Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Some Green-Banded Goby pics


c est ma

Recommended Posts

Just thought I'd post some pics of my GBG that I snapped tonight. (Note--many of these shots helpfully include flatworms for a handy size reference...<_<. It is a tiny fish...)

 

GBG with his reflection in the tank side:

dscn5064medium6vc.jpg

 

And a closer view (ooh, there are 3 of us!):

dscn5069medium1zx.jpg

 

Find the goby (wouldn't it be nice if he were a flatwormivore?):

dscn5105medium7md.jpg

 

Posing nicely against the algae:

dscn5125medium5em.jpg

 

And resting on the Porites plug:

dscn5127medium6nu.jpg

 

--Diane

Link to comment

Diane,

 

Believe it or not Green Banded gobies can and do eat flatworms :D I have a breeding pair of them and have seen the female consume flatworms on more than one occasion. In fact there are no flatworms visible in the main tank but truck loads of them in the refugium so I know that they are being controlled. There's nothing like having to produce a batch of eggs every week to stimulate ones appetite I guess. :happy:

 

Sweet fish and great pics.

 

Best regards

 

Ann

Link to comment

Thanks, all, for the nice comments!

 

Ann, you're kidding!?! Maybe that's why he hangs out in that corner! Perhaps I'll cut down on the fish food...BTW, is there any way to sex these guys?

 

Fishfreak--I've been eagerly following your leaf fish saga. Talk about cool fish!

 

Clifford--"nonchalant"--I love it! Fits him perfectly. :)

 

--Diane

Link to comment

It's pretty cool, I had hoped that my nano tank would not get infested with planaria but of course it had to happen. :( I couldn't believe it when I saw one of the gobies eat them, what a surprise that was!

 

Yes, there is a way to sex these gobies. The males have a really long first ray of their dorsal fin, your fish is female IMO. See how the first ray is slightly extended, well in males it's a lot longer (at least double that length).

 

If you do try to get a hold of a mate for your fish then I should warn you that you'll hardly ever see the male. Mine spends all (and I mean all) of his time tending the eggs. He only ever leaves his cave when I put food into the tank and even then it's only a short dart out and back again. I can tell you that he takes his job extremely seriously. B)

 

I have tried raising the fry but I haven't managed to get them to live past day 19 yet. :tears:

 

Best regards

 

Ann

Link to comment
It's pretty cool, I had hoped that my nano tank would not get infested with planaria but of course it had to happen. :( I couldn't believe it when I saw one of the gobies eat them, what a surprise that was!

 

Yes, there is a way to sex these gobies. The males have a really long first ray of their dorsal fin, your fish is female IMO. See how the first ray is slightly extended, well in males it's a lot longer (at least double that length).

 

If you do try to get a hold of a mate for your fish then I should warn you that you'll hardly ever see the male. Mine spends all (and I mean all) of his time tending the eggs. He only ever leaves his cave when I put food into the tank and even then it's only a short dart out and back again. I can tell you that he takes his job extremely seriously. B)

 

I have tried raising the fry but I haven't managed to get them to live past day 19 yet. :tears:

 

Best regards

 

Ann

 

Well, now I have a fun quest on which to embark! Although I suppose it will therefore be a long time before I find GBGs in the lfs's again.

 

Oh, it must be terribly disappointing to lose the fry, esp. after 19 days. I assume you would have to set up a separate tank? Wonder how the commercial breeders do it...

 

--Diane

Link to comment

Yeah, it's really sad. I've just checked on the nano now and there is yet another batch of babies swimming about. I hate to let them go without giving them a chance at life. :(

 

I had a separate tank set up for them a while back but after 5 or so failed attempts (they died off at 17-19 days old) I switched over to raising Sexy shrimp which was much more successful. Apparently green banded gobies are harder to raise than other species of gobies. I would have like to have tried feeding them on the s-strain of rotifers (as they are smaller than the regular ones) but they are not available in the UK. Boo hoo! Perhaps one day I'll have another go.

 

Best regards

 

Ann

Link to comment
  • 7 months later...

Wow, new activity on this thread!

 

RP Beesh,

 

Yes this fish (now, these fish) is very bold. Before I introduced his mate he was most interactive with me, coming to the front of the tank when I approached (I think he learned quickly where food came from). He used to be so reliable at greeting me that I would find a "goby streak" in every other picture I tried to take... :D The female was just as bold when first added. Since he & his significant other set up housekeeping, they've been a lot less in evidence--but their new activity was worth it!

 

FUGU!!!--Thank you. The secret is to take a lot of pics and delete 99% of them. :)

 

Crash607--It's only a 5.5g! Supposedly, one fish is pushing the limits, let alone two. But after having the male alone for so long, I really wanted to try to find him a mate and see how things went. So far, things have gone swimmingly! (groan) When I first introduced the female they immediately found each other and began quivering, perching beside each other, following each other about...it is SO fascinating and rewarding to see social behavior--not to mention, breeding behavior. The female's been in there for a little over a month and so far I've seen no problems with the bioload--I do weekly H2O changes.

 

--Diane

Link to comment

You could keep 1 blue/green chromis in a 5g tank happily or an occell clown.So I think you could keep 2 1in fish that don't give off much bio-load in a 5g.

 

I am getting a pair of red banded gobys for my 5 once I find some.We could start a 5g club!

Link to comment

iMuchas gracias, escarabajon! BTW, I love your avatar!

 

Responding to crash & fugu:

 

Ahem. Have things around here changed that much? :D I don't think Six actually noticed my tank size when she responded in my spawning thread, or she'd have flamed me for sure! (FWIW, I really have the greatest respect for her experience & knowledge.)

 

So far I think my gobies are not only not overloading the tank, but that the male, who had been a singleton for quite a while, is orders of magnitude "happier" (or whatever the nonanthropomorphic word would be) with a mate.

 

However, the female's only been in there a month, so in SW terms I don't think you can say that anything's proven, yet...But--so far, so good!

 

--Diane

 

PS: There's still a lot of disagreement about what constitutes an OK stocking level for these tanks...

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...