Yellow clown goby?

[kg4izw]

I am considering a yellow clown goby for my tank. I have lots of live rock and many places to hide. I will have various types of soft coral and zoos in the tank. Has anyone had one of these fish before?

1. Will they hide all the time or do they stay visible?
2. Will they move to get their food, or will they let other fish eat the food and then starve to death?
3. Will he get along with a firefish, percula clowns and a 6 line wrasse?

Any first hand experience would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[wpecoul]

I'll take a shot - in order...

1. No, they won't hide all the time. They'll perch on rock, corals or even the glass.

2. They will get their share of food, no problem.

3. The bully of that tank will be the six-line, but it's not too likely that it will bug the goby to any great degree. If the six-line doesn't already harass the firefish, the clown goby should be OK.

It sounds like the goby will be a pretty good fit in your tank, IMO. They have been known to eat polyps on SPS, but since you don't have any of those at the present, I don't expect you'll have a problem.

 

[JeffDubya]

Yellow clown gobies are fun fish. However, more so than any fish I have ever owned, they are VERY sensitive to changes in water parameters. I seriously doubt I will ever buy another, even though I think they are really cool.

When I was having issues... I was discussing these critters on Talking Reef.com and a user (JustDavidP) gave me a really great response that I wanted to share with you now.

Check out this FAQ and other related Gobioid at Wet Web Media:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobiodonfaqs.htm

In particular, read the thread titled: Yellow Clown Goby with "parasites"

It should also be noted that Yellow Clown Gobies, or Gobioids in general, do NOT tolerate degrading water conditions. They are a scaled fish, but do not fare well with swings of their environment. It has been noted that they create a mucous much like mandarins do, to assist in this issue of irritants and reaction to said irritants (much like a scaleless fish). The slightest rise in nitrate, nitrite, amonia etc. causes them to stress.

They are also a bugger to kept properly fed....

The bottom line...they are easily stressed fish. Soo.. with that said, stressed fish are succeptible to disease or infestation. This is why I firmly believe that MOST tanks contain ich and that it only becomes a problem when you buy that "special fish" that is a swimming nerve cell.. IE.. YCBs, Tangs.. and BANG.. the new fish has ich, while the others do not.

Best of luck! I wish I knew more about them. Personally, after seeing a pair strip an acro (breeding response) in a friend's system, I kept away from them.

 

[Nitroq2]

KG, If you plan to keep any SPS in the tank then stay away from the yellows. They tend to eat SPS and if you look back you will see where I gave one away. A beautiful fish, here is the one I had. I named him little chief big tears as it seemed to fit him.

 

[JeffDubya]

I have never seen that variety. Gorgeous fish.

 

[kg4izw]

Thanks for all the info so far. It looks like the Clown goby is going to be a good match for the Percs and Firefish already in the tank. However, it looks as though perhaps the Six line wrasse is not a proper fit. Lucky for me I have not bought him yet. I have had one in the past and I loved their personality, but I dont want any of the fish to be harrassed in the tank.
Anyone else see potential issues with the Six line and the Clown Goby, Percs. and Firefish listed above?

 

[JeffDubya]

Those are all fish that I own and I saw no aggressive interaction.

 

[Big Goose]

In particular, read the thread titled: Yellow Clown Goby with "parasites"

In particular, read the thread titled: Yellow Clown Goby with "parasites"

I had a pair for several months before they died (a few weeks apart). Before each died, they got very skinny even though they seemed to eat.

I used to have two large Tomato Clowns that bullied many of my fish. I wonder if they stressed the Gobies!

I never had trouble with them eating corals. I have many kinds but no Acroporias.

Great fish but I am not sure if I will replacement them.

I picked up an Orange spot gobie last week. That is one funny fish and he/she is doing a good job cleaning my sand bed.

 

[Big Goose]

gobies

gobies

"Anyone else see potential issues with the Six line and the Clown Goby, Percs. and Firefish listed above?"

neither my sixline or luna wrase have bothered any fish-they only bother the Brissle WORMS! I have not seen a worm in almost a year. Before the wrases, I saws dozens crawling from the rocks.

I do not have any experience with Firefish.

 

[kg4izw]

I finally added my yellow clown goby to my tank last Friday evening. He is not more than an inch long. He is quite curious and does not hide often. He normally sits on my Toadstool coral, but also frequents the Torch coral and one of the mushrooms. But I am worried about him...
I did not see him eat Friday or Saturday. I tried Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and flake food. On Sunday I put some garlic juice in with my Mysis shrimp and pulverized it until it until only small specks remained. At this point, Sunday PM the goby would move about one or two inches from his Toadstool perch and eat a small speck of food and then spit it back out. I saw him eat next to NO food that he did not spit back out.
Today, Monday, I mixed more Mysis with garlic and got the same response, eat and spit out. This evening I fed flake food and he seemed to only eat one or two specks without spitting it back out. However I did see him nibble a little bit at the live rock.
He is not getting bothered by any other fish in the tank. His tankmates include a Firefish, a cleaner shrinp, and (2) Percs.
I am really worried about this fish. Is he getting enough to eat? Ids this normal for this fish? He is so tiny, so I know he can survive on very little food, but this has me worried.
I am open to suggestions or words of encouragement.
I have not lost one fish in this tank and I'm intent on keeping it this way.

 

[kg4izw]

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[aujay]

I lost two yellow clown gobies. I think they were swimming into the overflow because they were small enough to fit thru the slats.

 

[THB]

I have had two for the past year. Both are going strong and aptly named clowns. The beautiful photo shared by Nitroq2 is the variety that I have heard called the citron clown goby. Mine are the solid yellow. To be so tiny they have some of the largest personalities I have ever encountered!

 

[THB]

Keep trying many kinds of small food. Maybe present tiny amounts a few times a day. I may not have encountered this problem because I knew that I wanted them early on and put them in the tank first. May take a little more time to feel comfortable in a tank where the pecking order is already established. I sure wish you luck. Hang in there with it.
Just a thought, mine really seem to enjoy the Omega color flakes and the Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef flakes. Probably even more than frozen food. I feed flakes in the am and frozen in the pm, but sometimes I'll stick a couple flakes in for them if they seem less than impressed with the frozen menu that night.

 

[kg4izw]

This is day number four with the clown goby and he is acting the same way. He is very social, still sits on his shroom and Toadstool, but is still spitting out the food he eats. If he was not getting sustainance from somewhere wouldn't he be getting weak or sick-looking by today, day 4. I have to assume he is getting food from somewhere, but I'm not sure what he is eating and if he is getting enough.
I have like a million pods on the rocks, could he be eating those, or maybe algae from the rocks?
What else he could he be eating?

 

[THB]

They love copepods. If you have a lot of those and small zooplankton he may be eating them. May even be eating at night. I have seen mine stay up all hours (I know that because I am an insomniac) when there is a shrimp spawn or when I have a bloom of pods. One other thought, how large are the flakes you are feeding? When I put in regular size flakes, mine will suck them in and spit them out over and over. They are getting a little each time. Could that be going on with yours? I crumble a few now into more managable size for them. It seems as though your fish would be weakening after this many days if he was not getting sustenance.

 

[kg4izw]

HE EATS !!!
I just fed again when I got home from school, and he eats.
I fed flake food and he seems to like the red flake bits the best.
He ate six or seven small bits of flake and only spit out two.
I'm very encouraged. I'm not sure what he was eating before I got him, but he seems to have now adjusted to the types of food I feed. Thanks for the tips you have given me THB. I appreciate them.
I am very happy

 

[THB]

And I am very happy for you! I love my little guys. They are some of my favorites. So much so that I am thinking of adding two of the red or cinnamon clown gobies to my other tank. Great luck to you and your gobies!

 

[ggenz]

would one compete with a mandarin for food?

 

[kg4izw]

unknown. Due to the fact that I have no experience with that type of fish. But from what I have heard, Mandarins are seriously picky eaters.