What to feed Knight/Dancing Goby?

[Jayhawk]

Hi Mods - feel free to move this to the plain Brackish forum if appropriate, but my knight goby is the tankmate of my figure 8 so I put it here...and the question does involve Hoover, too.

So, I decided to get Hoover the figure 8 a friend, a knight goby. They're together in the 20 long, and Sir Spot (the goby) has quickly made a home for himself in a small driftwood cave.

I've read what little there is on the net on knight gobies, but I'm still not sure about the feeding issue. Some sites say meaty foods just like Hoover eats, but others also include flake and shrimp pellets (things Hoover wouldn't lower himself to eat). I'm hoping Sir Spot will aide a bit in cleaning up after Hoover's messy eating adventures, but I don't want to starve him. Also, Hoover is quite the pig, so it's hard to imagine any krill or bloodworms making their way down to the hiding goby...

Will Sir Spot come out during feeding times, or come out more, when he's adjusted to his new home?

Any advice on different foods for the goby?

Thanks,

Eric

[reiverix]

My brackish tank has a fair amount of cavework so I don't see much of the gobies, that is until it's time to eat. They soon realize it's time to come out of their hiding spots and show why they sometimes get called dancing gobies.

To be honest I've found there is not much they will not eat. They especially like bloodworms and plain old flake. They will also take crushed snails (intended for the figure 8 ), shrimp pellets, algae wafers, squid, krill and small fish. Mine will also harass a live ghost shrimp to death and then take it back to it's lair.

[Feathers&Fins]

To be honest I've found there is not much they will not eat.

My experience as well. Strikes me as a bit funny when they try to eat the snails that the Puffs are eating.

[Jayhawk]

I fed some bloodworms last night after Hoover had his snails, and I'm not too worried about him eating anymore...he was quite the aggressive little bugger. He nipped at Hoover once which really confused the poor puffer...

Eric

[Jayhawk]

I posted this on the .org board (before it was locked), but I'll repost here for posterity.

The knight goby/figure 8 didn't work out the best in the 20 long. The figure 8 ignored the goby, but during feeding the goby took to nipping, pretty aggressively, at my puffer. Also, the goby was a waste producing machine which defeated the purpose of him being beneficial by eating food bits left over from my puffer. Overall, being a lazy aquarist, a nitrate increasing, nippy, rarely seen tankmate simply wasn't worthwhile.

So, he migrated back to the LFS, and I picked up a new tankmate for my puffer...a nice, big silk plant.

Eric

[reiverix]

They are highly active fish for sure. I keep two with my figure 8 in a 29g. They seem to be more concerned with each other to even notice the puffer is there. I suspect I also have a male and female because one is more rounded and the other is slender with a tall dorsal fin. I also have a fair amount of rockwork to keep them occupied.

Sorry it didn't work out for ya.

[Jayhawk]

Knight gobies would probably be more interesting with more than 1. At the LFS, they were pretty active, showing significant territorial behavior, etc. Alone, he had the caves to himself, so he was pretty happy just hiding until food appeared. In the 20, I like having to do minimal water changes (25% per week), and with the knight goby I was looking at doing more than that and a second goby would have kicked me right back to 50% changes...and I'm just too lazy for that!

Eric

[The Fisherman]

Are knight gobies purely brackish fish?
My brackish tank is 10 gallons and has a F8 in it. probably to small to add a knight goby.
I am setting up a 29 gal tank for 3 SAPS.

[Feathers&Fins]

Are knight gobies purely brackish fish?

Yes. Although your lfs will most likely claim otherwise. Stigmatogobius sadanundio is from the Indo-West Pacific and inhabits estuaries and mangrove creeks. They do, however, stray into freshwater just as other brackish fish are known to do.