So who has a Whitecap Goby? (Lotilia graciliosa)

[Bongo Shrimp]

I was finally able to secure one with the proper shrimp and was just hoping to see who else here has one. If you could share a little about you're experience with the tiny things that'd be cool too.

Pics are always welcome!

There's been lots of talk about them but who actually has one here and now?

 

[namxas]

I don't have one, but I know that they're a temperate species, so I doubt too many folks keep them.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I've never seen anything to suggest that they are temperate. Here it says they can be found in waters 22C to 26C. 26C = ~78.8F Plus look at the range.

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=7239

But anyhow I know there are at least a few people who have one.

 

[namxas]

A lot of the specimens that have some into the hobby were collected near Japan, and the water there is a bit on the chilly side. If you know where the fish in question was collected, it would give you a better idea of what temp to keep it at.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Ok well I don't know where it was collected but if it is temperate then it will be happy in my seahorse tank at 72-73F.

 

[Green_Reefer]

From my limited experience with a White cap...

Hardy, EXTREMELY timid fish.
Does not fair well without a shrimp to pair with.
Will pair with tiger and randall's pistol.
Whitecap's will get lost in anything bigger then a 10-20g tank.



Purchased mine in Jan. with a candy cane pistol. Very tiny 3/4" each. They never found each other when introduced to the 75g and the goby would only come out of the rockwork at night. Broke down all the rockwork and put the whitecap back into the QT tank to pair up with the shrimp, the shrimp managed to hitchhike a ride into my 100g sump full of rock....... I do hear him snap from time to time

Already had a yasha goby in shipping at the time. The two goby's in the QT were extremely timid and hid all the time and we were having no luck finding a shrimp to pair them with. The goby's were not looking very good at all, so when a pistol shrimp became available we grabbed it right away and introduced it into the QT. Unfortunately it was a tiger pistol shrimp , which is not the symbiotic shrimp for either goby, so I was a little concerned. Within 2 minutes he paired up with the whitecap and they started to burrow, I did hold my breath watching to see if the tiger pistol was going to take out the expensive whitecap or accept it!

The yasha hid in a clam shell for two days by himself and was looking near death before I pulled the shell on him. He took off across the QT and into the burrow with the whitecap/tiger pistol pair. All three have been living happily together for 7 weeks now and became less timid. The yasha will stay out of the burrow until you got within a foot or two of the tank, the whitecap will keep his head out of the burrow until I open the lid.

Decided to set up a Fluval Edge nano in our home theater room for the trio and transferred them over 2 days ago. The whitecap went solo until we scared him out of the rockwork towards the yasha/shrimp. They are back to their timid ways now, but are starting to make regular appearances.

Once the two goby's mature more, currently only 1"(Whitecap) and 1.5"(Yasha), I may look at moving them into a larger tank. Since I want to be able to see this trio at work regularly, a nano was the best option.

 

[Green_Reefer]

Here is a video of the Whitecap and Tiger about 5 mins after meeting up in the QT. Not the best quality, sorry.

To give you an idea of size, that is the bottom of a 100w Hydor heater in the top of the video, enjoy!



<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HOdAkLbJlEA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

He sure is tiny! I just got them started acclimating a few mins ago. I have the natural red spotted pistol shrimp with him. I have a 29g seahorse tank that I am putting them in. Only other inhabitants are two erectus seahorses, a pair of banggai cardinals, a spotted mandarin and an old citron goby. They will have the sand to themselves. My only concern is about first introducing them to the tank. Any suggestions for getting them to stay together when first getting put in? I was thinking about first putting them together in a breeder net and slowly lowering it to the bottom while turning it to let them out. By the time I get them to the bottom I will rest the breeder net/box against the rock, in effect and in theory trying to coax them BOTH towards the rock.

Even if they got separated (happened to my yashia goby and randall's pistol way back when) I'm sure as long as the goby can survive until he finds the shrimp, there is nothing in the tank that will harm him.

 

[Green_Reefer]

Best bet is to use a container with a lid, tupperware is fine. Place them both in it, turn it upside down as you lower it in the tank and slide the lid out once on the sandbed where you want them. Lift the container up once they have started a burrow together and all should be well.

I only wish I could get my hands on one of the shrimp, I feel lucky enough to have the goby though.

I feed .5mm NLS pellets, cyclopeeze, artipods and homemade cubes. He's getting bigger so he must be eating something although I have only seen it eat twice

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Best bet is to use a container with a lid. Place them both in it, turn it upside down as you lower it in the tank and slide the lid out once on the sandbed where you want them. Lift the container up once they have started a burrow together and all should be well.

I only wish I could get my hands on one of the shrimp, I feel lucky enough to have the goby though.

Thanks that's a great idea!

And yeah, I was waiting to find one with the shrimp. I know it is much harder these days to find the shrimp alone or with the fish. I bet if you ask around to some of the higher end dealers like greenwhich you might be able to find a place that can get one for you. My shrimp is a little beat up though (missing the big claw) but I'm pretty sure they can regrow the claw.

You really can't comprehend how tiny the goby is until you see one in person!

 

[joetbs]

A lot of the specimens that have some into the hobby were collected near Japan, and the water there is a bit on the chilly side. If you know where the fish in question was collected, it would give you a better idea of what temp to keep it at.

they are collected in the South China Sea in the Philippines (cebu), which is near Japan but is still 100% tropical. the fish has a pretty big natural range, and if you look at some of the photos, they were taken in very shallow, warm water.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Well he's in and apparently me old randall's pistol is still alive because I just saw the goby in a hole with it. The other shrimp is digging and I'm sure he might "fix" things when his claw comes back.

 

[doggydoc]

I have had one for the past 4 onths. VERY timid and very small. He is paired with a shrimp. DOING wonderful. WLL POST PICS LATER TONIGHT. I do keep my temp around 76 all day.