YWG pairing attempt

NicoleC · #1 03/30/2004, 12:33 AM

Several people have asked about pairing YWG, so I thought I'd keep a diary of my attempt.

I wanted a YWG slightly larger than mine, but I guess mine is about as big as they get and pickings have been slim lately. I finally picked up a baby -- 1" from lips to tail tip. He's in perfect condition.

Day 1 - Introduced to tank. Gobiwon (the large goby) only chased him away when he got too close to his main den. The little guy swam all over the tank and checked everything out, but mostly settled down in the sand. By evening, Gobiwon was surfing back and forth across the sand bed, as if claiming the whole territory as his. He went from one bolt hole to another, and was out more than usual.

Day 2 - By AM, the little guy had picked a hole on top of a rock to hang out in. Gobiwon kept sneaking over for a look -- unusual, as he normally does not move off the sand bed at all, let alone swim in the water column. Curious? Or defensive behavior? By PM, my bi-color blenny decided he liked the hole and appropriated it. The little guy found an area in the fuge portion of my tank and was chowing down on pods. Gobiwon got VERY agitated when he couldn't find the little guy and pratically threw a temper tantrum. Gobiwon's coloring is also changing a bit -- his (previously faint) bands on his body are more pronounced.

Day 3 - AM - the little guy was in the same place. By the time I got home in the evening, Gobiwon had appropriated the new hiding place and the little guy was nowhere to be found. As lights dimmed for the evening, the little guy came out of somewhere in the fuge area. Gobiwon slowly chased him around -- he wasn't threatening (puffed up jaws), but the little guy was not taking any chances and stayed a few inches away. Gobiwon tried chasing him faster, and the little guy dived behind some algae and disappeared into a rock somewhere. The little one does not appear overtly afraid,but is definately wary.

That's it so far -- I don't know if this is a good or bad sign for pairing. Guess I'll find out... I have my fingers crossed.

NicoleC · #2 03/30/2004, 12:51 AM

Good lord, he's mean. He found the little goby's new spot and chased him out of that one, too!

Oceanops, do your YWG babies behave in a similar fashion to establish dominance? Or does your pair(s)? As if there's any question about dominance, when Gobiwon is 10x the little guys' size!

ozadars · #3 03/30/2004, 09:56 AM

a great experiment! If it will work i may think of adding one to my tank too. Maybe they just need some time and they will pair up?

NicoleC · #4 03/30/2004, 01:47 PM

YWG are very popular, hardy, do well in tanks, and are inexpensive. Not to mention having tons of character! It's a natural to want to pair these guys up, but there is no hard data on how to even sex the fish, or whether they can switch sexes like some gobies.

I'd also like to see more tank raised YWG's out there. I think if everyone who tries to pair them shares their experiences, we might start figuring these guys out.

The little one appears to be smarter than my big one and is also more of a hunter on the rocks than a sand sifter. This might be an age-related trait, or it may be that the little one doesn't have much access to open sand bed right now. There is a lot of sand bed behind the rocks, but neither goby goes back there. Or perhaps my big one has just grown complacent in the safety of a tank. The big one stopped letting me feed him outside his den some time ago, about the time he reach his full (?) growth; the little one doesn't have a den yet where I can leave food.

The little one has visibly grown already. At this rate, he will be full grown in a couple of months. Unlike my first one (who was VERY skinny when I got him), he doesn't need conditioning. Maybe it's because he was kept for a couple of weeks at the wholesaler in a tank full of pods, and also seems like he handled the trip well.

Quote:

Oceanops

Oops, I meant Oceanarus.

NicoleC · #5 03/30/2004, 11:57 PM

Day 4 -- The baby, much to my chagrin, is beginning to act much like Gobiwon -- namely darting for cover every time I move a finger. Gobiwon appears to have decided to stop harassing the little one, and is allowing the baby to have a small little space in "his" tank, except when he decides to inspect it. It's a lease, not a purchase! Gobiwon frequently checks up on the baby's whereabouts.

No chasing this evening. I may have missed some sort of domination ritual, as if there was any doubt of the outcome. Gobiwon just glided right past the baby (within a half inch) without threatening or without the baby running away.

As I sit here watching, Gobiwon is a few inches away from the baby's cave, hovering in mid-water displaying his fins and showing off his healthy, wed-fed body. Occassionally he turns to the side, or faces the other direction, like a body builder posing. The little one is watching. They've been mostly doing this display for the past hour and a half. Gobiwon normally stays within 2 or 3 inches of his bolt-holes -- I must say I am enjoying the change of behavior.

It's difficult to try to avoid using human emotions and behavior to interpret fish, but Gobiwon is very clearly showing off for some reason.

Here's the little one:

ozadars · #6 03/31/2004, 12:12 AM

great piture! I am really curious what will happen next

NicoleC · #7 03/31/2004, 11:07 PM

Day 5 - First thing at dawn lights on, Gobiwon went looking for the little guy. (Who needs a name, so I stop calling him "little guy.") Little guy didn't come out until the daylights came on.

As of this evening, though, Gobiwon isn't really paying any attention to the little guy, although he did scoot over to sit near him for a while. "Near" is a few inches away on the sand for Gobiwon, with the little guy in the rocks and algae above. He is getting quite adept at concealing himself in the algae, but his coloration seems a bit brighter and deeper. It kinda of worries me that there's a bristleworm that hangs out there that's a lot bigger than he is!

So, no excitement today.

tcarlson · #8 04/01/2004, 05:42 PM

I hope it works for you.

NicoleC · #9 04/01/2004, 11:13 PM

Day 5 continued - Last night, I noticed a smear of slime on Gobiwon's face, similar to a fungus-like thing my clowns had several months ago. Stress, no doubt, brought on the infection. However, late in the evening, the little guy came out onto the sand bed without Gobiwon chasing him off. The little guy didn't like me trying to take a picture, so he went into the "left den" -- which Gobiwon siezed from him on Day 3. To my surprise, Gobiwon came over and entered the same den! (Held breath!) But then the little guy ran away/was chased away. Lights out.

Day 6 - This morning the fungus-like thing was cleared up. I hoped it would clear up on it's own since he is in such good shape, but I didn't expect it this fast. (Or maybe he visited the cleaner shrimp, which he usually ignores.) Maybe his quiet behavior last night meant he didn't feel well?

Tonight, he is displaying himself again for the little one above the "left den," but it seems a little half-hearted. He also briefly took over the little guy's algae cave home, but seem to get bored of it and went back to his own den. I don't know where the little guy went in the meantime, but he's back out on his ledge (a leaf of algae) now.

**edit** And getting bolder! He's up on top of the rocks, in the open, hunting and (yay!) snatching Cyclopeeze out of the water with relish! The cleaner tried to sneak up on him, but he was having none of that.

Winzzy · #10 04/02/2004, 01:00 AM

Very interesting, just letting you know I am along for th ride.. And rootin for you to!

Tim

NicoleC · #11 04/02/2004, 01:03 AM

Thanks. The little guy is a real pistol! Even if they don't pair up, I think he will manage to stand his ground and carve out a territory for himself.

Winzzy · #12 04/02/2004, 02:18 AM

That would in my opinion be eaqually as interesting...

dc · #13 04/02/2004, 09:26 AM

I'm glad mine just disappeared for a month. I'd have been too worried.

My first guy was 6 years old and the new one was like your 'little guy' so tiny. I put in a paired shrimp with new guy and all of them disappeared then they showed up all together. Fish are so weird!

NicoleC · #14 04/02/2004, 12:23 PM

The pistol shrimp somewhere in the tank is a loose cannon in this experiment. He was bought paired with Gobiwon... abandoned him and is apparently living in the rocks since there's been no sand excavation... now there's another goby living ON the rocks. Hmmmm.

ozadars · #15 04/02/2004, 01:05 PM

are you sure he is the correct kind of pistol, i mean the one that lives with yellow watchman goby in the nature? because most of the pistols dont share their homes with yellow watchman gobies but with some of the other shrimp gobies.

DensityMan · #16 04/02/2004, 01:32 PM

reading along for the story and because I have an interest in the YWG (but have 3 S. nmeatodes and a S. yasha already).

I noticed you mentioned the little one was eating from the water-column, does Gobiwan do this as well? I seem to recall the YWG were sand-sifters (another no-no in my tank)...

Good luck with the pairing. Your attempt is already far more successful than my last attempt at pairing a widowed S. nematodes...

ozadars · #17 04/02/2004, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DensityMan
I noticed you mentioned the little one was eating from the water-column, does Gobiwan do this as well? I seem to recall the YWG were sand-sifters (another no-no in my tank)...

My ywg both sift the sand to eat probably pods and take flake food from the surface, he wont take the flake food that is staying on the sand. He sift the sand but not a big sifter and do it very rare in a day

NicoleC · #18 04/02/2004, 02:19 PM

Quote:

are you sure he is the correct kind of pistol, i mean the one that lives with yellow watchman goby in the nature? because most of the pistols dont share their homes with yellow watchman gobies but with some of the other shrimp gobies.

They were already a pair when I bought them. Very cozy and sweet in the tank they were in; in the bag while acclimating... but I guess the stress of the new tank broke them up. I haven't seen the pistol since he darted out of the acclimation baggie.

Quote:

I noticed you mentioned the little one was eating from the water-column, does Gobiwan do this as well? I seem to recall the YWG were sand-sifters (another no-no in my tank)...

Gobiwon used to eat mostly what I fed him. Lately he has decided he prefers sifting sand, but will still snatch food if it floats past his nose and will go out of his way for Cyclopeeze. He's still not a real big sifter, though, there's almost always some easy pickings on the sand bed -- Formula or mysis or whatever that has escaped the other fishies and corals.

dc · #19 04/02/2004, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DensityMan
reading along for the story and because I have an interest in the YWG (but have 3 S. nmeatodes and a S. yasha already).

I noticed you mentioned the little one was eating from the water-column, does Gobiwan do this as well? I seem to recall the YWG were sand-sifters (another no-no in my tank)...

Good luck with the pairing. Your attempt is already far more successful than my last attempt at pairing a widowed S. nematodes...

My guys are not sand sifters, but the pistol moves the sand around enough that it's probably worse.

aquariumclown · #20 04/02/2004, 03:53 PM

Nice write up Nicole

I'm waiting for "And they lived happily ever after'

Leo

tcarlson · #21 04/03/2004, 04:48 PM

We'll Nicole you forced me to try again...
My last experience was similar to yours with the larger established YWG chasing away the smaller one. The "little guy" had his own cave that was too small for my large one to fit in. However one day the "little guy" never came out and have bot seen from it again now almost 3 months. So while perusing the LFS I talked to the fish guy about it and was sold a 1" YWG for $10 to try again. Right now the small one is aclimating and will not be put in the tank until after the lights are out for more than an hour. Last time the "little guy" was harassed by the 6 line wrasse until the lights went out the first day. Here is to hoping it works for both of us. How big is "Gobiwan"? My YWG is close to 4.5", a giant of YWGs.
Fingers Crossed,
Tom

NicoleC · #22 04/05/2004, 12:01 PM

Gobiwon isn't that big, but he's better than 3" and fairly beefy. Good luck!

Day 9 (yesterday) - Peace reigns. Gobiwon has turned the "left den" into a real goby den and not just an outpost. I got to watch him dig a side escape tunnel by a simple but effective method -- he shoved his head in the sand and just started wiggling through. The little guy stays up on his rocks, and Gobiwon is no longer chasing him and isn't posing and showing off as much. He's still out and about a lot more than he was, and I'm enjoying getting to see more than his head and the occassional side view. The bi-color blenny has decided he doesn't want that original rock cave after all and has left little guy alone since them.

surfingelite · #23 04/05/2004, 07:41 PM

tagging along

NicoleC · #24 04/05/2004, 11:58 PM

Day 10 - nothing new to report. I guess they have reached an agreement of some kind. I'll post again when further developments happen.

Tom -- what happened with your new little one?

tcarlson · #25 04/06/2004, 07:58 AM

Everything seems to be good. My little one shows the same fascination with me that my larger one does. Both of them sit out on the sand bed all day long trying to get a better view of me. My larger YWG does not chase away the smaller one. Every once in a while the 6 line wrasse would swoop down and harass the small YWG but that has stoped. Funny my YWG never move sand or make dens they just go behind the rocks. The smaller one is both feeding out of the water column and the sand like my big guy.
Here is my big guy:

This is where the little guy sleeps and hides.