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New Goby for my tank* edit Prolific algae eater!

andyh

andyh

Member
Joined
1 Jan 2009
Messages
1,919
Location
Derby
Just a got a couple of new rather cool new algae eaters for my tank.

Stiphodon Goby's

Couple of different species:

This is the Red one, and is not photo shy:

web.jpg


However the blue ones are very photo shy so i borrowed this pic off a forum.

web.jpg


They are great, no threat to my shrimps and small fish despite looking very snake like. Anybody wants anymore info give me a shout as i am slowly becoming a guru on these fish.
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

Themuleous said:
Cool, those are pretty cool 🙂 how big do they get?

Sam
Click to expand...


Sam

According to what i have read they grow to 5cm/2 inches and recommend no more than four in a 60cm tank. The red one is fully grow in my opinion as it was the biggest one they had.

Andy
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

Gorgeous!!

I've never seen them before. Where do they come from, and what type of habitat?

Mark
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

vauxhallmark said:
Gorgeous!!

I've never seen them before. Where do they come from, and what type of habitat?

Mark
Click to expand...

hey mark

From what i have managed to find out they come from Asia: Indonesia Philippines and New Guinea. They live in rivers and like moderate flow. They especially like rocky and planted sandy substrates. They are algae eaters. I have seen set-ups just designed for growing algae which they keep and breed these guys in! (madness i hear you say) :crazy:

I am feeding mine algae tabs and spirulina algae flakes. They seem to be doing well. They are digging little caves under the rocks and all you see sometimes is a little head sticking out. They quite frequently perch themselves on the top of plants and the rocks and there colours are amazing. They seem to rasp at the algae on the rocks.

Hoping to get a video of one of these guys soon.
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

I'm a big fan of gobies and own both the types you have and although I would surgest they're ideal candidates for a planted tank, I've found them quite hardy, especially the red ones, probably S. rutilaureus. They are mainly algae eaters but over time will eat bloodworm and brineshrimp. The most important thing is too keep them well fed as like you say I have tanks set up to grow algae and still found they can take a while to get well conditioned and fat.
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

They're cool little fish... but I think you'd be better off getting the co2 right before adding any more livestock, as co2 will be far better for your tank than any algae crew 🙂

The extra food doesn't help either...
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

afroturf said:
I'm a big fan of gobies and own both the types you have and although I would surgest they're ideal candidates for a planted tank, I've found them quite hardy, especially the red ones, probably S. rutilaureus. They are mainly algae eaters but over time will eat bloodworm and brineshrimp. The most important thing is too keep them well fed as like you say I have tanks set up to grow algae and still found they can take a while to get well conditioned and fat.
Click to expand...

Mine seem to love the Hinari Algae wafers, they are quite reclusive but often when i sneak into the room they will be eating the wafers.
What others do you have then?
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

JamesM said:
They're cool little fish... but I think you'd be better off getting the co2 right before adding any more livestock, as co2 will be far better for your tank than any algae crew 🙂

The extra food doesn't help either...
Click to expand...


Noted, 😉 seeming to winning that battle now!
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

Here is one of the Blue Gobies.

web.jpg


and the red one again, as he appears not be camera shy:

web.jpg
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

andyh said:
Mine seem to love the Hinari Algae wafers, they are quite reclusive but often when i sneak into the room they will be eating the wafers.
What others do you have then?
Click to expand...

Yeah mine also eat Hikari algae wafers too, more so the red one. At the moment I only keep these two species of stiphodon, but have owned a couple of other types in the past. But I also have variouse other gobies too, they are by far my favorite type of fish.

My 'red' one when I first brought it looked just like yours but its colour changed over time, the ones I have are around 18-24 months old now, which I delieve to be towards the later half of a stiphodons life span and now look a little less impressive than he did 6 months ago. Heres a couple of photos of the male (taken around 6-8 months back)

3082742056_88b6c47716.jpg

3082376318_a70fac59c2.jpg

Here also Is a pic of one of my male S. atropurpureus.

3784020841_99bfee8e68_b.jpg

Do you have any females?
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

Those blue gobies are beautiful! Do you have any details on them? Size, if they're predatory, cost etc etc. They've charmed me!
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

Garuf said:
Those blue gobies are beautiful! Do you have any details on them? Size, if they're predatory, cost etc etc. They've charmed me!
Click to expand...


andyh said:
vauxhallmark said:
Gorgeous!!

I've never seen them before. Where do they come from, and what type of habitat?

Mark
Click to expand...

hey mark

From what i have managed to find out they come from Asia: Indonesia Philippines and New Guinea. They live in rivers and like moderate flow. They especially like rocky and planted sandy substrates. They are algae eaters. I have seen set-ups just designed for growing algae which they keep and breed these guys in! (madness i hear you say) :crazy:

I am feeding mine algae tabs and spirulina algae flakes. They seem to be doing well. They are digging little caves under the rocks and all you see sometimes is a little head sticking out. They quite frequently perch themselves on the top of plants and the rocks and there colours are amazing. They seem to rasp at the algae on the rocks.

Hoping to get a video of one of these guys soon.
Click to expand...
Garuf this should answer most of questions above.
With ref to the size they are about fully grown in these pics. They dont get much bigger.

They are v cool! :thumbup:
 
Well they have settled into my tank and are eating algae like mad from on the rocks, i am on a couple of forums for gobys now and one guy sent me a link to a video on youtube showing just how much algae they can eat!

Check this! My new best friends! :thumbup: :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhYiTxoX_vo
 
Re: New Goby for my tank

afroturf said:
andyh said:
Mine seem to love the Hinari Algae wafers, they are quite reclusive but often when i sneak into the room they will be eating the wafers.
What others do you have then?
Click to expand...

Yeah mine also eat Hikari algae wafers too, more so the red one. At the moment I only keep these two species of stiphodon, but have owned a couple of other types in the past. But I also have variouse other gobies too, they are by far my favorite type of fish.

My 'red' one when I first brought it looked just like yours but its colour changed over time, the ones I have are around 18-24 months old now, which I delieve to be towards the later half of a stiphodons life span and now look a little less impressive than he did 6 months ago. Heres a couple of photos of the male (taken around 6-8 months back)

3082742056_88b6c47716.jpg

3082376318_a70fac59c2.jpg

Here also Is a pic of one of my male S. atropurpureus.

3784020841_99bfee8e68_b.jpg

Do you have any females?
Click to expand...


Steven,
Firstly let me say excellent pictures!

Your Gobies look very healthy indeed, i particularly like the ones with the green face!

the one you identify as S. atropurpureus, i have but thought it was called a S.semoni which i believe are very similar to yours? Not sure though.

I see you live over in Notts, where do you source yours from? I have only seen them in one shop locally.

With ref to the females not sure how to sex them yet? Any pointers?

Also have you found this site its excellent, i read the thread from start to finish and there is some amazing pics.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=15686&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
 
hipknoteyes said:
Can you confirm that they are safe with baby shrimp?
Click to expand...

At this stage from my own experiences can't say either way. Currently have pregnant CRS and Cherry Shrimps in my tank so only time will tell.

Andy
 
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