# Red neon goby?!?



## lowfi

Hey everyone,

Just picked up a "red neon goby" from the LFS. WOW I hate common names. The store really doesnt know much about them except that they cant keep them on the shelves. They are supposed to be better than ottos for eating algae. When I get a good pic ill let you all see.

Thanks 

sean


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## Adragontattoo

uhh a goby that eats algae???

Their mouth isnt setup to be an algae eater unless I missed something.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/neongobies.htm
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1222

ummm SW it seems.


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## Zapins

Gobies for freshwater? I'd love to see those pics!


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## hoplo

I guess you would be refering to one of these. Cute little fellas, always tempting me at the LFS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiphodon


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## kwc1974

bring the pic...please


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## lowfi

it is in the genus stiphodon but I could not locate the fish that I have....strange, and it does suck/eat algae. its a cool little fish


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## lowfi

alright....here it is!!!










sweet!

~sean


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## Zapins

Niice pic!

I must admit >.< after reading your thread i went to a pet store and found they were selling 1 wild caught freshwater goby so i bought it. :-O 

It's called Gobiocichla ethelwynnae goby but I don't know anything about it! Can't seem to find info on it lol. Talk about impulse buy, now I'm in the same situation as you lol...


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## ed seeley

Zapins said:


> Niice pic!
> 
> I must admit >.< after reading your thread i went to a pet store and found they were selling 1 wild caught freshwater goby so i bought it. :-O
> 
> It's called Gobiocichla ethelwynnae goby but I don't know anything about it! Can't seem to find info on it lol. Talk about impulse buy, now I'm in the same situation as you lol...


Where's your LFS Zapins?  You seem to be able to get hold of some great cichlids.

Your Gobiocichla is not a goby at all; it's a rapids dwelling cichlid from West Africa! I'd love to have a go at breeding these some day!


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## Zapins

There are quite a few really nice LFS in my area around Hartford, CT.  plenty of oddball things role through their tanks every few weeks. Not to mention they have even been known to get some nice plants, like HC pots, and macrandra / other hard to find plants. Gotta say I'm also pretty impressed.

That "goby" is probably one of the weirdest looking/acting fish I've seen. It seems to be able to stick to any object, even upside down in a clay pot on the ceiling  It is also really quick and looks like a cross between a goby and a pleco. Its body is similar to lowfi's pic but the head is more sucker-like.

Couldn't get a pair of these buggers unfortunately so breeding might be hard :/ lol...


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## lowfi

well today at least the goby came out for the first time...! thats a start, he seems to be pretty shy. I might put a female in there to perk him up a little bit. Zapins-your fish sounds cool...suprised it was a cichlid though! are you bummed out or not? if i get some better pics i will post them soon.


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## Zapins

lol, I was slightly bummed that there was no female for it. Its such a weird fish. It seems very eccentric to me, its side fins are constantly moving -- it looks like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons when he is plotting something and moving his fingers together. Its a pretty cool fish to watch.

I'd love to see more pics of your goby.


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## Six

lowfi-
Your fish is definitely a goby of some sort. The two dorsal fins are a dead give away (nice clear photo btw). I've seen them sold as "rainbow gobies" at a LFS in Columbus, Ohio. I'm fairly sure selling them as "better alage eaters" is an overstatement considering the overstated common name  

I got a hold of some Gobiocichlia wonderi and whew, they torture eachother. We have one really large male and the subordinates are pretending to be silicone.


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## lowfi

mine are pretty docile. even at the store they had like 20 in a tank together. they werent bothering each other. he has been sticking to the glass lately so that is cool. he is getting a flourescent blue stripe down his second dorsal fin now which i am getting stoked off of, and on the glass you can really see the blue in his operculum. when i get better pics i will post.


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## lowfi

heres another pic...of the belly. sorry for the crappy shot! when i get a tripod it will be better i promise


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## burntownballer

hey. I work at the lfs that you got your "red neon goby" from. small world huh? I found this post while searching for ANYTHING I could find on that cool little fish. I have two in my 55 plant tank, and they are awesome, but I'm in the same boat as you when in comes to their exact name. I am 100% positive that it is some sort of japanese freshwater goby though. I found this site and it lists all of the japanese gobys with pictures and scientific names, but there are so many that look just like what we have that I just can't narrow it down. I am pretty sure it is some sort of stiphodon goby.
This is the website:
http://www17.tok2.com/home2/tarogoby/zukan/zukan_tope.html

Check it out and please let me know what you think. I'll actually be in the store all day tomorrow (Saturday) 10-6. Stop in and say hello and we can talk about the red neon goby and I can show you another cool stiphodon goby that we have there.


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## burntownballer

ok wait. I think I found our actual fish.

http://www17.tok2.com/home2/tarogoby/zukan/zukan_nijiiro.html

WOW DO I WISH I COULD READ JAPANESE!!!


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## waterfaller1

Sumatran neon goby~Stiphodon sp. Yours could be the red. I have five,some red & blue. They are very social and really do best together. They need peaceful tankmates. I feed mine organic zucchini, and melon, algae wafers, and they will eat some regular meaty items a little too. They love the algae that grows on my rocks. I love these guys, they are awesome fish. I had a guy reply to me on what he fed his on loaches online, and there is a nice post with great photos of them on aquatic quotient.


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## nonamethefish

they are said to be amphidromous so might require some salinity changes to breed. The babies are likely planktonic for a bit. So if you have some SW experience this would be a neat project.


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## George Neubauer

cool fish..never seen it before


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## kwc1974

Just found some here in Houston.
Got 2 and will see how they do.


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## Lord Nibbler

The last picture on that asian site is pretty sweet!

Any idea how big these guys get? If they are a size that can survive fiesty adult rainbowfish I might get some if I see them anywhere.


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## waterfaller1

A couple of mine..


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## kwc1974

waterfaller1
you have a pic of yours together. Do they get along ok?
one of mine seems a little aggressive to the other, not to any other fish, shrimp or snail, just the other goby. Verry territorial towards the other.


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