Neon Goby

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#1
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
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48
39
Cape Cod
#1
Well, I ended up picking up a neon blue goby. He's a little less than inch long. He was in a tank with a (considerably bigger) yellow watchman goby and another neon goby, and the watchman didn't have a problem with him. The lfs owner says they keep them with the firefish gobies too, and they have no problems. I did want to get 2, but I wanted to make sure one won't get eaten first. I know I added him pretty soon after the other fish, but he's so small I can't imagine he'll add much to the bioload.

I didn't see any problem last night, but I can't find him this morning. Of course, I can't find the fire goby either... and he's much larger and whiter than the neon goby. He's good at staying hidden, and I've got lots and lots of places in the LR that I can't see into even with a flashlight. Hopefully the little neon goby is still okay.

Quick question-how small does he need food? I've got little daphnia things that look pretty small, as well as flake food that can be as small as I care to make it.
 

RockingCricket

RockingCricket

Large Fish
#6
Jul 29, 2005
443
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Sunny Cali & Rainy England
#6
wayne said:
The big difference is size. Neon gobies are tiny. I wouldn't buy an engineer that small
Click to expand...
I believe Neon Gobies are 1-2", as are my Engineers (though of course they will reach up to 16" given time). Can I ask why you wouldn't buy an engineer this small. My two seem so comfortable that I am giving thought to purchasing the third.
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
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#7
Simply because they can be so fragile, and difficult to feed adequately when they're that small.
Actually , if I thought it was in good shape I likely would buy them that small, but at that size, if you have any problems, including not feeding for a couple of days, you know they likely won't have the strengh to make it thro'.

I doubt my tang was an inch long when I got it .... I had to feed it about 5 times a day for the first month just to get it going....
 

RockingCricket

RockingCricket

Large Fish
#8
Jul 29, 2005
443
0
16
46
Sunny Cali & Rainy England
#8
I didn't realise they were finicky feeders. Mine were not too keen on taking flake at first, but soon came around. They do prefer the brine shrimp though.

My reading has lead me to believe that Engineer gobies are hardy to the extreme, often being the last to perish when tank conditions are not favourable, so I am surprised to hear you describe them as fragile. Mine survived the tank cycling where damsels did not.
 

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#9
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
39
Cape Cod
#9
He is still in there and seems to be doing well. Found him about 2 minutes after I disconnected from the internet... figures.

I haven't seen him eat, though. He gets excited when I feed the tank, but I have yet to see him actually eat something. Tried flakes, little daphnia things, and some formula 1 frozen cube. I think the frozen brine shrimp I have may be to big, but I'll try that next. He's tank raised, so I figured he would eat flakes or frozen easily. Course, he could just be getting the really small pieces or picking stuff of the rocks.

Edit- I think I killed off the neon goby-haven't seen him for 3 days now, and he wasn't shy before. Not sure if he died or if the other fish killed him-although I think he just died, never saw anyone bothering him.
 

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