Green Clown Goby

[J. Montgomery]

I picked up a green clown goby a little over a month ago from LiveAquaria. A couple people have asked me if I was worried about it eating/nipping at corals, so I figured I'd share some info.

Here is a picture I took from the web:
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t133/baronpsjosh/GreenClownGoby.jpg

For the first few weeks that the goby was in the tank, I'd only see him at night sleeping around acro colonies. As the weeks have gone by, he has started to come out more often but I never saw him eat and he was pretty skinny. Most of the time he hides in cracks between pieces of LR.

Finally two days ago I saw him eat for the first time when I put some blood worms in the tank. Needless to say I was shocked. Even more so when I realized that he was also swimming out and nipping at a nice green Milli frag! I've moved the frag in hopes of keeping him away from it (he doesn't wander too far) . . .

Now the goby seems to be eating, and I'm hoping that he'll fatten up and become more bold (though not too bold around SPS frags).

[surfnvb7]

lol so he went straight for the milli?

i'd love to have either a green clown goby, or a citron yellow clown goby.........and i really dont mind if they perch themselves on corals. but i've heard too many stories of them nipping at sps.....normally sps colonies that are big enough they can climb into.

.....just dont wanna take a chance...cute fish though :(

[J. Montgomery]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10537075#post10537075 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by surfnvb7
lol so he went straight for the milli?
Yeah, its a frag I got from David earlier this summer. It's been doing really well; really hairy and its been laying down a nice base. The clown goby appeared to be going for the long "hairs" of the milli. If the goby fattens up, I'd probably choose him over milli . . . I'll just have to wait and see.

[surfnvb7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10537104#post10537104 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by J. Montgomery
Yeah, its a frag I got from David earlier this summer. It's been doing really well; really hairy and its been laying down a nice base. The clown goby appeared to be going for the long "hairs" of the milli. If the goby fattens up, I'd probably choose him over milli . . . I'll just have to wait and see.

that actually makes sense, since he took to the blood worms....and now he's going after long polyps on sps.

[Charlie Davidson]

Thanks Josh... I have wondered-- Many, Many times,,, but was unwilling to try...

[Hopeful Reefer]

If he is going after the "long polyps" on the SPS, would that make him prone to LPS such as torch, frogspawn, hammer, etc?

Definitely a cute fish though...any chance he will come out long enough for you to snap a pic of yours in particular?

[angelscrx]

Beautiful but too risky for me! I love the whole reef look in my tank and there for don't have any fish that would hurt my corals.

[J. Montgomery]

I have a couple different frogspawn and hammer coral frags around the tank, two of which are right next to the green clown goby's territory. They haven't shown any signs of harassment yet.

Ileana and I saw a citron clown goby at the Baltimore Aquarium, it really caught her eye so we ended up with the green goby (LA didn't have the citron in stock or I would have bought both).

I'll definitely be getting a picture of him soon ;) My birthday is this week and Ileana is getting me a new camera! :celeb1: :celeb2: :celeb3:

[mr294]

I had a pair of green clown gobies that originally lived in my birdsnest but later relocated to a large stag. They nipped here and there but no lasting damage except for the colony they made home. In that case they cleaned off a spot a little smaller than a quarter down to the skeleton presumably to spawn. The coral did fine, and they were great to watch. Never did actually see eggs, but I did see quite a bit of typical mating behavior.

[Roger928]

Have 2 green and 3 yellow in my 90. They hang out in the SPS, but have never even seen them nip and there's isn't any damage that I can see.

[J. Montgomery]

Here is a picture of my homie:
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t133/baronpsjosh/IMG_0081.jpg

[surfnvb7]

my sps are afraid of teeth like that......lol

[zjamez]

I have had a citron goby for over a year. He is a healthy eater and will even chow on flake. I have see him perch on most of the corals in the tank... but I have never seen him bother any. I have several types of acra, fire coral, torch, frogspawn, & a couple leathers (he loves to sit in the rabbit ear)... he's been good for me. And he has a fun personality.

[J. Montgomery]

I like my green clown goby a lot, we get a kick out of it's behavior. I'm not worried about any of my corals.

[Charlie Davidson]

Is a beauty!!! Hmmmm,,, ;)
(I can see one in my tank)
I wonder if they nip clams ?

[Hopeful Reefer]

Charlie, you have enough clams that if you loose 1 or 2 you'd never notice!! :D

Shame to loose clams...but I'm sure that would just give you another reason to buy 5 or 6 more!! :lol2: