How's your luck with Catalina Gobies

[Scottkelly911]

I've done the research, I know there are the CA Catalina Gobies which are cold water and the Mexican Catalina's which are cool water, but can tolerate warmer waters conducive to our aquariums while still not being optimal for them. My question is, has anyone had longterm success with one? It's seriously one of the most beautiful little gobies available and I'd really like to put one in my tank, but I don't want to spend 25 bux to kill a beautiful fish. My tank has mainly gobies in it and I'd love to add this little guy. I found one that is smaller than any other Catalina I've ever seen and they're ALWAYS small, but this little guy is tiny and would be perfect for my aquarium as long as I can have some success with it. So what's your experiences?

 

[Monkeyfish]

If it's for your listed cube I wouldn't add anymore fish. IMO - Avoid the catalina goby unless you have a cold water set-up.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Seems risky for a nano unless you have a chiller (possible temp spike)

Another consideration is the mouth sizes of your other fish - not sure if your highfin would be inclined to eat a catalina, but IME mouth size is a very helpful indicator

 

[VSpeck]

they will live for months or so but thats the extent that ive seen they dont last long and im sure are stressed

 

[monkeyreefer]

they will slowly "cook" to death, just like what happens to margarita snails. Think of it this way, take yourself to an airport and be air dropped into the middle of the sahara desert with a backpack full of water. Youll survive for a while, but not too long. Colder water is a must for these animals.

 

[Scottkelly911]

thanks guys. I'm not concerned about the bio-load since I do 2 water changes a week at about 25% each change (nano's can go bad quickly if you're not super diligent on changes) My other fish are tiny, my Hi-fin is one of the smallest Hi-fin's I've seen to date, but he does have a big mouth for such a small fish, but he leaves my tiny Yellow Clown goby alone and he's only about 1/2 an inch including the tail. But thanks for the comments, I couldn't help myself and bought him, he's the exact same size as my yellow clown goby. I'm in the process of slowly lowering the temp on my tank to about 77 using fans. Wish me and even more importantly, my new Catalina luck. So far, he's been really active. When I first put him in the tank, he quickly found a little perch, but then hid behind some rocks. I turned out the lights for a little while (I'm sure my corals got pretty mad for that) then I turned them back on for a while then fed some mysis and he came out ate happily and has been hanging out oddly enough with my two Ocilaris Clowns for the past hour and a half.

 

[emperior911]

i had 2 in my tank for about 1 month... eating well... just didn't fare well in the temp 80

 

[20reefer]

Why you don try nineline gobies, they are very similar and live in association with sea urchins. They are from the Caribbean but the problem is to find a lfs that sell thems, they are rare in the aquarium hobby but they are very common in the shallow waters of PR. Talk to your lfs to try to find thems in a wholeseller. I have see thems at 2 feet deep. Here is a pic:

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Pablo