Rainford's goby

[mpmitche]

I have heard many conflicting things about rainford's goby. Some people say they are great algae eaters other say sand sifters. Some say not good in a nano reef others say great in a nano. Can anyone tell me more about them, do you like them in a reef?

[Surfzone]

They are awesome nano fish. They often spend time digging in the sand, but they don't really sift it like the sifter gobies. I've never seen one eat algea so i cannot comment on that. I would recommend a good lid because i have heard accounts of them jumping out of the tank.

[Gem Tang Rider]

They prefer to live on pods. In a nano they just waste away.

[jannima]

My rainford goby eats hair algae and sift sand all day, it's been in my 38g almost 1 year, but it never touches prepared food.

[Sk8r]

Not likely to eat prepared food: like a mandy in that dept. I have been unable to keep one in a 54g with sump. It wants, apparently, hair algae, and I can't maintain it in my tank.

[rssjsb]

I've read a lot of different things about this fish, too, but I seem to remember reading that they're not actually after the algae, just the tiny crustaceans in the algae. Anything that won't take prepared food is not a good candidate for a nano.

[Conesus_Kid]

I've seen mine nibble algae, but mainly sifts sand in my 75 gallon.

[mskurdah]

I had one in a Nano that only sifted sand -- never ate prepared food no matter how many different types I tried. It died after about two months. I wouldn't recommend one unless you have a tank of at least 40G.

[BonesCJ]

I've got one in my 72 and he sifts sand, picks at rocks and nibbles on algea but has never taken prepared food except some that lands on the rocks. On the other hand he is a beautiful fish and has lived in my tank for over a year and is very healthy and happy.

[kstallbe]

I read a study that showed these fish are herbivores (http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps...6/m256p183.pdf). This seems to settle it for me. They dissected 10 of them and came to that conclusion. Therefore, to keep one successfully you need to have what many might consider some 'ugliness' to your tank - i.e. hair algae.

I have a 20g with about 30lbs of live rock that is all a little bit fuzzy. I set it up about two months ago. I went to my LFS and I mistakenly relied on the advice of the guy at the fish store. But he was wearing a lab coat! How could he have been wrong? He sad he'd eat mysis.

Well, I took him home and then spent days researching to find out they are herbivores. The plus side of all this is that I don't need to worry about setting up a fuge or my PO4 levels. My lil' guy came with a sunken belly but he looks happy and healthy several weeks later. He does not eat any foods I put in: plankton, mysis, brine, live brine, ay of the formula foods, spirulina - nothing.

Good luck!