when we started setting this up she was saying yes to all the fish i would show her at first we were gonna do this

1 flame angel

1 red velvet wrasse

1 Neon Pseudochromis

1 Labout's Fairy Wrasse

1 starry blenny

and either a Juvenile Mimic Lemon Peel Tang or a Juvenile Achilles Tang

but things change. and i learn to cope with slimming options

although i do apreaciate your input, but if it is "boring" as you so elegently put it. i'm not afraid to give fish away and replace with something new. i've already given away 2 coral beauty's and a flame angel, as each one i added would nip at corals and was hoping to get lucky. along with the 7 chsomis' a red scooter blenny and a plain old scooter blenny. oh and a gold sleeper head goby. i think thats all of em. and if this sounded cocky and condescending i'm sorry it was not intended that way

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by sikpupy
Thanks, yea, it is a little dense, wanted a lot of rock for biologial filteration. Rock has a LOT of tiny porous holes, nooks and crannies for bacteria to grow and water to flow. Been looking it over and think I need to open some of the crevices in the rock work a little. Wish the shot came out a little better as there are billions of holes that would easily fit gobies to crawl through all day. Its like goby jungle gym heaven in there. Some rocks have chambers where they could rest and have a beer with a few friends in side the rockwork.

Well, I know one thing.... I am definitly getting my tangora as there is still places on the sand left for rent with option to buy, lol.

the Tangaroa Goby is pretty cool looking, and i like the way you think

[LobsterOfJustice]

Not sure what your aversion to chromis or cardinals is - but the talbot/alleni damsels are not aggressive like the rest of their kin.

[Paul B]

To keep those clown gobies long term I hatch brine shrimp every day. They don't eat much of anything else except an occasional worm.
I don't know how to sex them, I just put a bunch together, some fight, those would be the males.



These watchmans are cool but they turn brown as they age. I have a pair of them breeding.


These bumblebee gobies are very cool and cost 3 bucks. They are sold in fresh water but you could acclimate them in a few hours. I have five of them


I also like these guys, and they eat anything and mind their own business


These green ones don't swim much and they don't live as long as most of the others


These are common and cheap


I would stay away from the Catilina gobi though, not really tropical

[LoyalConvict]

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice
Not sure what your aversion to chromis or cardinals is - but the talbot/alleni damsels are not aggressive like the rest of their kin.

Sorry for being so dismissive, but the Talbot Damsel is actually pretty cool. As for the cardinals, I just don’t like their shape, and their lackadaisical swimming. and chromis' are just kinda bland and generic looking for the most part. I wouldn’t mind a shoal of them but they generally kill off one another unless kept in smaller groups "3 or so" from what I’ve read and the general knowledge I have. and damsels I was basically grouping them in one pile as super aggressive... when it comes to deciding what will go in the tank its about 99% no from her. So it’s frustrating when people make all kinds of suggestions of fish both of us have been through. I’m not saying I don’t want suggestions I’d love to have 50 selections of fish that are not normally listed, like all that’s at LA, blue zoo, salt water fish, and so forth. A lot of those we have been through, except obviously the damsels and cardinals, And larger aggressive fish. As I know clown gobies would make a lovely treat for a lot of them. But I’m just trying to find common ground and be happy.