Engineer Goby Lowdown

[LCDRDATA]

I'm thinking about adding an engineer goby (Pholidichthys leucotaenia) to my tank, but while the various sources I've looked at agree on a number of features and potential cautions (which I've taken into account) there is disagreement on two points - size and social needs. I need some clarification!

I've seen "maximum size" cited as low as 5.5" and as high as 18;" some sources say you really need more than one and others say a singleton will do fine. 2-3 18" fish would overwhelm my tank (I have an 18-month old 75G reef tank), while one 6" fish is emminantly doable. Beyond ~8-10" of additional fish I think it would become dicey, and I don't want to overload my tank.

I know some fish adapt size-wise to their environment; in other words, a fish with a given "maximum" size might live a full life in a smaller tank and never get beyond, say, half of the theoretical maximum it could reach in an unconstrained environment. Does anyone know if the engineer goby fits this description? Even if it does, is one fish alright on its own or would it be lonely its whole live?

Thanks in advance for your experience/advice.

 

[LKGRenegade22]

They will do fine alone. Everyone I know that has 2 they kind of pair up. They also get big. I have one that is about 1.5 years old and it is between 8-10". I have seen a few around 12". I had 2 but they all of a sudden started creating havoc digging all over the place so I tried to get them out. I caught one months back and sold him and ever since I removed one the other one has chilled out.

If you get some know this:

-They grow FAST.
-Make sure all your rocks are on the bottom glass because they burrow and will cause major collapses if the rock is not completely stable. The bigger they get, the more stuff they can move.

Mine had started moving all the sand from the back of the tank to the front and were starting to cover up my clams and I couldn't take it anymore. They had been in the tank over a year and I had never had problems but once they started that they would not stop.