Did I make a mistake here?

new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Hey all -
I just got my first yellow clown goby ever - he's less than 1/2 inch long and his name is Lemonhead!! A couple months ago I had Kenya & Xenia taking over my tank so I gave a local reefer some, and he returned the hookup today with the little clown goby that he bred.
Ok, so I put him in to my 14 gallon until I get my 28 LED. My 14 has been a happy peaceful tank for years, and when I put the little clown in, he hopped right on to this huge purple shroom (I knew he would) and chilled for 15 minutes or so. I added him while I fed the tank in the opposite corner to keep the attention off of the goby.
The problem is, once my ocellaris clown finished eating, he went nuts! He won't stop chasing the little goby, and the only way I could get him to stop is by cutting the light cycle 2 hours short. (This is a foolproof way to get the ocellaris to burrow inside his hosting coral, as he is afraid of what comes out at night
)
Obviously this solution will work until morning, but what do I do then? After 3+ years in this setup, will the ocellaris continue to be territorial? I guess Im looking for anyone who has had the same setup for a couple years and then added a fish. If you added a clown goby, even better. It doesn't help that the goby is perching on the ocellaris' host coral!
I think this is doomed to fail. I wanted to wait for the 28 but the guy had to breakdown the breeding tank. Uggghhh, hope he doesn't bite him! I know it hurts like hell when he bites me, and I'm not 1/2" long!
 
t316

t316

Active Member
With this size tank, I'd say your presumptions are correct. Imagine living your life in a prison cell (say 12 X 12), and the warden just decided to add "Brutus" into your cell due to over crowded population.....
Houston...We have a problem....
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3185556
With this size tank, I'd say your presumptions are correct. Imagine living your life in a prison cell (say 12 X 12), and the warden just decided to add "Brutus" into your cell due to over crowded population.....
Houston...We have a problem....
Riiiiiight...Adding a fish that measures less than 1/2" to a 14g 'Cube that has a 2" fish in it did not just send the tank into an overcrowded "12x12 cell" as you call it. Im PRETTY SURE a 14g 'Cube can house 2.5" of fish, especially when the 2" fish used to NEVER leave his host coral.
As the pic shows, there is plenty of room and cool little spots for the clown goby to perch and be out of the clowns way (thats not the problem). The problem is the ocellaris is seeking him out. Even when the goby is perching under a ledge on the other side of the tank behind a huge clump of polyps the ocellaris is looking for him. This isn't an issue of space AT ALL. I think it's an issue of
territorial aggression. And Im trying to talk to someone who has had a similar experience to tell me if they think it's temporary, or if I am going to have to save the little Lemonhead. I will have a brand new tank in 5-7 days and I would catch him and QT him if I had some inkling as to whether this kinda thing wears off.
Anyway, can someone else chime in? I have no question that the 14 gallon 'Cube can house 2.5" inches of fish. What Im trying to determine is the relationship between clown gobies and ocellaris clowns? Would a clown actually hurt the goby. I saw him chasing but not catching. I didn't think clowns were that hard core?
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Just to put it in perspective, the clown goby is 1/2 the size of the purple shroom.
Yea, not a 12x12 cell
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Well the size difference and its aggressiveness will certainly allow the clown to hurt the goby. After 3+ years in the tank the clown will certainly be aggressive as it has set up the entire tank as it's territory and will attack all new comers. For future reference lights out at any fish addition time is a good thing. Looking at the tank you probably don't want to do this but sometimes moving rock work around will confuse a fish and make it set up new territory boundaries.
Good luck with this and I hope the goby is fast enough and smart enough to keep away from the clown long enough for the clown to settle down some.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Thanks spank, that's good advice. I don't have a lot of experience trying to get fish to play nice - I own 3/5/14 gallon reefs and they all have had one or no fish. Besides that, my bro and I put together a FOWLR tank and it's 120g so no real territory issues there. With the way my coral is attached to large rocks it really only makes sense the way it is and would be almost impossible to re-scape without fragging a lot of softies. Although I may have to take the thing apart anyway to get the little goober out!
Ugghhh. I'm patiently awaiting "lights-on" hour to see how they react on their first full day together. Fingers crossed!
Quick question - I have a turkey baster with a BIG opening (about 2" wide). Do you see any drawbacks to catching the 1/2 " goby with the baster if it comes to that?
 
t316

t316

Active Member
The "12 x 12 cell" reference was a metaphor"
I'm not saying that you are overstocked.
Imagine coming from your own farm in the middle of Oklahoma (ocean), to a small apartment in NY (tank). You cannot leave this apartment, at all, day or night. You have been there for 3+ years, and it looks like you will remain there the rest of your life. Then one day the landlord opens the front door and shoves in another person, who doesn't look like you, act like you, starts eating all the food out of your pantry, and starts pooping in your bathroom. How do you feel?

Just meant that there is reason that the clown was not perched near the top holding flowers for the goby when he came in
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3185710
The "12 x 12 cell" reference was a metaphor"
I'm not saying that you are overstocked.
Imagine coming from your own farm in the middle of Oklahoma (ocean), to a small apartment in NY (tank). You cannot leave this apartment, at all, day or night. You have been there for 3+ years, and it looks like you will remain there the rest of your life. Then one day the landlord opens the front door and shoves in another person, who doesn't look like you, act like you, starts eating all the food out of your pantry, and starts pooping in your bathroom. How do you feel?

Just meant that there is reason that the clown was not perched near the top holding flowers for the goby when he came in


I gotcha, that makes sense. The war has subsided, but that's just because the clown goby is hiding on top of the return nozzle.
You think it's ok to suck him up with a giant turkey baster if need be?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by New2Salt1
http:///forum/post/3185715
I gotcha, that makes sense. The war has subsided, but that's just because the clown goby is hiding on top of the return nozzle.
You think it's ok to suck him up with a giant turkey baster if need be?
Gotta love those clown gobies....surely they will learn to live together...I have read that some clowns can be mean, but MAYBE..they will eventually get along. I'd give it a little time
The clown goby will "perch" on all kinds of stuff...mine sticks to the side of the tank glass...looks pretty funny too
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3185718
Gotta love those clown gobies....surely they will learn to live together...I have read that some clowns can be mean, but MAYBE..they will eventually get along. I'd give it a little time
The clown goby will "perch" on all kinds of stuff...mine sticks to the side of the tank glass...looks pretty funny too
Yea, I love the little guy. I'll be honest, if I hadn't had the ocel clown for so long I would be inclined to keep the little Lemonhead over him. The a-hole bites me when I try to clean HIS house!! Ungrateful s.o.b.!!!
Unfortunately I can't even see if they are getting along because my stupid lighting top has been disassembled for the last 5 hours.
Anyone have a diagram for the top of a 5 year old Biocube 14??
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

T316 is correct. It really has little to do with size, saltwater fish are territorial. Your clown believes the entire space is his, and is too tough for the non-aggressive goby to establish his own spot.
If your clown bites you for invading his space your goby is doomed.
You can try putting the clown in a small holding place like a bucket, and rearrange all the rock in the tank. It may then think it is in another tank and that the goby was there first.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3185863

T316 is correct. It really has little to do with size, saltwater fish are territorial. Your clown believes the entire space is his, and is too tough for the non-aggressive goby to establish his own spot.
If your clown bites you for invading his space your goby is doomed.
You can try putting the clown in a small holding place like a bucket, and rearrange all the rock in the tank. It may then think it is in another tank and that the goby was there first.
Well I fixed the hood, and the lights are on, and so now I can see the interaction pretty well.
The ocel clown is "charging" the clown goby, and the goby is not scared at all. He just stands there like, "What? What are YOU gonna do?"
The "charging" is subsiding now that the goby has stopped running from him, and the goby has no nipped fins! Awesome! I will post some pics as soon as my batteries charge.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
So, he has finally let the little goby live in peace. Here are a couple pics showing their progress and a couple new close-ups from the BC14.
The first one is a "charging" pic. When the goby was on the glass, the ocel would charge him and push him along the glass like a hockey puck against ice. It was hilarious. I did discover for sure that he was not biting him. It got to the point where the goby wouldn't run from him. So when the ocel charged, the goby just freezed like, "What? You think you're bad? You're not bad! IM BAD!"

 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
A couple more. The purple on the floor looks cool but it will look really cool once it completely fills in. In the future I am not scrubbing purple off of the walls. Oh also a pic of the many mouths of my fave coral!

 
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