Boldest Goby

[WuHT]

I want to try adding a goby/dartfish to my aquarium and the key point i'm looking for is a goby that is bold such that you actually get to see it instead of it cowering in a hole for the majority of its life.

Now this is all dependent on its neighbours, but the other small fish in this 150g I have are:

1) azure damsel that tries to pick fights with its larger tankmates but its all bark and no bite being the tiniest
2) orchid dottyback that tends to hide in the caves mostly (somewhat regretful as the colour is very nice).
3) midas blenny that is out-and about so its my ideal fish trait.
4) mated pair of occ.clowns that seem to mind their own business

I'm not sure I can manage to keep any of the sand sifting gobies, and realistically I believe that the dottyback is eating some of the micro arthopods that would have made my tank suitable for a mandarin.

So after this long read:

Does anyone have a bold goby/dartfish/basslet to recommend ?

 

[IFbettas]

I have a tank-raised red head goby (Elacatinus puncticulatus) that I absolutely love. It's the boldest goby I've ever had and is always up front begging for food. They don't get very big, but I never have a problem locating mine in my 180.

 

[SushiGirl]

I've had 2 Diamond Watchman gobies, 2 red-headed gobies, and 1 6-spot sleeper goby that were all bold.

Not sure how the red-headed would do with a damsel, but they pair I had were out all the time.

Both Diamond Watchman gobies and my current 6-spot sleeper goby were sand sifters and they survived just fine. Quite the piggies at feeding time. My 6-spot comes up & bites the turkey baster the minute I put it in the tank. He's happy with lots of meaty mysis and still sifts the sand. None of mine were dependent on a sand critter-only diet, they were all target fed and I always ensure that food gets to the bottom as well (by turning off powerheads when feeding).

My Diamonds never even attempted to jump, but apparently that's rare. The 6-spot jumped into the overflow his first 30 minutes in the tank, so cover the overflow and the tank.

I had the Diamonds for 2+ years each (2 different tank crashes killed them) and have had the 6-spot for 9 months now. All fat & healthy.

I also have an orange-spot goby that is not a sifter (has taken a mouthful of sand maybe 5 times in 9 months LOL), and it was always right out front before; however, the 6-spot has become more aggressive since he got a wrasse buddy and the orange-spot hides more now.

 

[Monkeyfish]

IMO your current tank inhabitants will prevent you from successfully keeping many gobies and dartfish. Firefish, zebra darts, etc. will most likely either hide and starve or get mauled by the other fish.

 

[SushiGirl]

IMO your current tank inhabitants will prevent you from successfully keeping many gobies and dartfish. Firefish, zebra darts, etc. will most likely either hide and starve or get mauled by the other fish.

In a 150 g tank???

 

[Monkeyfish]

In a 150 g tank???

Oops.

I re-read the OP and realize I misread a few things - for some reason I thought he had a blue damsel and a purple dottyback :uzi: :reading: Must have been a senior moment. My apologies. :beer:

 

[cadre]

I've never had problems with Yellow Watchmen or Blue-fin Watchmen Gobies hiding. They're usually very bold, in fact if you want to add smaller fish to the tank after one of these you may have issues with bullying.

Your post lists your small fish but do you have any other fish in the tank?

 

[WuHT]

Larger fish in the aquarium?

1) blue throat trigger approx 3.5"
2) Asfur angel 4.5" (alpha fish)
3) pakistani butterfly 4"
4) foxface 6" (startles easily so may spook the jumpers)
5) melanurus wrasse 4"

It always seems like the big fish mind their own business or squabble with each other, and the small fish have to wait for the fall-out of the pellet feedings.

I dont want to jinx myself, but when my midas blenny and trigger race for the same pellet, my blenny has never jumped from that so maybe im' just lucky. I keep eggcrate on top (not 100% reliable, but it's been good for me).

 

[SushiGirl]

Hmmm, why would you not list ALL fish in your aquarium right off the bat? I assumed that was all you had in that tank, and that they all just happened to be small...

 

[WuHT]

I've noticed that the larger fish tend to only interact with the larger fish and the smaller fish tend to interact with the smaller ones, whichi may have been inappropriate since gobies could be easily frightened.

I wasn't necessarily posting the smaller fish for fear that they would squabble (as logically they can only fight to the extent that they stir the curiosity of a larger fish).

What I wanted to gauge was simply how outgoing various smaller fish were in my experience which would facilitate at least some context of what i'm looking for.