Wondering About A Future Goby Tank

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Riso-chan

The Blue Girl
Jan 17, 2005
322
0
0
39
Florida, USA
I'm into freshwater currently, but in the next few years, I'd like to try saltwater. I'm thinking a 20-30gallon setup would be ideal as far as system stability goes, from what I've read.
I really like the live rock setups, but I wouldn't be completely sure about a reef, since it can get so pricey. The only other things that might creep me out a little, are some of the critters that show up that could sting or bite my hands. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be fascinated with all the goings on in there, it's just the stinging venomous things that freak me out.

Now, to my main point of writing this post, My eyes have been caught by gobies.:) It must be their cute little faces and great colors. The ones I really like are firefish and the yellowhead jawfish. I was wondering just how difficult it is to care for them, or if anyone had any experience with them.

I really think that if I were to set up a tank, I'd like gobies to be the main inhabitants, along with inverts, live rock and such. I understand that one should keep a low number of fish with marine setups, thus, I would like to stick with smaller easy to care for fish. Is it at all possible to keep differentr species of gobies in one tank? ~Angela
 

OrionGirl

No freelancing!
Aug 14, 2001
14,053
342
143
Poconos
Real Name
Sheila
It depends--some gobies won't get along, but others will be fine with disimilar tankmates. Fire fish tend to be jumpy, and skittish that hang out in the water column or in the rock work, while the jawfish are usually on or near the sand, and will build a burrow to dart into. Most are fairly hardy, especially if you ar epatient and get good stock. In a 30, you could easily have a trio of firefish and one jawfish.

Very few of the hitch hikers will pose a threat to you--and even those that can are pretty easy to manage. It's just a matter of looking before you grab anything. Even with things like mantis shrimp, they won't attack you--they just will defend themselves if you grab them. Treat them like bees, and you'll be okay.
 

Riso-chan

The Blue Girl
Jan 17, 2005
322
0
0
39
Florida, USA
That's great:)! I know those poor little things would probably be more afraid of me than I am of them.

Speaking of firefish, I was at a local petstore today and saw that they had one. They are as beautiful in person as they are in pics. By any chance, are there any sites devoted to gobies specifically?

I'd really like to learn more about them, as well as doing my reading of all beginner's articles and what not on the reefcentral and nano-reef sites. I can see I have alot ahead of me, but just reading on how things develope is intriguing to me.

The liverock aspect of SW tanks is really fascinating how all these life forms seem to just appear of of nowhere. I would imagine it's almost like getting gift that comes with many hidden components, and not knowing what you will end up with. It could even be months down the road, and live rock could still have things popping up. Plus, you get added filtration benefits with it.
 
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