P.T. Barnum was right...

[theronsta]

Gorgeous fish! Are they in the same group of prawn gobies that will pair up with pistol shrimp? I have a HiFin Redbanded Prawn Goby in my tank and he lives in the same hole as my candy stripe pistol shrimp. Its neat to watch the two live together.

 

[jayelblock]

I've gotten conflicting information on whether they pair with pistol shrimp or not. Some resources say yes, others say no. In any regard, I no longer keep pistol shrimp because mine turned into fish killers. Perhaps it was because I had a mated pair of pistol shrimp, but they killed 2 fish, so I traded them and their yasha goby back to the LFS.

 

[mfish1]

Pretty
Where did you get it?

 

[jayelblock]

The larger one came from the now defunct Reef Hot Spot. I think I got the very last order they shipped. The new one came from Blue Zoo.

 

[jayelblock]

A few more pics for your viewing pleasure. Imagine a toothpick with fins, and you've pretty much got the scale correct:

 

[OodleyBoodely]

Wow! Very beautiful but teeny-tiny fish! If you are still considering dither fish, check out the red-spot cardinals, Apogon parvalus...small, attractive, and, no threat to the gobies.

 

[jayelblock]

I've discovered that the best dither fish for a fpg is another fpg. I've seen my original fish out in the tank more often this week than in the past 3 months. I have to believe that's because it knows another fpg is in the tank, even though I haven't seen them together since the new fish was introduced.

 

[auem]

reefhotspot closed..?.their website seems updated...

 

[jayelblock]

Well, there was a bit of disruption in their service a few months back where they quit responding to all inquiries, listed everything as "out of stock" and canceled every order. You can check the vendor feedback thread--there's a recent post about someone who had a problem. They seem to have opened back up in a limited way, and I believe they are also doing business under another name--aquarium arts? In any regard, it's not the fantastic retailer it used to be.

 

[jayelblock]

So, it's been 18 months, more or less, and the flaming prawn gobies are doing fine. Turns out they thrive on benign neglect. They are now in a 65G mixed passive tank along with a mated pair of threadfin cardinals, an alligator pipefish, a target mandarin, a few other gobies (pink bar, Hasselt's, citron clown), and six different species of shrimp (sexy, peppermint, blood red fire, pistol, grass, skunk cleaner). Sometimes I don't see them for weeks, and sometimes I see them for a few days in a row. Both have bodied out quite a bit, although a full grown FPG is still a tiny, tiny fish. Sadly, they are not a pair, and seemed to have staked out territories on opposite sides of the tank.

Crappy pic because my camera can't figure out what it should focus upon...

 

[MikeandNicole]

Getting a pic of a flaming prawn goby is like getting a picture of Bigfoot, always blurry and you can barely make anything out. That is a good pic

 

[mandarin_goby]

wow...stunning little fish! Like little gems. My pom pom crabs are like that - they only come out every once on a while. So glad the 1st one made it through the rescape - tough little bugger!

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Very pretty fish.I have only seen one in a lfs,when they get them they are snatched up real quick.

 

[united417]

great shots of such a neat little fish, would love to have a pair wouldnt yah!?haha thanks for sharing:beer:

 

[MandarinFan]

Very cool little fish. Lucky you to have two of them!

 

[E.intheC]

:lol: excellent posts. Glad they're doing well for you still.

 

[Lavoisier]

What a beautiful fish. Thanks for the post.

 

[jayelblock]

My pleasure. I hope to get some better pictures tomorrow.

As it turns out, I see them much more often now that they're in a 65g than I did when they were in the nano. I understand the impulse to keep a small fish in a small tank, but these guys really cruise around. They move through the rock work, but they also like to hang out near a clump of chaeto and hunt pods. I have a big ball of chaeto in my display tank, and while it's not beautiful, it is a hotbed of activity. The alligator pipefish hunts over there, as does the mandarin.

I've given up on the notion of having a pristine tank (I have about 9 types of nuisance algae that never get out of hand but never completely go away), and instead have allowed for some biodiversity. Everyone seems happy.