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Rainford Goby


Jason McK

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I have a fairly new 14G biocube that finished cycling about 2 weeks ago. Today I added a Rainford goby as recommended by the Nano Reef book as being "highly desirable" in a nano. Then I was reading a marine fish book that said they often don't survive in a new tank. HELP! Have any of you got Rainfords that are eating mysis or brine? Any suggestions for something I can feed him to help ensure his survival?

 

He is housed with a purple firefish that seems to have an appetite for sexy shrimp :angry:

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lakshwadeep
Rainford's goby is greenish brown overall with orange lines and has become a staple in the marine fish trade since about 1990. Its availability in the hobby corresponds with the increased popularity of reef aquariums. Although this fish will not harm sessile invertebrates, and is thus a suitable addition to the reef aquarium, it really does best if kept in a tank with filamentous algae (something most reef aquarists abhor). If the tank does not support an algal crop, it will often become emaciated. If the aquarist is persistent, it is possible to get these fish to accept introduced fare, like vitamin-enriched live and frozen brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, and prepared foods for herbivores. But, as I keep more A. rainfordi I have come to the conclusion that green and/or red filamentous algae is almost essential to keep most individuals.

 

from an article by Scott W. Michael http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/3/fish

 

FAQs on feeding from wetwebmedia.com: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobyfdgfaqs.htm

I'd be inclined to add some pieces of live rock from your display or another established system into the quarantine tank for him to forage one. In addition, you could purchase some life amphipods from a number of e-tailers (Indo Pacific Sea Farms comes to mind) and feed these live foods to get him going.
Rainford's goby is notorious for being very difficult to keep for long in captivity and this is largely because of its seemingly strict dietary requirements. The nature of its substrate is truly secondary to this dietary need as they have been observed on both hard and soft substrates as you have noted. For many years the common denominator to their success in captivity has been a constant supply of hair algae (Derbesia or like species have been "employed" perhaps inferior to turf algae) Since such algae is generally considered to be unsightly and a nuisance... many Rainford gobies are not kept healthy for very long. Turf algae species are really perhaps more appropriate and their recent popularity in algal scrubbers and subsequent methods for cultivating a continuous supply may help keep species such as the Rainford goby. Ironically, it may not be the algae at all that they need to feed upon but rather the zooplankton attracted to the dense mats of algae. Regardless... are you really prepared to turn your 350l display into a field of algae for this fish? Most people would not be willing, but you have said that you are interested in a biotope display. If so, I hope I have reassured you that you need not worry so much about the nature of the substrate and rather to focus on cultivating turf algae and incidentals within it for keeping the magnificent Rainford goby.
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Wow! Thank you for the excellent information. We did use some established rock bought off a friend who re-aquascaped his tank so hopefully this will provide him with something, there's also a bit of hair algea left after the cycle, we can try some zooplanktin too, whatever works for this guy

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I don't feed mine, it eats pods from the refugium. This bit of that quote, lakshwadeep, is the most pertinent, ime: "Ironically, it may not be the algae at all that they need to feed upon but rather the zooplankton attracted to the dense mats of algae." The algae is necessary for the bugs to congregate in.

 

Mine does not, however, eat the algae. Not a single minute bit. That's why I put him in there, too. Little bastard.

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lakshwadeep
I don't feed mine, it eats pods from the refugium. This bit of that quote, lakshwadeep, is the most pertinent, ime: "Ironically, it may not be the algae at all that they need to feed upon but rather the zooplankton attracted to the dense mats of algae." The algae is necessary for the bugs to congregate in.

 

Mine does not, however, eat the algae. Not a single minute bit. That's why I put him in there, too. Little bastard.

 

Yes, it would seem strange for a goby to be eating hair algae. I've never heard of a herbivorous goby so far.

 

It's probably the same reasoning as recommending a lot of live rock for mandarins.

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Well, at any rate, the algae is necessary. And I'll tell you another thing: when you take it out, the goby suffers. Take a look at the newest FTS of my 13g. Any less algae than that and the goby starts to look emaciated. Necessary evil, lol.

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Wow.......I never knew that the rainsford goby was considered an advanced fish to keep! Mine is the hardiest little fish that I've ever had in my reef tank! He wont eat any prepared foods, but I leave the algae growing on the back and sides of my 10 gal aga so I have plenty of pods for him to eat. I also let hair algae grow on my hob filter, and every now and then I tear off a couple of pieces for him. I have seen him eat the algae, so I don't think it's just the pods they need though.

anyways, just my .02

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mine recently died of starvation and my tank had both plenty of hair algae and plenty of pods. I waited 6 months before adding any fish. I never once saw my geometric pygmy hawk eat either.

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I have a algae problem in my tank and decided to add one last week. Just look at him eating :D

I never see it eating nothing but filamentous algae. Just hope it never stops.

 

th_MOV03323.jpg

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GoingPostal

Unless it's eating prepared foods very quickly I would take it back, either way you are adding bioload very fast to a young tank.

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supreme_spork

these little gobies are sifters -- they take mouthfuls of stuff (sand, algae, detritus on rocks) and filter it through their gills, extracting zooplankton. most good sources i've found don't believe they're actually eating the algae, rather they're nipping it and filtering for zooplankton just as they do with sand, which makes it appear as if they're eating it.

 

i've been doing an experiment with a rainsford goby in my tank for the last few months -- i have a 34g CAD and he's the only fish... he's single-handedly reduced my pod population down to about 10% of what it once was, but he's getting enough to eat with what the tank produces and is plump and healthy (his favorite foods are cerith eggs, which happily appear 2 or 3 times a week). i *think* he also eats frozen cyclopeeze, but it's hard to say.

 

i wouldn't add any additional pod-eating fish to my tank, as i'm pretty sure it would wreck the balance. i think long-term survival in a small tank is probably tricky for these guys...

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I have a "goby" question...

 

I've had my curred live rock in my tank for 2 weeks now and the LFS recommended adding one goby to start my tank. I bought a Mural Goby...

 

He recommended adding 3-4 brine shrimp every other day for the first week. He didn't want me to feed him everty day because of concerns with the bioload for such a new tank.

 

Is this the right food and is it often enough? I just don't want him to die of starvation.

 

Thanks!

 

-mc

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lakshwadeep
I have a "goby" question...

 

I've had my curred live rock in my tank for 2 weeks now and the LFS recommended adding one goby to start my tank. I bought a Mural Goby...

 

He recommended adding 3-4 brine shrimp every other day for the first week. He didn't want me to feed him everty day because of concerns with the bioload for such a new tank.

 

Is this the right food and is it often enough? I just don't want him to die of starvation.

 

Thanks!

 

-mc

 

I'm assuming it's a sleeper goby (Valenciennea muralis to be exact). It is one of the sand sifting gobies but gets to a length of 5" (maybe too large). It is best to place some chopped krill, or other seafood, buried in the sand so the fish can get a good nutrition while sifting (They naturally feed on invertebrates in the sand, which can cause them to starve quickly in our nanos' sand beds). Yes, you don't want to overload your system with too much food. In general, sleeper gobies are difficult to keep if they don't eat prepared foods.

 

Can someone who has a sleeper goby give some advice on what they feed their fish?

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Should I switch him out for another type of Goby? Maybe a Yellow Watchman Goby? -or- is he too large too? I just want something that is very cool to look at that will thrive by themselves in a Nano tank (I have the BioCube 29).

 

Thanks!

 

-mc

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lakshwadeep
Should I switch him out for another type of Goby? Maybe a Yellow Watchman Goby? -or- is he too large too? I just want something that is very cool to look at that will thrive by themselves in a Nano tank (I have the BioCube 29).

 

Thanks!

 

-mc

 

I would say yes to switching (all it will be is a big hassle to make sure it isn't starving). Yellow watchmans, well actually any of the shrimp gobies, are perfect and very popular in nanos (people here commonly use the abbreviation YWG). You could even get a goby/pistol shrimp pair for an alternative to the all too common "nemo/anemone" symbiosis. They eat food from the water column, so that will be easy to do with pellets/flakes/frozen/seafood and other things.

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supreme_spork
mine recently died of starvation and my tank had both plenty of hair algae and plenty of pods. I waited 6 months before adding any fish. I never once saw my geometric pygmy hawk eat either.

 

Cobalt, I thought your tank exploded and that's what killed everything?

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just wanted to update anyone who cares. It's been 5 weeks now and the little guy is doing great! I am adding Tigger Pods every 2 weeks plus any pods I can catch from my 370G. I have yet to see him eat prepared food although he seems to get excited when I put it into the tank but he's constantly sifting the sand and seems to be finding something in there. I'm also allowing a small patch of hair algae to remain in a back corner of the tank.

 

The only downside is my purple firefish likes to bully him a little bit, he's lightening fast though and always makes a speedy getaway

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  • 7 years later...

I'm reviving this thread just to deposit some updated info. There are captive bred rainford's now available that are supposedly much easier to care for and readily accept all forms of prepared food. This is what I've read. I may be trying one out soon and I'll update here again after that.

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  • 4 years later...

I think mine is pregnant.  I bought two thinking they'd tackle some hair algae.  now I just keep the algae trimmed manually and have a biotiope of sorts/lots of macro algae too, and filter feeders.  they fought often at first, but now roam the tank together.  they've recently started burrowing (which ive never seen from them), and ive had one for about a year and the other for about 9 months. they share a 33 gallow with two seahorses, and two pipefiush, a crocea clam, an orange sponge that surprised me with its longevity and growth, fan worms, and abunch of shromms and zoas. 

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