Yellow Clown Goby

[Jaybo]

I have 2 Yellow Clown Gobies in a 120 gallon aquarium. I also have a Desjardin Sail Fin Tang, a Percula Clown and some "unknown" white goby. It is set up as a "softie" tank. I have over 20 different soft corals including Xenia. Here is the problem. I had a mystery going on in my tank of Xenia disapearing. Literally. I had no idea what was causing it until yesterday when I caught the culprit in the act! The Yellow Clown Gobies were EATING IT! HMMM GRRRRRRRRR I have heard of them eating sps corals but not softies!?? Anyone else have this problem??? Thank god they are cheap fish. Any ideas on either how to prevent it.. or their going to be sacrificed to the "Great Porclain God". (unless someone local wants them both. I am in Olympia)

Jaybo

 

[loohunter]

We will take the little guys off of your hands.

 

[Pauls]

Ive got a yellow clown gobie and a big patch of Xenia, the only thing that has ever touched my Xenia was my Coral Beauty. Its gota taste awful. Anyway sorry that yours has a hankerin for Xenia i dont think you can stop them. Good luck

 

[Electrokate]

Dude, that sucks... told you they were evil. Not as evil as those gardneri-they ate the fins off 75 bucks worth of celebes rainbowfish, killed one so far. They are snake food if I can't find them a better home. Fish suck some days. Did you lose all the xenia or just a little? Maybe someone with too much xenia should take them
Kate

 

[Jaybo]

Hey Kate,
I dunno. I figured the bright yellow would be a welcome addition to the tank! Oh well. I have lost just a small amount of xenia, but thats not to say I wont lose more if I dont do something. I have been keeping an eye on things, and none of the fish seem to go near it now... I dont get it. Maybe it was a fluke? Maybe I will wait and see... Maybe the little suckers got a tummy ache and wont bother em any more? LOL Anyhow. I'll give it a day or two and see if anything else seems to be "getting smaller". I noticed my tang picking at the rock where the smaller colony "used" to be, but I dont think it was the tang. I havent seen the tang molest anything except the cabbage coral, and thats just to peck it once in a while as it swims by. I guess we'll play the waiting game and find out.

Thanks
Jaybo

 

[steve-s]

Tangs are usually more prone to this than the goby would be. That's not to say your wrong, just might have been in the right place at the wrong time? Yellow gobies in my experience don't eat SPS, the damage is caused by the "shimmying" up and down on the coral which eventaully leads to tissue damage and bleaching.

What do you normally feed the tang and how often?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jaybo]

Steve,
I typically feed the tang a variety of foods. I feed frozen foods mostly, a variety of types (tang formula's that have enriched sea weeds and what not) but I also feed romain lettuce and seaweed sheets. I clip them inside the tank. I also have a refugium that is full of calupra and halimeda, but the grape stuff the tang LOVES. I feed frozen foods every other day, and the seaweed and lettuce stuff maybe once a week, or when I do it! The tang looks very good, and has no signs of missing a meal! She's FAT. You may be right, about the gobies bein in the wrong place at the wrong time. This morning I saw the goby hovering next to the xenia stock and just chillin out. Not eating. But I have noticed the tang picking on the cabbage coral. Anyways. I think my feeding schedule is okay?
Jaybo

 

[Electrokate]

Hi,
I had a yellow clown goby that ate sps and gave it to Jaybo a ways back, we thought it would leave softies alone. Here's the proof, I watched him do it. He didn't just clear a few polyps for a nesting site, he cleared ALL the polyps from all my acroporas in the tank, methodically. Looked like a mandarin the way it would feed-it would hover face down watching for a polyp to open and then bam hit it hard and eat it. I didn't really believe it either til I saw it and watched with a magnifying glass. Within a week of getting rid of the goby remnants of polyps came out and within a month the coral had full polyp extension. Then they all got RTN and died. Go figure.

 

[steve-s]

Steve,
I typically feed the tang a variety of foods. I feed frozen foods mostly, a variety of types (tang formula's that have enriched sea weeds and what not) but I also feed romain lettuce and seaweed sheets. I clip them inside the tank. I also have a refugium that is full of calupra and halimeda, but the grape stuff the tang LOVES. I feed frozen foods every other day, and the seaweed and lettuce stuff maybe once a week, or when I do it! The tang looks very good, and has no signs of missing a meal! She's FAT. You may be right, about the gobies bein in the wrong place at the wrong time. This morning I saw the goby hovering next to the xenia stock and just chillin out. Not eating. But I have noticed the tang picking on the cabbage coral. Anyways. I think my feeding schedule is okay?

Food types seem okay although I'm not a big fan or feeding caulerpa's. When it comes to tangs, even once daily feedings are not always enough to curb their need to graze. I find they need something in the tank especially for them to snack on when the urge arises. If that food is not available, they turn to corals instead. My Regal tang is notorious for this, Xenia and zoo's being the favorite. One food type I find very helpful is broccoli fluorets. Does not degrade quickly and easily fits in a feeding clip. Not quite as much portein or carbs as nori but far less polluting. Give it a try, at the very least I bet it starts leaving the S. dura alone.

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

Hi,
I had a yellow clown goby that ate sps and gave it to Jaybo a ways back, we thought it would leave softies alone. Here's the proof, I watched him do it. He didn't just clear a few polyps for a nesting site, he cleared ALL the polyps from all my acroporas in the tank, methodically.

Intersting thank you. I wonder if it was just a personality trait of the fish or something amiss with the diet. As I said, of the ones I have kept, that has not been the case. Blennioids on the otherhand wouldn't suprise me in the least.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Electrokate]

I actually wondered if it was a caged animal syndrome type of deal. They will clear an area of polyps on their resident sps and lay their eggs here but this one had no mate. Perhaps it was hoping to attract a mate by clearing all the sps in the area. But that doesn't explain them eating other coral. I feed my fish a bit too well so he wasn't suffering for lack of food-I have fat anthias... Could as you said be just a problem with an individual fish. Maybe I should have shown him the fish books where it says "reef safe".
Kate

 

[steve-s]

Maybe I should have shown him the fish books where it says "reef safe"

LOL... Same answer I give people when they tell me their fish don't get along... fish can't read compatability charts.. :badgrin:

Cheers
Steve