Yes, I've heard about them for a while as "Stonogobiops sp." If you see the other references besides Yoshino et al., they didn't have a specific species name.

When I type Stonogobiops yashia into Google is says, "Did you mean: Stonogobiops yasha", and Google knows all!

Yasha Goby is is!

Thanks for helping me settle that.

NP I've been researching shrimpgobies a few years ago after getting an orange-spotted prawn goby (that was when yasha gobies were not well known and kind of mythical). Here's where I learned about them:

Aptly titled: "You May Call Me 'Yasha,' King of the Stonogobiops"
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/hcs3/

(This is good info for anyone wanting to keep a Stonogobiops sp. shrimpgoby/pistol pair).

dude thatt article is awesome, that's where i learned most of my stuff about them!

I vote for yasha hashe, that's what they call em' in that article!

Yashas and Pistol


Yasha and Pistol


Just Chillin'


Staring Into the Distance

Did you buy those paired?

Nope!

So there is hope!

yeah, just hope you don't get two males or there will be problems. i know that a member of the local aquarium club got two males and they each made a hole on opposite ends of her 125, and the pistol would go back and forth from goby to goby. One eventually got stressed out from fighting so much that it ended up in her fuge and that's where it stays.

Well these are going in a 30g so if they don't like each other one will probably end up dead....hope for the best.

Liveaquaria has already paired fish for sale now. It's a bit pricy at $129, but they come with a pistol too.

Ek already has one though.

Ahhh, sorry. Never mind Ek.

Yeah I saw that on liveaquaria......If anything I can probably sell the yasha/pistol I have now and just get those.

But I think I would rather try and pair them myself so I can witness the pairing.....would be really cool to be able to say that I paired them....but then again on the flipside it would suck to have to say I witnessed them kill each other.

yai think thats whati want to do to! that wouldbw cool

i remember that it's pretty coll to watch them pair up but i don't remember exactly what they do. this is because i've had mine paired for over two years!

I was considering getting 1 or a pair of these guys but after reading more on them I'm doubting whether it's a good idea or not. I have an open top tank and I've read they're jumpers. Would those of you that know more or have them recommend I steer clear because of the open top?

i went to my LFS today and they still had one yashia left from about 5 they got in 6 weeks ago. they also got a few tiger pistols in so i paid for a pair and im going to pick them up in a couple weeks. $90 for the pair. i cant wait to indroduce them to their new home.

Congrats!
I can't wait 'till I add my pair!!!

picked up my yashia and tiger pistol today

Cool!


KjoFan, My tank is open top and have never had any gobies jump out.

im open top too.

Thanks ekli I hope that's the case with mine! It seems to me like any fish could be a jumper at any time if given the chance.

I fed mine some frozen mysis shrimp tonight for the first feeding and he ate from his hideout. Yay!

Good luck to everyone who just got a yasha!

nice pic siwelk!

Great pics everybody! As soon as I see mine I'll snap a pic. Just got him a week ago and haven't seen him yet.

Will my Yellow Clown Goby be fine with a Yasha/Shrimp in a 24G aquapod? The YCG usually swims up and perches on rocks higher in the tank and rarely goes down to the bottom, but would they fight?

They would be perfectly fine!

Shouldn't be a problem at all.

Would a Purple Firefish and a clownfish be okay with a Yashi?

yes, but it would be best to put the Yashia first, then the firefish, then the clown (in order of aggression to new tankmates). Remember that there are many clownfish (like maroon clowns) that are just as rough and mean as damsels. Stick with an occelaris or percula clown as they are generally peaceful.

I just got a mated pair of yashias and a candy stripe pistol... they're working out well... the LFS had two yashias in different tanks and one was already paired with the pistol so I thought hmm let's see if the yashias will get along and I watched them for about 20minutes in a breeder net in one of the tanks and they got along just fine without any fighting whatsoever. It's pretty interesting watching two yashia's make open mouth displays at anything that comes near the burrow haha including me when I'm watching them. I've got them in a BC14 and besides peppermint shrimp and the rest of the cleanup crew, they're the only ones. I gotta admit that this is one of the coolest shrimp goby setups I've ever done.

What do you guys think about multiple pistols?

The LFS where I got my pistol has two others that are making tunnels together under some window screening so I am wondering it they will pair with the pistol I already have.

I was under the impression that pistols may kill each other and sexing pistols would be hard because you don't know if they're fighting or playing nice underground in the tunnels.

if I was to get a ycg and a yasha/pistol , should i buy the yasha and pistol and the same time?
can the ycg already be established in the tank when I add the pair?
or does it matter at all?

also was thinking about a jawfish.. but Dont know much about there requirements

I probably wouldn't put a jawfish with any burrowing goby.....

As for the pistols....I watched two at the LFS which only have window screening on the sand bed for them to exhibit what they do and they were both next to each other at times and when not they were both moving their tunnels around.

I am planning on putting them in a 30g cube with about 70lbs of LR so I think if they didn't get along they would either kill each other or move to another spot. I will probably try it in a few weeks once I move everything over to the new tank.

Finally a couple decent shots of my yasha. He tends to only venture out at feeding time. Otherwise he sticks to his little hole there you see behind him. I'm considering getting a pistol shrimp for him, would that bring him out more or not?

Ek tell us in this thread what happens with the pistols, I was going to try this but I was told that they'd kill eachother. I'd really like to see if this works because based on what I've read a pair of gobies normally lives with a pair of pistols.

Also Kjofan, nice pics! Yours looks just like one of my two.

Watched the pair again at the LFS before work last night and almost got them but it was a cold one here and I didn't have any heat packs.....reason so is that I work nights and the LFS across the street from my job has the pistols.

I did watch them and the continued to burrow together....asked the guy there and he said that they came in seperate shipments and were separated at first but it's a rack type setup where there is a single pane separating them with slots so they found each other.

I will probably get it next week if it's still there or will go hunting for one when I move everyone over to the bigger tank.

Eh screw it... that sounds like too much fun ahaha... candy stripe pistols here are only 10 bucks... I guess if I hear a gun fight in the burrow then they were both males hahahaha.

BTW I saw a white/red clown goby at the LFS it was rather interest being all white with red spots all over. It may match my yashias and shrimps.

Does anyone know a good source to get mated pairs of these gobies?

Liveaquaria diversden has pairs occassionally for around $150.

Well....I scored a really cheap Randalls pistol last night at the LFS and this morning when I got off of work I went ahead and threw it in with the other one. I made sure I picked the smallest one in the LFS to try and pair with my big randalls.

I netted the pistol out and guided it to the rock in which my Yashia and Randalls have made home and it found it's way through the holes in the rock with no problems. About a few minutes later I hear machine guns go off for a few seconds and then it stopped.
I am guessing they needed to settle the dominance role but not sure how it all panned out yet. At feeding time the Yashia and the original pistol came out to eat and I think I caught a glimpse of the new pistol but time will tell.

i got my yasha to pair with a candy cane pistol.. and then i placed them into my 34g RSM and i got the shrimp and goby to live where i wanted them to. now i got another yasha hoping to get a male female pair going. unfortunately i cant tell if they will pair. i hear they are pretty territorial so i put the new goby in a clear plastic breeder box right in front of the cave where my original yasha made a home. they aren't acting agressively but the original one is kind of sticking his head upwards... anyone have experience with getting two yashas to form a mating pair?
thanks

The fiance saw the pistols!

She told me she saw the shrimp come out and went back in and then back out again....but it had changed in size so I now know that the two have paired up cause I got a tiny one to try and pair with the larger one.

I'd say let the other one out of the breeder box and see what happens. I've paired mine up by just letting the other one in and hoping for the best. If you don't see both of them out together within a few weeks, the didn't pair up.


Btw congrats on getting the pistols to pair ek!

I added my second yasha a week and a day ago and have not seen it since. I even moved/lifted all the rocks looking for him, didn't see a thing. Is he just hiding really good or has he been had?

thanks i paired the shrimp with goby pretty easily in my 2.5 gallon pairing tank.
i took your advice and just let him go out of the breeder box and he just went into the cave where my original yasha and shrimp made their home. nothing came out for 6 hours and then the original yasha came out alone. today has been 4 days since i let the new guy in and they both came out and hovered outside together. the smaller (original) one sometimes nudges the larger (new) one into the cave like they both do to the pistol shrimp.
i read here: http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtop...8228a77be0e9c3d
that they are visually sexually dimorphic. and after reading this i notice that my larger one has the black tip on the pelvic fin and a dorsal fin that is longer than its whole body while my smaller yasha doesnt have this black tip on the pelvic fin and the dorsal fin is less than the length of the body.

dude if that link you found is true then I don't have a true pair! Omg am I damn luck they haven turned on eachother, I hope i didn't just jinx myslef!