The Goby/Blenny Thread...just for fun and info. Share yours.

[Sk8r]

Gobies and blennies come in a hundred forms---from micro to somewhat larger. And for some reason or other, dragonets have been confused into the picture: mandarins aren't gobies at all: they're dragonets. And scooter blennies aren't blennies: they're also dragonets. Firefish aren't gobies: they're dartfish. Jawfish aren't gobies: they're jawfish.

But gobies, true gobies, tend to hang near the bottom or dig or burrow or share digs with commensal [symbiotic-sort-of] shrimp, or, in cases of desperation, with gobies that dig better than they do. They'll sift sand, some of them; or catch tiny micro creatures like mysis or bits of this and that.

Blennies tend to move about the rocks and either suck and scrape algae [combtooth blennies] or eat other things---most anything they can nab that's in their size range. They're generally larger than gobies, more free-swimming, but also tend to perch. There's a curious group called fanged blennies, which are said to bite the mouths of fish that try to eat them, and are mildly venomous---not so much a worry for us, but apparently a discouragement for certain hungry fish. The fanged blennies are known clam-mantle-nippers, so be advised on that score. But they're more colorful than the rock-cleaning sort of blenny.

Gobies that pair with shrimp can be a bit finicky. I know that the yellow watchman pairs with a tiger pistol shrimp, and that the highfin redstripe gobies pair with the candycane shrimp. More gobies pair with the tigers than with any other single type of shrimp.

Mating shrimp gobies nest in the shrimp burrow and the shrimp plays a part in their care of the young.

Questions? Neat stories? Favorite gobies or blennies? Things you know that I left out or things I got wrong? Fire away!

[barbra]

I think it is worth noting that despite having a reputation for being hardy, individuals within a species may be anything but. This applies to both Gobies and Blennies. Just because the animal is Goby/Blenny does not mean it will have the same hardiness level as others.

For example, Gobies in general are considered hardy fish for the most part. But I have a Rainford's Goby that should not be kept unless one is dedicated to ensuring it's food requirements, which most likely won't be correctly spelled out at the time of purchase and are somewhat difficult and frequently at odds with the overall goal of a reefer.
After having spent lots of time ridding one's tank of all traces of algae it would be very disheartening to get your new Rainford's home and discover that it requires a decent bit of algae growth in order to truly do well.

[Trigeek]

My bicolor blenny has turned into a clam nipper. Our reef is not tolerant of clam nippers so the high court has decided to banish him from the kingdom. He'll be picked up this week by a local reefer. Too bad because he's really funny and scores high on the cute factor.

[Amazon4]

We have a canary (fang) blenny. He is about to be moved in to a bigger tank which has a crocea. (Tank consolidation/upgrade) I hope he is not a clam nipper!

In another tank we have a midas blenny. He's one of my favorites. Loads of personality and a people watcher.

[seapug]

Now all the high court has to do is catch the clam nipping blenny....see you in a couple years.

Also worth noting that many of the small "neon" style gobies are naturally very short lived. Most can only be expected to only live a couple years in the best of conditions, some for as little as a couple months. Real shame 'cause I love those little fellers.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...m.php?news=624

[Sk8r]

Note: my rainfords have taken to eating a small patch of cyanobacteria that's grown near a certain rock.

I happened on one, but he turned out to have an inseparable 'friend,' usual by my observation of this species. They perch, each while the other eats, then trade about, and hang together. They're very young to be pairing, but who knows? Maybe they're a set. I bought them both, so as not to break up that act.

Rainfords can also be very spooky and shy at first, but I got them the day before I got the two commensal shrimp. And the minute the shrimp went in, the highfins got up and about out of their normal hiding spot, and the minute the shrimp settled into the highfin burrow, the two rainfords took courage, came out of their hidey hole and began eating, mostly from that same patch of cyano. They've been pretty brave [for rainfords] ever since. I've begun to have second thoughts about being rid of all cyano.

Saw an adult rainford the other day, too: beautiful fish. You'd take him for a wrasse if you didn't know his pattern: fat and about as long as your little finger.

[ACBlinky]

Gobies and blennies hold a very special place in my heart. I'll always have at least one, there's nothing else that can match their personality and adorable expressions. I have lost a few in the last couple years, and I'll remember each for its individual quirks - these are wonderful fish!

This stigmata combtooth blenny was just too pretty to pass up. Regrettably, he died within a week. Even with macro and microalgaes for grazing and a clip full of nori, dulce and wakame seaweeds, he appeared to starve. I don't know if he was caught using cyanide, or had a disease, but I sure will miss this gorgeous fish.

Initially, he grew nice and fat with all we were feeding:


Then he started to waste away, what a sad loss.


This is Bert, our yellow clown goby. He nearly starved in the beginning, but with lots of tiny, varied meals he finally caught on and learned to eat properly. This guy once bossed a maroon clown around, keeping her away from his host - he was ten pounds of personality in a 1" fish. He went surfing about six months ago and I still miss the little guy.



This is Jack and Jill, a lucky find. A mated pair of sleepers, they were a hoot to watch. They were too docile for their tankmates, entirely my fault, and a maturing pair of saddleback clowns killed them before I could get either pair out and into a new tank. I now have a single sixspot sleeper - we bought a pair, but the smaller of the two starved, despite eating well. Her mate is doing very well, fat and happy in the 90g.



This is Goober and Digger, our orange-spot goby and tiger pistol pair working together. I've had Digger for years, but he's gone through a couple gobies - until we got the 90g we had some surfers, now everyone seems content to stay put. There's absolutely nothing like watching these guys, they're hilarious. Perpetual renovators, they're always fixing something. I notice that Digger constructs his caves so that the current sweeps food right into their home - that's one smart shrimp!





Last but not least, this is my Brazillian gramma Animal... with a brand new Randall's goby in his belly . This happened while they were in the QT together, along with several other fish. There were small PVC pipes to hide in, but because they were in hypo (I now hypo all new additions) I couldn't offer them the protection of a shrimp. This was a lousy way to learn just how large a gramma's mouth and stomach are. Bad, bad fish!

[seapug]

wha!? The Gramma ate the goby? Never heard of that before. My RG is a total wuss.

[ACBlinky]

He sure did. Animal is the biggest Brazilian gramma I've ever seen, and he's a BEAST. I didn't realize how much more agressive Brazilians are compared to royal grammas, or possibly it's just his individual personality. He's forever showing the other fish just how tough he is - he can open his mouth nearly as wide as his entire body! He's been all bark and no bite since the goby incident, but I'll never keep little fish or shrimp with him again. Had I known he had such a huge jaw I never would have housed him in the QT with a fish as slender as the poor little Randall's.

[mwoneal]

I have a bi-color blenny that was in my 10g along w/ a small maroon clown, and he was working my clown over. So in to the 5g he went, and replaced with a neon goby, who is a model citizen, although not quite as entertaining.

[kwaters]

I have had my twin star (twin spot) Goby for about 14 days now. He is very elusive, but also fun and exciting to finally catch a glimps of! I love the way he "hovers" up and down and his big "fan" fin on the ventral side is beautiful! So far so good with him...he has a lot of stuff in the sand to sift through!

[emerald chondro]

here's my sailfin, Introduced into the tank with my yellowheaded jaw about 2 weeks ago. He's somewhat shy so I'm having trouble getting a picture of his sailfin but I'll get one eventually.

As far as gobies I've had a hectors and a rainfords, both lived around a year (eat mysis/brine) but then just disappeared and i haven't seen since

[Sk8r]

Bicolor blennies can be a little pushy: most of the combtooths really like to be the only blenny in view. The larger tanks with more complex rockwork can keep them insulated, but they can fight like buzzsaws if they think their feeding/mating grounds are being invaded by another of the same kind.

The yellow watchman is another that brooks no rivals...and for some reason he was terrified of a purple tang---wouldn't come out til Mr. Tang went bye-bye. I've puzzled as to whether it was the yellow tail that set him off or the fear that a large fish would eat the shrimp he didn't own...He didn't like the scribbled rabbit either. Mr. Rabbit went bye-bye, too, and out came Mr. Yellow Watchman after a 2 month absence. He'd been living in the basement of the rocks and sifting sand on the back side of the tank.

Now Mr. Yellow just owns the tank and all is well with his world.

Love the blenny faces.

[attack11]

i got a lawnmower blenny after a friend in another city told me how cool his was. after a little research i found that i could keep one, so i went out and got one asap. so glad i did.

this is homer.





he's definitely the most entertaining fish in my tank. his personality is unreal. he's about 4" long. i try to keep his belly round, and i think he appreciates it. he's always up against the glass when ever i get close to the tank.

[ACBlinky]

Originally posted by attack11
this is homer.

LOL I wonder how many of us have named our combtooth blennies Homer?! I didn't mention my bicolour above, guess what his name is?

[CyclistMT]

Tobi the goby and Pete the pistol. No, I really don't have a life.

[attack11]

haha

the name is so fitting!



i have a pink starfish named pinky, and had an open brain .. so pinky & the brain. my clowns are roseanne and dan. my coral beauty is jimmy h (purple haze!). i haven't come up with a name for my dottyback yet.

[mildew]

Purchased a Lemon Goby 5 months ago. That fish is all attitude; big fish in a little fish body. He's all over the tank, 65g, more or less owns it and is afraid of nothing. It attacks my hand and charges in among much larger fish (Yellow tang, Midas Blenny and Yellow Longnose Butterfly) when it's feeding time. It steals food from the mini carpet anemonies and frequently challenges the butterfly but so far all show. Midas Blenny(11 months in the tank) has sad eyes, peaceful and watches the world go by from his favorite spot. Bundoon Blenny (4 months in the tank) isn't shy but doesn't interact with anything in the tank; just swims and eats, never sits down. None of them have names. Had a LMB at the start but it fed on the softies so it went back to the LFS. Small Yellow Clown Goby added at some point, early on, didn't make it through the first night.

[machinas]

Thats mine, I've had him for like 6 months and hes great. I avoid naming my fish at all costs because every one that I did name in the past died 3 days later

[kzoo]

[Icefire]

The yellow and purple clown goby were bought together but the yellow had such a sunken stomach. He wasn't eating and expected it to die quickly but after a few day he was looking better. He still don't eat but I guess he have plenty of pods as he look good now.

The YWG is my 2nd, 1st one died in 3 days for no reason.

[aquarius77]

My Saddle Blenny, my son calls him Worker.





I had Yellow Watchman named Goober, but he jumped during a long power outage, i guess the conditions were gettting bad in the tank.

[Snowboarda42]

Awesome, its picture whoring time!

This is my Starry Blenny, its a big chicken when it sees me, eats an entire clip of nori within an hour, eats anything else I feed the tank as well. TONS of personality and energy.



This is my YWG and Tiger Pistol. I had an Orange Spot that I bought with the Tiger, but it went carpet surfing the night I added it. I thought the Pistol was a goner as well, but a few weeks later I saw its burrow. I went and bought a YWG and the same night it teamed up. It's really entertaining to watch them. The goby eats whatever floats past its burrow, and is starting to venture out more and more to grab more food.

[ahullsb]

Meet Goby Wan! RIP

[machinas]

I used to have one of those high-fin gobies, really neat fish, until he decided to jump the overflow and got shanked by the power head...