http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemD...&ddid=75103


Wow I wish I had the cash.

I dont really understand the fascination with this goby. I prefer the graceful shrimp goby if I'm going for this look. But it's just personal preference. Dracula goby>all

yeah, but i was under the impression that graceful's were almost impossible to get?

for me, it's the leapord spot and striped patterns on the fins - it's just badass looking.

so was this fish a short time ago. Draculas are getting relatively more common as well

true. are exports out of micronesia still halted?

Don't look now..... But they also have a pair of these on DD.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemD...&ddid=75380

yay for ugly brown fish!!


also, if that crosshatch weren't fully grown I would buy it in a heartbeat.

+1

your mom.

lolz. The male is kinda nice

jer's right...

They may be ugly brown fish.... but at least they are a UNIQUE ugly brown fish!!

love the leopard print. matches my underwear.

awesome fish!i've been looking for this one.lemme ask my wife if she likes it..

They're pretty shy little fishies, at least initially. I've got one in a 20L QT for the last 3 weeks that I've seen maybe 3 times, when I sneak into the room. Maybe it'll get braver...

does it have a shrimp?

Wow, that's one ugly fish.

It’s hard to find much info on these guys AND Lalani is right...not the greatest looking guys. From the very little info I can find is....they will probably hide all the damn time. I do like to see my fish every so often…..so might be better off rolling up 2 one hundred dollar bills and hiding them in your rocks.

Yes.

Yeah, but it's a magnificent ugly brown fish.

I've had mine and it's red banded pistol partner for a little more than a week. It hid for a day, then started to poke his head out of his burrow. They were considerate and made their home in the rock at the front of the tank. Now it occassionally roams/cruises over the sand near his hole. Mine has a white head dorsally, so it kinda resembles Lotilia gracilosa (graceful goby) - don't know if it's colored that way due to stress or not. It lives with two peaceful roommates. But when it displays it's leopard print dorsal fin, it's truly...magnificent!

It's normal. To each their own I guess...I think it looks really really cool!

agree - one really cool looking fish. Mine is actually closer to black in color than brown. The two funky protruding probosci/horns arising from the snout are also unique. And the blue stripes on the pelvic, anal and caudal fins are sweet. Let the haters hate.

Can you give us an update on this fishes personality and if you are enjoying it? I think it's fascinating and would like to consider one for a 30 gallon+refugium tank. I am wondering if they become less shy. Could I have it in a tank with a pearly jawfish?

i've had my mag goby/randall's pistol shrimp pair for two and a half weeks now. mine hid for only a day. since then, it's almost always out. it rests all day, most of the time hanging halfway out of his burrow. sometimes it will completely emerge, lying along the sand near his burrow or propped up on an empty scallop shell. occasionally it'll cruise/putter along the sand looking for copepods and amphipods. it's not much of a swimmer, except during feeding time when it'll swoop onto a morsel passing by. i think a post on reefbuilders said that kevin kohen of liveaquaria stated that they sift sand thru their gills looking for a meal. i have yet to witness that behavior.

the mag has been much more entertaining and engaging than both a yasha hashe and dracula shrimp goby that i had. both regrettably committed hari kari by jumping. both perpetually hid. the only consolation is that the yasha's old randalli pistol shrimp paired up w/my new one and now the three of them live in the burrow.

i read with interest that kevin kohen keeps a pair of mag shrimp gobies w/ randalli pistol, a candy basslet, and a mcculloch clownfish in his office aquarium. that's pretty cool b/c i also have a candy basslet in my tank, but no mcculloch clown . those and a yellow assessor share the tank and there is absolutely no aggression at all.

i've never kept a pearly jawfish, so i can't comment on compatibility. i've kept a blue spotted jaw, but not at the same time as a shrimp goby. maybe if you introduce the mag goby and his shrimp partner on the side opposite from the jaw's burrow, they may be fine. lower them in a container and keep the container in place for a while so that they won't move away. by using this technique, i was rewarded in the past by the shrimp digging his burrow front and center along the front of the tank, so that i could see the entire u-shaped burrow. i've read that some jaws may boot shrimp gobies out of their burrow, so keep that in mind. good luck!

I like it. Pretty shy, but comes out more since I added it to a tank with a lot of live rock. As with many shy fish, offering more hiding places makes it more likely you'll see it often (a bit counter-intuitive).

Jawfish can be pretty belligerent with other bottom dwelling burrowing gobies. I wouldn't try and mix them in a small tank, but ymmv.

I have decided to go ahead with this fellow and his companion. I've got my quarantine set up with some pvc; anything else I might do to make them happy? Do you think a two week quarantine would be sufficient or should it be four to be safe? I am purchasing from LiveAquaria. Thanks so much for your thinking; it was what made me decide to give these fellows a try.

P.S. They will ultimately be going into a 30 gallon reef tank with refugium by themselves. I will see how they do before thinking about adding other fish.

I normally advise people to QT but with these I would just place them in your main tank. One, they're from the DD and already QT'd; two, it's the only fish in the tank; three, the shrimp typically ship and acclimate poorly and it won't do it much good to place it in a QT tank for a couple weeks.

agree, divers den is the best. I'd just do a routine acclimation and then temp and pH adjusted fresh water dip (for the goby, NOT the shrimp). Btw, they're on sale now at divers den

try to provide various grades of sand grain/mixed reef rubble so the pistol shrimp can shore up his burrow properly.

That mag goby pair w/pistol on dd would be sweet to have!

Took both of your advice and moved MSG directly into my second display tank. He was so fascinating the first night to watch, kind of running, scooting along the bottom of the sand flicking his dorsal fin up and down. Reminded me of watching a mockingbird hunting when they flick their wings to get bugs to scatter and run.

Mine showed up with a white head and proboscis, as well, so I appreciated knowing in advance it was stress that caused the mis-coloration. Unsure about his food, though. As a result of the attached refugium, my tank has a number of pods which I am guessing he is hunting (with the previous behavior), but I am still target feeding mini mysis and chopped PE mysis. Will he begin to eat the frozen food, or might I need a kind of dither fish to get him interested in the inert food? He doesn't seem nervous to me; he watches for me to come into the room and is sometimes just resting on a low rock.

I haven't seen his shrimp since putting them in the tank. It was the smallest marine animal I have ever tried to handle. Is this typical? I have a ton of hiding places as I built a deep sand bed with live rock that extends down to the bottom glass to please the BSJawfish who never made it out of quarantine to make it his home. Is it possible I may need to get him another shrimp if this one doesn't turn up in time? Does it need to be super tiny so it will be compatible with his small size?

And, P.S., Is there a way to be notified when people reply to a topic on this forum, or is that only available if you pay to be notified? Thanks for all your help!

Lianne
www.AnatomicArt.com
Dallas, Texas

i think wombat (matt) said that the white head coloration is normal, and not due to stress. my guy started eating rod's food after two days. he also enjoys chopped pe mysis. he becomes rather bold when food is around. i read that they enjoy cyclopeez, but mine doesn't seem interested in it yet. he also ignores pellet food, but hopefully that'll change soon.


my pistol shrimps are quite shy too, although you can often see them puttering around near the burrow entrance. they're constantly burrowing, never taking a break. i'd give it a few days b4 you start worrying about the shrimp. sounds like you have a sweet setup for your captive inhabitants.


sorry, don't know!

Ditto what Davy said. Give it a few days to accept food. It should be perfectly fine eating pods and such off the rocks for a while. You may try live baby brine, cyclops (mine ate it right away--go figure), and very small frozen mysis. The white coloration is normal. Don't worry about the shrimp as there is not much you can do but be patient. Unfortunately they ship poorly. But, if they do survive they bounce back and do fine. The shrimp and the goby will find each other and create a burrow all on their own without any help. It might take a couple weeks before you see any evidence that the shrimp is still alive. Listen for snapping/clicking sounds and you'll know it's the pistol shrimp.

Couldn't hurt to use some garlic in the food as well. You can get the Kent's stuff or I just slice up a fresh clove and soak it with the tank water and food as it thaws, then toss the garlic before I feed the tank.