Been awhile...

[Ian h]

Hello everyone,
Been a while since I have been on. Hope you're all doing well.

Anyone here know how aggressive Gobys are? There are mixed feelings online and curious if anyone here has them in a community tank.
Or
Should I get some chain and rosey loaches?
Thanks ahead of time

 

[fishorama]

Nice to see you again Ian!

I've kept stiphdon gobies in a "river-ish" tank with lots of flow & sewellia loaches. They were not aggressive, but I think some others may be. There's a very interesting thread on gobies on the freshwater forum of loaches.com by odessey?...it's LONG! But very good. My sewellia have bred several times ...Gobies can't, they need a period of brackish to full marine & then gradually back again in some undocumented way. In other words just forget it, lol.

I don't know that I'd keep sids (dwarf chains) with the very small & shy rosy loaches. I kept rosies in a 20 long, with shrimp & small rasboras I think, I rarely saw them up close...Across the room, yes; but they're tiny.

Sids are great, I loved them all 3 or 4 times I've kept them! I would not keep them in less than a breeder tank or 55g...& in not less than 8 fish, more is much better! Most lately I kept them with striata loaches (zebras), a nice combo in a 75g. The zeebs were a tiny bit shy...

What size tank are you intending for any of the loach & or gobies?

 

[Ian h]

Great to see ya again fishorama!

Its 36x20x20 , I believe it's 60gal or close to. Yea I got my top and mid water fish. I wanted to add some color to the bottom. I have my bandit Cory's there and 1 panda garra .

 

[fishorama]

So what are your top & midwater fish? What kind of flow/filtration? I'm tempted to say 8 sids, no matter.

 

[Ian h]

I have forktail rainbows and Harlequins. Filters: I got 2 hobs: 1 70gal and 1 50 gal both on medium flow.
I was thinking 6-8 SIDS or Rosey loaches. For Gobys I was looking at maybe 4-6.

 

[fishorama]

Much as I love sids, I'm not quite positive I would trust them with Stiphodon gobies...

Have you checked out sewellia lineolata loaches? They don't seem to need the rapid flow of most hillstream loaches & they're quite pretty, plus they breed for me. BUT I wouldn't trust them with sids. Sids are more boisterous than aggressive most times...but it's hard to say...

Rosies will not like too much flow, they're tiny & shy.

 

[Ian h]

I just ordered 2 sewellia loaches(will get 2 more next month)lol
Yeah I'm going to get rosys when I can find them.

 

[fishorama]

Have lots of calm &/or hiding places if you decide to get rosies, like I said, they're shy. Get a bunch if you do, I had 9 or 10 in a very mellow 20g long. I ended up giving mine to a club friend with a 220g awesome plant tank. You won't see them much at all with less.

Sewellia are easy to sex if you might want to breed them (YES! do it). The males have squared off pectoral fins; females sloping, more rounded off. They need to be big enough to tell, say, an inch or so.

You know I'll want some pics, whatever you decide!