engineer goby compatibility?

[capman]

I (or rather the college where I teach) am about to be the recipient of a large reef system and some of the fish currently in the tank. One of these fish is an engineer goby (about 6" long).

I plan to move the fish a few days before moving the tank and hold them temporarily in my existing seagrass tank that is connected to my reef tank. In the case of the engineer goby though, I suspect it will be nearly impossible to get it out once I put it in without completely tearing apart the tank and its sand bed, so it will likely become a permanent resident. So, before putting it in, I want to be sure I really want it there.....

One question I have is whether this engineer goby is likely to be a threat (either now or in the future as it gets larger) for peppermint shrimp or cleaner shrimp? What about small fish (and if so, how small will be too small to keep with it?)

Is it likely to decimate the tank's population of amphipods and mysid shrimp?

Will it be continually burying things with sand due to its digging, or will it mostly stop making piles of sand once it has a burrow system in place? (The tank it is going into has a footprint of 24"x28", has some live rock - mostly securely positioned via well concealed PVC pipe supports - but mostly is open sand densely colonized by turtle grass, various macroalgae, lots of zooanthids, misc coral frags and gorgonians, some really cool sponges, etc....also has lots of mysids and amphipods)

I've always thought engineer gobies were pretty cool, and I think this fish would be of great interest to my students. However, I don't want it to wreck havoc with my seagrass tank, so I'm a little uncertain what to do with this fish.

Any experiences with this fish that you can share would be much appreciated (especially with regard to its potential as a hazard for peppermint shrimp or small fish).

Thanks

[JohnL]

^

[hcs3]

hey bill, glad to hear your classroom is getting another tank. your students have done a marvelous job with the first 2; their bound to have success with this one as well.

unfortunately, this is one of those fish i have no experience with. therefore, i'll answer what i can and then move your thread to the main forum. hopefully you can get personal experience.

One of these fish is an engineer goby (about 6" long).

are we talking about Pholidichthys leucotaenia ? if so, this isn't a goby, but rather is the only memeber of it's family, Pholidichthyidae, more often referred to as a convict blenny. assuming we are talking about the same fish, yours is rather large. 8" is max for this guy, so yours is near full adult size. i'm assuming it has adult coloration?

One question I have is whether this engineer goby is likely to be a threat (either now or in the future as it gets larger) for peppermint shrimp or cleaner shrimp? What about small fish (and if so, how small will be too small to keep with it?)

it's a gamble i wouldn't take. their known to have a history of eating small fishes or ornamental shrimp. a general rule for fish is if it's fits in the mouth, it'll try to eat it.

Is it likely to decimate the tank's population of amphipods and mysid shrimp?

that's unlikely. if you keep it well fed i think you'd have no worry at all. however, one of the recommended foods to feed it is mysis.

Will it be continually burying things with sand due to its digging, or will it mostly stop making piles of sand once it has a burrow system in place?

from what i read, they are non-stop diggers.

HTH

henry