Sleeper goby pairing, and Potter's Centropyge nibbling  11/2/2009
Good morning!
<Morrow Zach>
Thanks for the many hours of viewing pleasure and enlightenment! I have been attracted to the sleeper gobies and Valenciennea strigata, in particular, after seeing some at the local LFS. After reading Matthew
Wittenrich's book on breeding, I decided to try to pair 2 of these fish. I did extensive internet searching and could find no definitive ways to sex these fish by appearance.
<Mmm, other than "finding" (or even collecting!) known pairs, I don't know either unfortunately.>
I purchased a 2.5 inch fish and paired it with a 3.5 inch one that I already had and placed them at the same time in a 20 gallon long aquarium that was fully cycled and filled with the appropriate level of substrate, a
little live rock rubble, and some lengths of 1" PVC. After placing them, they sparred the first few days with each of them somewhat aggressively going after the other with an open mouth. There was a little nipping by
each. After about 3 days, they constantly swim, hover and eat together.
They have even decided to share the same burrow at night in spite of the fact that they've created several others in the tank. Do you think that I've gotten lucky and have ended up with a M/F pair or is it still too
early to tell and I've just gotten 2 same sex fish that don't mind each others' company?
<I'm betting on the former... and it may well be that at smaller, indeterminate size, these fishes can change functional sexes>
If I had 2 males, would they cease to be aggressive to each other so quickly?
<I doubt this>
Thanks for any help you can provide!
Zach
P.S. I purchased a pair of 2 inch Potter's Angelfish for another larger tank from LiveAquaria.com's Diver's Den hoping that they wouldn't be big coral nippers/eaters. I hadn't read anything definitive prior, but know
now that they LOVE the taste of Seriatopora hystrix. They've made quick work of 3 nice ones in the past 2 weeks!!
<This species lives amongst and is constantly picking at Pocillopora it lives amongst in the wild. Bob Fenner>

Help answering a question (re Sand Goby pairing) Bob, Could you take a look at this question and help me out with an answer for this young lady? Thanks for your time .<I will try> Jim Bell http://www.reefland.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000963.html I had a pair of yellow-headed sleeper gobies in the 40 gal FOWLR. About six weeks ago, Goby Richard's mate died. If I add another goby now will they become a pair or fight with each other? If the new addition happens to be the same sex will they be OK in the same tank together? Or should I add 2 more and have a manage a' trois? The only other fish in the tank is a tomato clown, who may be traded in for a flame angel in a week or two. <A forty gallon is a pretty small system, but I give you fair to good chances that another Valenciennea strigata will get along with your remaining half pair... I would select a decidedly smaller individual (an inch or more less), and introduce them on a day when you can be present... and leave your lights on for that night... and, of course, be on the look out for jumping out. Bob Fenner>

Valenciennea strigata breeding 2/9/04 I have a breeding pair of Valenciennea strigata, marine blue cheek gobies in my tank. Last night I watched one of them waft out hundreds of fry, which I quickly netted and placed in my 300 litre tank, which contains no livestock. It has a small air pump going, and a Tunze 3115/2 skimmer. How do I care for them? <consult the breeding reports of similar fishes at the Breeders Registry online... and get some rotifers and baby brine shrimp hatched ASAP (consult Florida Aqua Farms for supplies). You are not likely going to be able to only feed them baby brine at first... rotifers will be needed> I caught them 12 hours ago and they are still swimming. What should I feed them? At the moment I am using invert food, which says it can be used for marine fry, but what should I use? <the invert food will likely elicit no response from the fry. Its the wrong particle size and type> Has this been done before, as I can't find any info on it? Any advice will be appreciated. Best Regards, James Matthams. <I'm not sure of anyone rearing the fry successfully. Please photograph and document your efforts regardless of how successful it is. It will be a great help to future aquarists. Write and article and we'll publish it for you. Or... Take notes and pics and I'll personally help you co-author the article. Best regards, Anthony>

Valenciennea strigata breeding 2/10/04 Dear Anthony, I am taking pictures at this moment and making notes on the goby fry. I am excited about the idea of doing an article, and look forward to doing this. <outstanding! Please let me know how/if I can help you. For starters... if the pics are digital, shoot them in the highest resolution possible and do not retouch them in Photoshop or any such program (some editors wont take them unless raw originals... they can retouch as needed).> It is now 48 hours since they have hatched, and I think there are about 20 active fry, which are aware of me, and of food. I will keep you posted. Regards, James Matthams <excellent and please do continue to take detailed notes about your tanks husbandry and history (temps, foods, tankmates, dates/calendar/lunar cycle, etc). Kindly, Anthony>

Diamond Goby Mated Pair Behavior  - 5/12/2006 Hi Bob, <Tim> I've been involved with reef keeping for three years now and would like to formally thank you and the crew for providing me with an exceptional education through your website. <A pleasure, honor to serve> I have an interesting situation and have not been able to find any similar experiences posted on any forum website. I have a mated pair of Diamond Gobies which I've had for several months (yes they do make a mess of my DSB but my wife insisted!). <Heee... on the gobies or the mess... or both!?> On a daily basis for the past several weeks the pair have performed the following ritual with one particular piece of live rock: they both dig a burrow under the rock then one of the two (how do you sex a goby?) <Most can't be... externally> gets underneath the rock and the other completely covers the rock with sand (what was my DSB). The first time it happened I intervened almost immediately and lifted the rock off and let the goby swim calmly away. On turning the rock over to replace some of my DSB, I noticed a fleshy mass that was attached to the underside of the rock, It didn't look to me like an egg mass, not like I've seen with my continuously spawning pair of True Percs. <There is more diversity amongst the fishes than the rest of the vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) combined...> I obviously don't want to lose the goby, but I also don't want to interfere with their natural behavior. Is this a spawning event? Or, is this a goby divorce? <The former> Thanks in advance for any input/comments that you might have on this. Best regards, Tim <Do, please, keep good notes... consider what foodstuffs you might be able to culture, use here... to feed the young. Bob Fenner>

Valenciennea puellaris spawning   1/3/08 Hello my name is Alfie. I have what appears to be a pair of these goby's and after reading on your website I presume they are spawning where the one closes the mouth of there house under the rocks with the other one inside. If this is the case I would like to prepare in advance for any young that might be arriving. <Good> What food should be made for the young? <A few... but at this stage... likely just Artemia, brine shrimp is all you'll be able to culture in time...> Should I remove them from the display tank? How long I should be able to know if there are youngsters? <... I would leave all in place... and days to weeks> Thanking you in advance, Alfie Hayes <Do see the Breeder's Registry (.com) re the genus, related gobies reproduction. Bob Fenner>

Breeding clowns and sleeper gobies 11/5/08 Dear Bob and all the team, Your site has been a great resource for me since we set up our first tank about 18 months ago. I now really need your advice or suggestions.  We have a 40gal tank (red sea max) which has been up and running for 18 months. We have a pair of breeding Percula clowns, and a pair of yellow headed sleeper gobies (Valenciennea strigata) which we think have just started breeding. (Also in the tank is a lawnmower blenny, mandarin, long nosed Hawkfish, and a pair of coral banded shrimp). Our first experience was with the clowns, when we discovered eggs about two weeks ago, ready to hatch. We set up a small tank, and stayed up all night and collected the fry. We were unfortunately unable to keep any alive after 2 days. (Didn't have anything to feed them.) We are unable to source any live rotifers, but have now acquired some frozen ones to try next rime around.  A week later, our clown laid another bunch of eggs, which are looking like they are ready to hatch in the next 24 hours.  Also, 2 days ago, the sleeper gobies have set up camp under the live rock, with the entrances all covered with the substrate.  Last night, I looked into the tank for any hatched clowns, and found one had hatched.  I went to work trying to transfer it to the rearing tank (10g with airstone). Then I noticed, appearing from nowhere, hundreds of tiny fish (about a quarter the size of the newly hatched clowns, ie 1-2mm in length) which were immediately attracted to the torch light.  I managed to transfer as many as possible into the rearing tank. (probably around 200-300), as well as two (only 2 hatched last night) of the clowns.  I am assuming that the new fish are the hatchlings fare sleeper gobies (although we are unable to see any eggs as they have burrowed under the live rock.)  I can't find any information about rearing them, and only have the one spare tank to try and keep them alive. I suspect the rest of the clowns will hatch tonight. My questions are: 1. Do you think it will be OK to put the newly hatched clowns in with the newly hatched gobies. (They are about 4 to 5 times larger). Will they potentially eat them if we can get them to survive. We are going to try feeding with frozen rotifers (we cannot source live ones from anywhere here in Australia). 2. Is there anything else we can try to feed them with, or do you think the rotifers will suffice. 3. Do you know the length of the breeding cycle with the gobies? 4. Should I just try and follow the rearing methods described for the clowns. 5. Is it usual to have this many hatch at once.( ie hundreds) 6. Any other help or suggestions will be extremely useful. Like I said, the new gobies (I think) have been a complete surprise, and we are completely unprepared (equipment and knowledge) to cope, but are willing to do all we can to try. Thanks in advance, Michael (from Melbourne, Australia) <Michael, I am sorry. I do not know the answers to your above questions. Judging from the time this query has sat here, neither does the rest of the crew. With zero breeding experience I would not want to even speculate. As you likely know, Bob F. is out of net service until the 13th or so. I will be sure to share this for his input when he returns. Until then, I did find one link in particular that will certainly be of interest to you, http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i1_brown/gobies.htm. Googling "goby breeding" will yield quite a bit more general information for you. I do hope this helps, Scott V.> <<Also check out this great book: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Illustrated-Breeders-Marine-Aquarium/dp/1890087718 -Sara M.>>

More Re breeding clowns and sleeper gobies 11/5/08, 11/13/08 <<RMF>> Dear Bob and all the team, Your site has been a great resource for me since we set up our first tank about 18 months ago. I now really need your advice or suggestions. We have a 40gal tank (red sea max) which has been up and running for 18 months. We have a pair of breeding percula clowns, and a pair of yellow headed sleeper gobies (Valenciennea strigata) which we think have just started breeding. (Also in the tank is a lawnmower blenny, mandarin, long nosed Hawkfish, and a pair of coral banded shrimp). Our first experience was with the clowns, when we discovered eggs about two weeks ago, ready to hatch. We set up a small tank, and stayed up all night and collected the fry. We were unfortunately unable to keep any alive after 2 days. (Didn't have anything to feed them.) <<Ahh, very common in the "history"/development of aquarists keeping such animals>> We are unable to source any live rotifers, but have now acquired some frozen ones to try next rime around. A week later, our clown laid another bunch of eggs, which are looking like they are ready to hatch in the next 24 hours. <<Mmm, a few days more than this, depending on temp.>> Also, 2 days ago, the sleeper gobies have set up camp under the live rock, with the entrances all covered with the substrate. Last night, I looked into the tank for any hatched clowns, and found one had hatched. I went to work trying to transfer it to the rearing tank (10g with airstone). Then I noticed, appearing from nowhere, hundreds of tiny fish (about a quarter the size of the newly hatched clowns, ie 1-2mm in length) which were immediately attracted to the torch light. I managed to transfer as many as possible into the rearing tank. (probably around 200-300), as well as two (only 2 hatched last night) of the clowns. I am assuming that the new fish are the hatchlings fare sleeper gobies (although we are unable to see any eggs as they have burrowed under the live rock..) I can't find any information about rearing them, and only have the one spare tank to try and keep them alive. I suspect the rest of the clowns will hatch tonight. My questions are: 1. Do you think it will be OK to put the newly hatched clowns in with the newly hatched gobies. (They are about 4 to 5 times larger). Will they potentially eat them if we can get them to survive. We are going to try feeding with frozen rotifers (we cannot source live ones from anywhere here in Australia). <<Yes to this trial. The two species can likely be reared together, starting near the same size>> 2. Is there anything else we can try to feed them with, or do you think the rotifers will suffice. <<Mmm, do look into the older Frank Hoff, the more recent Matt Wittenrich petfish titles on marine fish culture... very worthwhile, pertinent chapters on food procurement, culture... There are some small crustaceans that can be put to use here as well as various Rotifers... but again, as you state, these need to be procured, ongoing with the reproduction of the fishes>> 3. Do you know the length of the breeding cycle with the gobies? <<Mmm, only a few (2-3) days... use your search tool with the term: Valenciennea reproduction>> 4. Should I just try and follow the rearing methods described for the clowns. <<Mmm, yes>> 5. Is it usual to have this many hatch at once.( i.e. hundreds) <<Yes>> 6. Any other help or suggestions will be extremely useful. Like I said, the new gobies (I think) have been a complete surprise, and we are completely unprepared (equipment and knowledge) to cope, but are willing to do all we can to try. Thanks in advance, Michael (from Melbourne, Australia) <Michael, I am sorry. I do not know the answers to your above questions. Judging from the time this query has sat here, neither does the rest of the crew. With zero breeding experience I would not want to even speculate. As you likely know, Bob F. is out of net service until the 13th or so. I will be sure to share this for his input when he returns. Until then, I did find one link in particular that will certainly be of interest to you, http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i1_brown/gobies.htm. Googling "goby breeding" will yield quite a bit more general information for you. I do hope this helps, Scott V.> <<Do please report on your efforts here Michael. BobF>>

Re: breeding clowns and sleeper gobies 11/14/08 Thanks for the information Bob. <Welcome Michael> Just to keep you filled in, we put the clown and Valenciennea fry in together. The clowns all died within 48 hours, and most of the Valenciennea have also died, however it is now day 15, and there are still some of the Valenciennea fry alive (about 10 in total). We have been feeding them only the frozen rotifers, and have just started putting in some (just hatched) baby brine shrimp. <Should be about right-sized about now...> I have already purchased Frank Hoff's book, but will get the other by Matt Wittenrich immediately. (It will take about 2-3 weeks to get down here to Australia). <I see> The Valenciennea (adults) have been doing a lot of rearranging in the last 24 hours, so I suspect they are preparing their burrow. We also have another bunch of clowns which look like hatching in the next 48 to 72 hours. <Ahh!> We will keep trying to raise them, and will keep you informed of our progress. (Or lack of it, whatever the case may be.) We just don't have the time, or space to culture our own rotifers at the moment, so we will try and persist with the frozen ones. Thanks, Michael <Not hard to culture... You might be able to procure starter cultures there from a near-enough close by university... Do look about... can be easily mailed. Bob Fenner>