Yellow Watchman Goby vs Hi Fin Red Banded Goby

[c_man7]

Which would be a better fish? I really wanted the hi fin, but they are so hard to find local around me and the size is always around an inch. I'm worried my clowns will pick on it at that small a size. When I got my royal gramma about 2.5", my female clown would chase it and they would but heads. I'm worried the smaller fish won't be able to stand up for itself to the clowns. The yellow watchman I know I can find and most are a decent 1.5-2.5" size from various stores around me. Do they behave the same being both are shrimp gobies.

[jambon]

IMO the highfin is the way to go. It lives on the bottom and spends most of its time around the entrance of the borrow. I don't think it will be a threat to the clownfishes space. It's smaller size means less bio load than the YwG.. 

[MainelyReefer]

My YWG spars with my clowns when the pistol puts a burrow beneath the frogspawn the clowns host.  Honestly I think in my tank the opposite of what your expecting happens, the small goby goes unnoticed, the big yellow one who can be a dick himself not so much.  My green clown goby and green banded goby both go unnoticed even when GCG is perching in the frogspawn.

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

Watchman;s can be little F***ers... they stir up the sand and have attitude... hi-fin's are docile and chill in their holes... get him a pistol shrimp!

 

Hi-Fin Goby by Jon L, on Flickr

[c_man7]

Thanks I was just worried about the hi fin getting picked on by my clowns.

[FollyFish]

I have a YWG and a clownfish. Im not even sure the clownfish knows the goby is in the tank. My YWG stays on the bottom near his holes and his Randall and my clownfish never leaves the Duncans corals she is hosting near the mid-top of the tank. If you see fighing try moving what they host further away. It might help if the Hi-fin is getting bullied.

[Hobbs]

I have a high fin and he’s pretty fun. They are super skittish though so heads up.  Once you put him in he will burrow and it might be a week before you see him if the clowns chase him. They can be a little bit tricky to feed since they are so shy but I think they are worth it. Definitely get a candy cane pistol shrimp to pair, the shrimp will occasionally kick them out of the burrow to go get food for them. I’ve had mine 4 months now and he finally is getting to the point of not hiding when i look in the aquarium

[AshCom]

High fins are like your stoner friend, they dont do much but chill in the sand. You can grab a goby and pistol shrimp pair at an LRS if you look hard enough or request.

[c_man7]

I went ahead and got a yellow watchman. I was really worried about the clowns and all my lfs could get them in less than an inch or 1.25" sizes which I believed would be a snack for the clowns. The watchman is about 2.5" and after a couple hours in the tank it swims up to the glass when I walk up  and cruses between caves/burrows. I was really surprised since the last one I had just sat in it's burrow. 

 

The clowns don't pay it any mind at all which I wish I would've known, but I am happy with him.  Now to get him a pistol shrimp. Which do you think would be the best pistol for a watchman?

[Hobbs]

Definitely a candy cane. I’ve heard horror stories about how tiger pistols will roam your aquarium and night and kill/ drag other inverts into its burrow if it isn’t fed enough. Typically it doesn’t happen but I don’t think it’s worth the risk

[crownsbroyal]

Hifins are great, i have had a tiger with no problems but they do have a rep.......

[Droy008]

All I have to say is F*** tiger pistol shrimp.

Unless you like to have your coral as his evil cave decorations. The skulls of your fish and inverts as lawn ornaments, and ohh yea, a sandstorm Every. Freaking. Day!

 

Just say no to tiger pistol shrimp.

[jambon]

I have a blue legged pistol shrimp which is about the same size as the tiger pistol shrimp. I think it was a mistake to get this guy... reason being I recently lost my springerii dottyback. I think he had a concussion because had a habit of getting into the faces of my crustaceans looking for scrap food. So I guess that's life in the wild. Not sure of your tank size but the candy cane may never be seen. The size of the tiger would be suitable to the size of the YWG It gets down to your preference and accepting the excavating that will go on.