Diamond Gobies

[kirkmenard]

Anyone have any experience with breeding diamond gobies? I have a tank that has had one diamond gobie for around a year. I picked up a second gobie about a month ago and it was love at first site.

Last week they half destroyed my tank digging holes and building nests everywhere. They stopped for a few days and started again two days ago. Several places I had to keep moving the sand back to keep them from burrying my feather dusters. They appear to have finally built a nest in the back corner behind some rocks and against the sump wall.

They disappeared into it today and have not come back out. I can see just the top of it and see one peek up every now and then. My assumption is that they are breeding.

I assume that the odds of anything surviving are slim to none because I have no way of isolating them from the other fish or feeding any hatchlings. Anyone know if they are mouth breeders, motherly or lay and forget? More a curiousity than anything because even if they successfully hatch anything I have no clue how I am going to save any of them.

If anyone has any experience with them I would be curious as to what to expect.

btw. I had a pair of firefish gobies do the same thing about 4 months ago. they built a burrow, guarded it for a while without eating. They both eventually died.

Thanks.

 

[kirkmenard]

The gobies stayed in the 'nest' for 24-36 hours and have re-emerged. They have now resumed their old habits and burrows as if nothing every happened.

 

[trueblackpercula]

would love to here more about it. Can you take pictures of whats going on? In any case good luck and keep everyone posted.\
Michael

 

[kirkmenard]

I would take a picture of the 'nest' if I could, but they built it in the worst possible place. I have a 75g tank with a sump. They built it in the back left corner at the corner of the glass and the sump. That side backs up to a wall so a picture from the back is not an option. It is behind a wall of rock that I built to hide most of the sump.

It took me a while to even find them after they vanished. There was one little gap that if I looked just right I could see one occasionally poking its head up above the nest.

They appear to be lay and forget parents or they did nothing at all. They resumed their normal habits and have started smoothing down all the other holes and piles they created throughout the tank. They both appear to be ignore the nest now, or at least I haven't seen them go back in.

At this point without any parental guarding I don't expect anything that hatches to live. I have a wrasse that I expect to eat anything that moves so short of taking most of the fish out of my tank I don't think there is much I can do to help them.

Ideas?

btw, some other info. This is my first saltwater tank. 15 years ago I had a breeding pair of freshwater angels. The saltwarter tank is about a year old and seems to be doing fine. I have some leather corals that are doing so well that I have started propogating them for the fun of it off the shoots they keep throwing off. I also have an unknown small bubble-tip anemone that I spent months on forums trying to get identified without any success. Best answer I got was yes its a BTA and no one knows what kind. Its prolific and my largest specimin is about 3 inches tall and 3 inches across.

This is just a hobby for me and if my frags pay for my maintenance/food costs I am happy. Its fun when things happen like the gobbies (except for all the damage to my sand bed), but again it is just a hobby. Any info or experience with other diamond gobies would be appreciated.

Thanks.