Freshwater goby question(s)...

[tankfan]

The pic you posted is Stiphodon atropurpureus. They are essentially unavailable in the US. Lots of people claiming to have them, and sending out s. semoni or something similar instead. They have really specific dietary and husbandry needs, so definitely not a fish you can just chuck in a community tank. Rhinogobius, schismatogobius, and hypseleotris are better bets for mixed company because they will generally gladly eat prepared/frozen food, whereas the stiphodon can be immensely pickier depending on the particular fish. None of the commercially available fw gobies sift sand as far as I know, but a good lot of them spend a lot of time digging, which essentially serves the same purpose.

Can you recommend any places that sell freshwater gobies?

Im just looking for the most colorful i can get. a good mix. Just looking for the smaller sizes say 3" max.

 

[tankfan]

Well, I got that ID wrong LOL

well thanks for the effort. you knew more than i did...lol.

 

[captmicha]

They're not gobies but I just wanted to let you know that my banjo catfish do an excellent job of churning the substrate for me. They get in deep.

 

[tankfan]

thanks. ill keep that in mind as well

 

[fishorama]

I've gotten fish from this place twice http://www.invertzfactory.com/stocklist.htm Not gobies though, I don't know anything about keeping them. Just a reminder, it's awfully hot for fish shipping, you may want to wait until Sept/Oct

 

[captmicha]

Wow. They have a live guarantee on priority mail? I've never seen that before.

 

[tankfan]

Wow. They have a live guarantee on priority mail? I've never seen that before.

priority mail usually take 4 days to me for some reason.

Had bad luck with some snails arriving alive. But the more exotic and farthest ones i got away were alive....cant figure that out....lol.

 

[jetajockey]

I just got a trio of peacock gudgeons yesterday, they are still in QT though so I have no idea if they dig or sift.

Extremely fair prices and believe it or not, free next day air shipping if ordered within the state of florida, with no minimum purchase. I don't understand it but it's awesome, and their fish quality is good. I also ordered 5 lf albino bn plecos @ around $2.50 each and they are all ranging from 1 1/2" to over 3" long.

www.freshwaterfish2go.com

Take care!

 

[tankfan]

Thanks for the link Jet.

i was thinking of trying to house these together:

Hypseleotris compressa "Empire Gudgeon" (x2)
Peacock Gudgeon" (x2)
Rhinogobious Wui (x1)

Would freshwater shrimp & snails be safe with any of these?

 

[bettabeats]

You have snails that eat algae. I think its safe to say that all stiphodons and gobies in general eat live algae. I never saw them once eating algae wafers. So that's kind of not giving the gobies enough food. As for sifting sand, they don't really do it. They dug a nest under my driftwood and around the rockwork, but that's it.
Plus, you'd want directional flow, since gobies are hill stream fish.