Unofficial Clown Goby Thread

[Nanobuds]

awesome

[bluefunelement]

IME if you add a rock of Halimeda your GCG will slalom in between the stalks and sometimes sleep curled around them.

[pismo_reefer]

This is what i did to get GCG to sit still for pics....

 

1) hold your camera, within sight of the fish, everytime you feed.

2) learn what distance from the cam he is comfortable with.....

3) move SLOW and tanke ALOT of pictures.

 

"Stick-Up!"

tha Black Clown Goby......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's under the caulastrea's....

[Nanobuds]

ooo nice. im gonna use the close up of her on the lobo... that is a lobo rite

[pismo_reefer]

Yep.

[Nanobuds]

cool. thanks for the pics

[pismo_reefer]

np.

 

always happy to help.....

[Clavius85]

Alright, I'm going to make another attempt at keeping a YCG. I bought one a few months ago but could never get it to eat and it didn't make it a month.

 

I just found another one at my LFS and am planning on eventually putting it in my new Picotope when I get it setup. But right now the little guy is in my QT tank (with a SG of 1.010) as it looks emaciated and possibly has ich. So hopefully I can get this guy to eat something in the next month or so. I have on hand Formula 1 and Formula 2 flake, Formula 2 small pellets, Tetra "Micro Crabs" (Cyclop-eeze), and freeze-dried and frozen mysis shrimp. Hopefully it will take to one of these foods and quickly. We shall see...

[SDahmer]

Here's my little black clown goby. He's the shiznit!

 

 

[Clavius85]

Any tips on getting a YCG to eat?

[Nanobuds]

start with feeding it cyclop-eeze. turn off the pumps, distract your other fish or inverts with food, then spot-feed the clown goby. just spray the food around him and hopefully he starts to eat. it took mine almost 2 weeks until he started eating.

 

you can also try live brine shrimp

[lgreen]

Wow...I disagree with a lot of the advice being given out in this thread. I'm surprised no one has said anything yet. I just saw this thread for the first time tonight.

 

First, despite what many websites say, I really disagree with classifying clown gobies as good "beginner" fish mostly due to the challenge of getting them to eat at first.

 

How many you can keep together depends on the tank size. In smaller tanks they should be kept alone or in mated pairs, but in larger tanks, such as a 55g, I've never had any issues with keeping like 10-15+ together. In nature they live in groups of 10-20. Clown gobies can change their sex. When two males are paired, the smaller male becomes the female and when two females are paired, the larger of the two becomes the male. Additionally I have never had issues with mixing different types of clown gobies. I've seen greens, yellows, and blacks, kept together in small tanks with no issues and used to have a green and yellow together in one of my old tanks.

 

I really would not recommend feeding clown gobies blood worms. They aren't very nutritious and is not a natural food source for them. Clown gobies are planktivores, so yes, the cyclopeeze would be a good option in addition to brine shrimp and if you are going to feed mysis, chop it into smaller pieces or get "mini-mysis" which is made by the company H2O life I believe.

 

If you catch yours eating some SPS polyps, just flick them away.

 

Are you serious? NEVER FLICK A FISH or even flick at them. That is very stressful for them.

 

Some usually starve in tanks if they are used to feeding on SPS only, and arent accustomed to basic aquarium foods. However, they are really easy to get eating prepared foods

 

I don' think you can say they usually starve just because they are used to feeding only on sps polyps, as that is not necessarily the truth. They eat meaty foods (plankton) in the wild as well sps polyps.The main reason clown gobies starve in tanks is due to the fact that by the time they get to the fish store, they are so emancipated and stressed out that they wont eat. People buy them unsuspecting and then suddenly the goby dies a few days to a week later. Another reason to always ask a fish store employee to feed a fish so you can observe it eating before you buy it.

 

Clown goby reproduction in captivity is not rare, they do it all the time. It's just not easy, as is it with any marine fish, to raise the fry.

 

Also, please don't tell people to buy fish at Aqua Con. Their website is littered with inaccurate horrible advice. Not to mention, a simple search of the vendor & trader feedback forum will give you plenty of reason to go somewhere else.

 

Alright, they are both eating now lol. They are taking in everything, flakes, pellets, etc.

 

But one thing, are they "immune" to anemones?

 

I have some aiptasia around the tank, and i dont want them to get killed from them.

 

yes

So, can they "host" anemones?

MadWorld - Yes

 

 

Absolutely false. Clown gobies are not immune to anemones and the anemone will sting, kill, and eat the goby if it attempts to host it. This is one thing to be very aware of when putting clown gobies in a tank with anemones. Their love for perching often gets them killed with an anemone in the tank.

 

 

 

This thread needs some work and if you're going to give others advice, please make sure you know what you're talking about. Just posting a bunch of stuff you've rephrased from other fish sites is not a substitute for having years of hands on experience with these fish.

Edited December 17, 2009 by lgreen

[6-line]

Potentially bad news--my Green Clown of three weeks has been sporting white spots and somewhat tattered fins the last week or so. He's always ate since day one (enriched brine shrimp) and besides the mass amount of white spots and lumps he seems pretty much normal and is still eating. My experience with ich infected fish is that they don't or won't eat and are lethargic which doesn't describe this fish. Early this week the spots were gone but now they're back. The red firefish in the tank remains unaffected. initally I thought it was just sand stuck to his body under his mucus layer but i don't know...almost seemed as if he was peeling as well. last night he see, pale green and was loosing coloration--this was right before the lights go out. I attributed this to the fact that he's been hanging out on the mushrooms and getting slightly stung but i doubt it.

 

Help!

[lakshwadeep]

I don' think you can say they usually starve just because they are used to feeding only on sps polyps, as that is not necessarily the truth. They eat meaty foods (plankton) in the wild as well sps polyps.

 

In the wild, they (or at least some species) depend mainly on sps polyps. You can see here, under Gobiodon citrinus, that SPS polyps make up nearly all of their food (note the diets of other species like G. rivulatus):

http://www.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/publish_db/Bul...25/no25004.html

Edited December 18, 2009 by lakshwadeep

[Nanobuds]

Wow...I disagree with a lot of the advice being given out in this thread. I'm surprised no one has said anything yet. I just saw this thread for the first time tonight.

 

First, despite what many websites say, I really disagree with classifying clown gobies as good "beginner" fish mostly due to the challenge of getting them to eat at first.

Thats your opinion

 

How many you can keep together depends on the tank size. In smaller tanks they should be kept alone or in mated pairs, but in larger tanks, such as a 55g, I've never had any issues with keeping like 10-15+ together. In nature they live in groups of 10-20. Clown gobies can change their sex. When two males are paired, the smaller male becomes the female and when two females are paired, the larger of the two becomes the male. Additionally I have never had issues with mixing different types of clown gobies. I've seen greens, yellows, and blacks, kept together in small tanks with no issues and used to have a green and yellow together in one of my old tanks.

 

I really would not recommend feeding clown gobies blood worms. They aren't very nutritious and is not a natural food source for them. Clown gobies are planktivores, so yes, the cyclopeeze would be a good option in addition to brine shrimp and if you are going to feed mysis, chop it into smaller pieces or get "mini-mysis" which is made by the company H2O life I believe.

 

 

 

Are you serious? NEVER FLICK A FISH or even flick at them. That is very stressful for them.

 

People know what i mean

 

I don' think you can say they usually starve just because they are used to feeding only on sps polyps, as that is not necessarily the truth. They eat meaty foods (plankton) in the wild as well sps polyps.

The main reason clown gobies starve in tanks is due to the fact that by the time they get to the fish store, they are so emancipated and stressed out that they wont eat. People buy them unsuspecting and then suddenly the goby dies a few days to a week later. Another reason to always ask a fish store employee to feed a fish so you can observe it eating before you buy it.

okay i will change that

Clown goby reproduction in captivity is not rare, they do it all the time. It's just not easy, as is it with any marine fish, to raise the fry.

 

i have never heard of them reproducing in captivity

 

Also, please don't tell people to buy fish at Aqua Con. Their website is littered with inaccurate horrible advice. Not to mention, a simple search of the vendor & trader feedback forum will give you plenty of reason to go somewhere else.

 

i am sorry i will edit that

 

 

 

Absolutely false. Clown gobies are not immune to anemones and the anemone will sting, kill, and eat the goby if it attempts to host it. This is one thing to be very aware of when putting clown gobies in a tank with anemones. Their love for perching often gets them killed with an anemone in the tank.

 

i have seen clown gobies perching on bubble tips and carpets at my LFS and they were just fine

 

This thread needs some work and if you're going to give others advice, please make sure you know what you're talking about. Just posting a bunch of stuff you've rephrased from other fish sites is not a substitute for having years of hands on experience with these fish.

 

do you mind if i use the info you gave me in the first post?

Edited December 18, 2009 by Nanobuds

[Poodges]

Can I put a green clown goby and yellow clown goby in the same 29 gallon? Sorry if already discussed. Thanks.

[Nanobuds]

its possible, but there is a large chance they will fight

[Squared]

I think there is some one here who has both in a 12g.

 

I want a green clown, yellow clown, and black clown for my reef. I have the green one.

[animalmaster6]

omgomgomg

 

I love this Gobiodon sp.

 

 

Gobiodon rivulatus

[chrssprngs]

 

My black clown goby sitting in his lunch box.

[noirsphynx]

I guess third times a charm. This is my third paint and this one is doing great. I could not get the first two I had to eat no matter what I tried but this guy loves cyclopeeze.

Peek-a-boo

Edited January 9, 2011 by noirsphynx

[Kweli]

My first yellow clown goby jumped out of the tank.

 

My second one was quarintined with a Midas Blenny for 6 weeks in hyposalinity. They were best buds.

 

Halfway through the hyposalinty it started to look VERY skinny, i kept trying different foods. The clown goby seemed interested but never really went for it. In the end I got him to eat New Spectrum pellets (the very small ones) and Formula 1 frozen mushh stuff.

 

Put him in the tank two days ago and he has been playing in my elegance coral since. I have pictures ill post soon, but its almost as if he thinks he is a Clown fish in an Anemone... he actually wiggles around in it and stuff. Hope his small size doesnt bother the elegance coral too much though

[Durbelethwen]

I bought a panda goby for my six gallon nano cube. I got her on Dec. 9. I saw her eating the next morning, she hid for a day and a half, she reappeared, lived underneath my flower leather soft coral for a couple of weeks (I saw her move around to different positions underneath it) I saw her come out and eat from the algae on the walls and I have not seen her since. Today I moved the rock that the flower leather soft coral is on (the only coral I have in the tank right now) because it was becoming pressed on the side of the tank. I figured while I had the rock up I would look underneath it to see if the fish was there. There was not a single sign of her, just my two sexy shrimp who dived for cover behind the live rock that the coral rock was sitting on. I am going to presume her lost. Since her disappearance I have twice seen isopods in my tank. One of the times was this morning, right after I turned on the light.

[castiel]

 

Just added to my IQ5 =0)

[yoshii]

Wow I love that paint noirsphynx! Where in the world did you get it?

 

Cas, yours looks like it's already found a hiding hole Is it eating yet?

 

I used to have a YCG in my 55g, he had a hard time eating pellets but would eat everything else