I am probably going to get my first fish this week and my LFS has a nice looking Court Jester Goby. I was wondering what kind of experience people have had with these guys. Are they picky eaters? Are they active or do they spend most of their time hiding? Its for a 29g biocube with some shrooms, zoas and a big, fat fire shrimp.

Poor survival rate on the court jesters goby. They eat hair algae which I don't want in my tank but if I have it a jester won't be able to keep up with it. Very cool fish though. They are kinda shy but also hover.
Hector's look almost identical but have a better record of survival.

Any thoughts on why they have poor survival? My tank has passed through the hair algae phase so can they be fed something instead? I have some stringy macro growing - will they eat that?

Neither the Hector's or Rainford's Goby will eat prepared foods, hence the poor survival rates.

I have had a Hector's in my 10 gallon nano since August, so far so good, he's fatter now than when I got him. He eats hair algae and sifts sand for nutrition, and hasn't had any interest in any other food items. He's a pretty cool fish though, I'd recommend them for a tank that isn't devoid of algae (as long as it has a sandbed). Super peaceful, my Purple Firefish beats on him once in a while. I couldn't see them doing well in a tank with aggressive fishes.

Has anyone had luck getting these guys to feed on something other than algae growing in the tank? The liveaquaria website claims they are an "easy" fish to keep.

+1 to yardboy. I kept a Rainford's (aka court jester) goby, which did graze on some hair algae, but it never ate introduced foods. After maybe 6 months, it just disappeared. IMO, the Amblygobius gobies (the rainford's is A. rainfordi, while hector's is A. hectori) are similar to mandarins.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/3/fish

Thanks for the advice. Given your comparisons to the mandarins, I'll probably opt for a fish that is easier to keep happy and healthy.

How about a crab-eye goby? They're cool looking and sift sand well for a nano, plus I have seen mine eating flake.

That would be cool - but I'm kind of limited by what my LFS gets in and what looks healthy. I'm pretty far out in the boonies so I'm dependant on what fish can survive the long shipping trip to the LFS and I've never seen one of those in his shop.