Fire gobies and stocking questions

[CAPSLOCK]

I've got a 45 gallon saltwater with only a poor lonely fire goby right now. It was set up and established for ~3 years when I bought it, and now has been set up in my house with no problems for 3 weeks or so. The goby seems to be doing well, except for being lonely. He (or she?) lost his buddy when the tank was moved; they had been together for those ~3 years.

1. Is there a way to sex a fire goby, and if so, how? Or, seeing as this one's a few years old and was paired up til recently, will he not accept another fire goby anyways? I'd like to get him a buddy if he wants one, I don't want him to be lonely.

2. I think the tank's stable enough to stock some more into it in a week or so, when I can get out to the good saltwater LFS that isn't quite "L" enough to get to often. I definitely want a dwarf angel. Preferably a flame, but it'll probably depend on what I can get hold of at a semi-reasonable price. It'll make the tank look more lively, and I've always wanted a marine angel.

3. How much more can a 45 hold, with a dwarf angel and 1 or 2 little gobies? I've ordered "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" and can't wait til it gets here, but I'd also like to know what you guys think. Any suggestions on good compatible fish? I want to have little inverts (snails and hermit crabs), so I don't want anything prone to eating them. Also, any suggestions for the inverts? I like bumble bee snails, and dwarf hermits... not sure exactly what I'll find, though.

Thanks for any suggestions/advice.

 

[aresgod]

well I have a 40 gallon and I have a Eibil angel, 2 clowns, a goby, a blenny, and a mandarin. but i have between 80-100lbs of live rock and it is a mature established tank, I am diligent about water changes, and I dont feed often. I have been in the hobby for a few years and have worked in a very reputable SW fish store. So I am comfortable with the bio-load I have, I added slowly though and also tried to increase the amount of LR I had everytime I added a new inhabitant. So you should be able to keep 4-5 small fish with out a problem.

 

[wayne]

Do you have decent lfs? Small wrasse, clowns, firefish, there's a lot of options.Do you want to keep inverts?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I have a decent lfs near me and a very good (slightly expensive) lfs that isn't local enough to be convenient- that's the one I'm going to check out in a week or so in search of an angel.

I'm not all that interested in clowns. For whatever reason, they just don't catch my fancy. I've sort of looked into some of the smaller wrasses (before I had a SW tank, so I need to look more seriously now). I was thinking about a sixline wrasse, but it seems that they are prone to picking at inverts, which I do want to keep. Right now I'm thinking 2 gobies (or the fire goby and a blenny), a dwarf angel, and a small wrasse or some other small fish that I like.

The tank has live rock, but I don't know how many pounds. It has live sand as well.

 

[wayne]

OK, my 6 line is a p.i.t.a., do I would say think before you buy. There are other small wrasse options.
Dwarf angels are fantastic. Try to get one small and grow it yourself. I have a bicolour that I've had 18 months now, and really like. Is the tank tall or long?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It's tall, unfortunately.

I swear this internet connection needs to get beaten with a stick. It's slow, and it likes to tell me that it can't find the server occasionally (when it can). I can't look up various fish like I'd like to... not until I get home in a few days.

 

[dbacksrat]

I'm with wayne on the sixline's behavior: mine's a PITA too...he definetly loves those inverts

 

[wayne]

Mines fine with inverts but smacks up other fish.

Some of the more peaceful pseudochromids are good, esp the captive bred ones, but expect to pay a premium. I know you don't like clowns, but maybe a tomato clown or a pair would be good. SOME, and research this, of the yellow tailed blue damsels aer pretty steady, and are hardy, pretty, cheap and small, so.....

Centropyge argi
Pseudochromis springeri/flavirtex/fridmani
Tomato clown/s
Goby/blenny

or
Flame angel
Pseudo's as above
Yellow tailed blue
Blenny/Goby

But there are a ton of options

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Got out to the big store yesterday- my previous visits hadn't given me a full grasp of just how good their saltwater section truely is. It was all pretty impressive, really good selection- and not as horribly expensive as I'd feared.

I picked up an exquisite fairy wrasse and a royal gramma, as well as a pair of little hermit crabs. Everyone made the transition into the tank well, and was eating even that night. Hopefully the fire goby gets less skittish- the other two fish aren't as shy and I don't think the goby got any food this morning. He wouldn't come out to eat (although he did last night).

In a few weeks, I should be able to get out to the big store again and get an angel. They did have quite a few flames, as well as some lemon peels (among others), so now I'm kind of undecided. The lemon peels are cute, and quite a bit cheaper, but flames are supposed to be hardier and they're pretty.

I know gobies generally fight, but I was wondering if a fire goby would fight with a drastically different goby, like a neon goby or one of the sand sifting gobies that would stay on the bottom. Anyone know?

 

[aresgod]

it has to do with their similiar shape, generally they will, my goby even trys to beat up my mandarin or blennay ocasionally because of the similiar shape.