Ok this may sound strange or maby not .Saturday I got two mechanic gobys I already have 5 blue damsels and 4 zibera damsels 2 clowns 1 tang 6 snails and 51 hermit crabs. all seemed to be getting along very nicely in the 125 gallon tank. None of the old guys seemsd bothered by the gobys, both about 1 1/2 inches long .Well tonight my son and I where watching a hermit crab change shells and there where still 2 gobys. Then we sat down to dinner and about twenty minutes later there is only one goby and no sign of the other. We sit by the tank at dinner we sall no feeding frenzy. I know that these gobys will go under the substrait, did he? The other dosen't seem interested in the bottom of the tank yet. Did my damsels get a $11 dinner?They don't seem to even care about the other goby.They just chase each other around. I know they can be agressive and the have already bumped off 4 yellow damsels ,but they don't seem to challenge any of the fish that aren't damsels.What happened to my goby. (I knew I shouldn't have named him)
Mechanic goby
- Thread starter Raki
- Start date
I found a sea-urchin in my tank one day. I've never bought one, so he had to be a hitch-hiker. The weird thing was, it had been at least 3 months since the last time I bought liverock, so he had been hiding in plain sight for a quarter of a year.
I wouldn't put out an APB for a little while just yet.
I wouldn't put out an APB for a little while just yet.
Yea I have a feeling that the little guy is hideing somewhere in the live rock ,lots of nooks and crannys. So I'm assuming from your info that I can continue to add live rock to my tank .Providing that it's fully cured,I don't want any nasty ammonia spikes. And hey I can even end up with some free fishies too.
Those hitch-hikers are one of the coolest things about live rock 
I've searched through all of your posts and I gather that your 125 has only been up since Jan 1st. Wow! By "up" do you mean it was dry before that, or did you cycle it before populating it?
If this tank is less than three weeks old, it seems awfully young for the population you describe. What are your water parameters? (i.e. ammonia, nitrites, etc.)
While it is hard to imagine too much liverock, with a tank as new as this, I'd say, go s - l - o - w. Let it stabilize for a while before adding anything else, even liverock. I'd be frantic if I found I'd fried a free anemone (say that three times fast
) because the tank wasn't ready for it yet.
Do you know how to post your tank specs to the Members Aquarium Specs forum?
I've searched through all of your posts and I gather that your 125 has only been up since Jan 1st. Wow! By "up" do you mean it was dry before that, or did you cycle it before populating it?
If this tank is less than three weeks old, it seems awfully young for the population you describe. What are your water parameters? (i.e. ammonia, nitrites, etc.)
While it is hard to imagine too much liverock, with a tank as new as this, I'd say, go s - l - o - w. Let it stabilize for a while before adding anything else, even liverock. I'd be frantic if I found I'd fried a free anemone (say that three times fast
) because the tank wasn't ready for it yet.Do you know how to post your tank specs to the Members Aquarium Specs forum?
Don't know how to post my specs would like to .
Yes I mean the tank was DRY, Brand new befor Jan 1st I have a wounderfull "store" practally in my back yard the people who own /operiate it also set up and clean very large and expensive saltwater tanks for Dr.'s offices and such . They got me up and ready to populate lightly in a week . After adding 40 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs of live sand and adding live bacteria for three days in a row .
I keep waiting for these spikes evey one is talking about but when ever one reading goes up a little the next reading it's back down again The tank is very stable and the fish are very happy, I check the chemicals every three days. I've alredy had an algae bloom and now that is all cleaned up ,great little guys those snails are.
Yes I mean the tank was DRY, Brand new befor Jan 1st I have a wounderfull "store" practally in my back yard the people who own /operiate it also set up and clean very large and expensive saltwater tanks for Dr.'s offices and such . They got me up and ready to populate lightly in a week . After adding 40 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs of live sand and adding live bacteria for three days in a row .
I keep waiting for these spikes evey one is talking about but when ever one reading goes up a little the next reading it's back down again The tank is very stable and the fish are very happy, I check the chemicals every three days. I've alredy had an algae bloom and now that is all cleaned up ,great little guys those snails are.
Awesome! It sounds like you have a lot of help available... well, in your backyard 
To post your tank specs, go to the forum entitled "Members Aquarium Specs" under General Topics. There's a sticky at the top of the forum that explains how to use it.
The last step is the trickiest, putting the link to your aquarium thread into your signature in your profile. The bottom line is there's a little bit of formatting code that you have to enter to make the link work, but it's not too hard to work out. Also, check the f.a.q button at the top of your User Control Panel.
Good Luck, both with posting your specs, and finding the missing goby.
To post your tank specs, go to the forum entitled "Members Aquarium Specs" under General Topics. There's a sticky at the top of the forum that explains how to use it.
The last step is the trickiest, putting the link to your aquarium thread into your signature in your profile. The bottom line is there's a little bit of formatting code that you have to enter to make the link work, but it's not too hard to work out. Also, check the f.a.q button at the top of your User Control Panel.
Good Luck, both with posting your specs, and finding the missing goby.
Update on the gobys
No. 1 goby is still missing but No. 2 goby has been seen moving small stones from the substrait around. I think he's plotting a dissapearing act too. Will keep you all informed.
No. 1 goby is still missing but No. 2 goby has been seen moving small stones from the substrait around. I think he's plotting a dissapearing act too. Will keep you all informed.
If mechanic gobies are the same fish sold as engineer gobies/convist blennies, these fish dig under the rocks and form burrows. You will need to secure your live rock--the tunneling will cause it to fall, potentially crushing them or other fish, and making a mess. Pairs will live together happy, but a disruption in their territories can result in death if you don't have m/f, the females are larger.
As juveniles, the fish have dark gray/black bodies with stripes going horizontally down their body, closely resembling a coral cat, but no whickers. As they mature, the stripes turn into a vertical banding, and turn more yellowish. Ours is about 12-14 inches right now, bigger around than my thumb.
As juveniles, the fish have dark gray/black bodies with stripes going horizontally down their body, closely resembling a coral cat, but no whickers. As they mature, the stripes turn into a vertical banding, and turn more yellowish. Ours is about 12-14 inches right now, bigger around than my thumb.
Yea my bad they are engineer gobys I am lousy with names I knew it had somthing to do with mechanical things I should just be glad I didn't call them "robot fishies"
Anyway ... No2 goby is still swimming around but the consensus among the guy's at the aquarium store (Philly Fish) is that No.1 whent under and No2 will soon follow.
Anyway ... No2 goby is still swimming around but the consensus among the guy's at the aquarium store (Philly Fish) is that No.1 whent under and No2 will soon follow.