catalina goby

[yimmerz]

Has anyone every tried keeping a catalina goby in a nano-reef?

[mxpro32]

i had one in my 7 gallon and it lived about 3 months. i have read an article that wasnt an aquarium article that said they only live for 2 years in the wild. so if it has already been alive for over a year and then it goes to the lfs and you buy it it probably doesnt have alot of life left in it. others say it doesnt live long in tropical tanks because the temp is too warm but if they only live two years anyway then i would think that isnt the case. in any case it wont live long.

[Satchmo]

They're from temperate waters off the So. Californian coast, and won't live long at tropical temperatures. They shouldn't even be selling these fish.

[MKramer]

I spend a lot of time in the waters where they live. The water temperature can range from 65deg to 75deg during a year, but most of the time it is below 70.

 

These are to be considered cold-water fish. While it wouldn't surprise me that their natural lifespans are short and would be the cause of many aquarium deaths, their unsuitibility in warm tanks would accelerate this problem, and/or have the so stressed that they wouldn't be able to cope with even the slightest Ich or bacterial infection.

[FlyGTI]

I've been trying to figure out a way to keep the water cold enough for them to live and be happy. I kept one once but I was an idiot and put him in with a dottyback, who basically beat the bejesus out of him. They're a beautiful fish, though.

 

Any ideas, other than using a chiller? I can't really justify adding ice cubes to the tank on a daily basis. The wife already thinks I'm nuts as it is...

[GobyMan]

Cold water fish as everyone else has said, and they are jumpers....

[printerdown01]

If you want to keep catalina gobies your best bet is to set up a cold water tank... I know that it seems like you can't keep much in cold water, but the truth is they can be quite stunning! You will need a chiller (rather than a heater though...). And if you want to keep kelp in the system you would need something that creates surge -otherwise the kelp would die... Unfortunately keeping these guys in a reef tank would require dropping the temperature so much that nothing else would survive... I too have racked my brain on ways to keep this increadibly beautiful fish...