Neon Goby vs. Cleaner Shrimp

[Inconservatory]

Hi all,

I was wondering what you find overall more effective for maintaining tank mates. Teamwork is a strong tradition in my family and I would like to invoke that same hardworking personality with my tank.

As a course of prevention, I would like to add some "fish cleaners" to my setup. I have a 65 reef with a lot of live rock and hiding places, coral banded shrimp, and two peppermint shrimp. I am considering adding neon gobies or fire shrimp to the mix. Would neon gobies have enough of a presence a 4" long tank to draw the attention of the fish, or would they get lost in the caverns? From what I've read, they set up a cleaning station and the fish just find them without any issue. If this is the case, would two gobies be enough, or should I look into getting more?

Fire shrimp are gorgeous and have been on my list for a while, but there may be too many shrimp running around in that tank to compete for space. The CBS in there already has a hold on some of the best realty, so I doubt the fire shrimp would be able to get the king out of his cave.

Thanks.

 

[Chichas01]

those neon gobies look pretty cool. I read something that says a lot are aqua cultured. Do they retain the cleaning instinct in this case?

 

[Inconservatory]

They are one of the easier marine fish to breed, which is a definite plus. If aquacultured clowns will still take up residence in anemones, I'm sure that the gobies would still retain their cleaning instincts. Maybe down the line, once they're all inbred to mutations, they'll forget what they were made for.

 

[cdbdis]

I'll take a neon Goby any day!

 

[BCT182]

A little of both. The shrimp are pretty amazing. The gobies are pretty cool looking. Too bad neither one does anything for ich.