Cleaner Wrasse vs. Neon Goby

[BHenderson79]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

If you want personality then take a look at the Blue Spot jawfish!

Scotty's Spotty

that fish is gorgeous! how would it be around timid tankmates like firefish? and around inverts and so forth?

[Woodstock]

Karma to you BHenderson79 for asking PRIOR to purchasing

[lcstorc]

I love my neon goby but did have one problem with him at the time of purchase.
I bought two because I was told they like groups better. Well the LFS employee put both fish in the same bag. I didn't think anything about it but during acclimation one killed the other. I know a lot of people who have several so I really think it was caused by the extremely confined area but wanted to mention it so you do not have the same problem. Just make sure they are bagged separately and you should be fine with several.

[BoomerD]

From Bob Fenner's WWM:

Labroides

"Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes 1839), the common or Blue Cleaner Wrasse (3). Thousands will be collected today and thousands will die. One out of thousands lives for a year in captivity. Indo-Pacific, east Africa, Red Sea to the Marquesas. To four and a half inches in length"

"Casual diving with the four multi-colorful Labroides species reveals that they are of limited numbers and closely defined distribution. When they are removed, the whole reef population suffers.

Further, these species have not been kept for any length of time in captivity, most dying within a few days to weeks due to a lack of nutritive interaction with host fishes. I have heard stories and seen the endemic Hawaiian cleaner, Labroides phthirophagus accepting dry prepared, freeze-dried, fresh and live foods, still only to waste away and die.

If you want to "practice" on cleaner wrasses, the blue, black and white lined Labroides dimidiatus is the one species that seems more facultative. If you're just looking for a biological cleaner for their services or novel behavior, please consider shrimps in the genera Hippolysmata, Periclimenes, or cleaner gobies. They do the job and do well in captivity, with much less deleterious effect on being removed from the wild."

[BHenderson79]

Originally Posted by Woodstock

Karma to you BHenderson79 for asking PRIOR to purchasing

hahah, thanks. i am always very very careful about that. every now and then i'll go to the fish store with a friend or family member and they'll see some beautiful fish that's fairly inexpensive and they'll keep bugging me "ooh! get this! this is awesome! how can you NOT want this!?" and they don't often understand when i tell them that i'm not buying it if i haven't already researched it.

normally i've just used books for research, but this forum gets me much more practical and faster answers!

[Woodstock]

Yep. Only get one male neon goby if possible otherwise the males will quarrel and one will get picked on badly.
I watched them in the LFS tank and picked out the two that 'liked' one another.

[BHenderson79]

Originally Posted by BoomerD

From Bob Fenner's WWM:

Labroides

"Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes 1839), the common or Blue Cleaner Wrasse (3). Thousands will be collected today and thousands will die. One out of thousands lives for a year in captivity. Indo-Pacific, east Africa, Red Sea to the Marquesas. To four and a half inches in length"

"Casual diving with the four multi-colorful Labroides species reveals that they are of limited numbers and closely defined distribution. When they are removed, the whole reef population suffers.

Further, these species have not been kept for any length of time in captivity, most dying within a few days to weeks due to a lack of nutritive interaction with host fishes. I have heard stories and seen the endemic Hawaiian cleaner, Labroides phthirophagus accepting dry prepared, freeze-dried, fresh and live foods, still only to waste away and die.

If you want to "practice" on cleaner wrasses, the blue, black and white lined Labroides dimidiatus is the one species that seems more facultative. If you're just looking for a biological cleaner for their services or novel behavior, please consider shrimps in the genera Hippolysmata, Periclimenes, or cleaner gobies. They do the job and do well in captivity, with much less deleterious effect on being removed from the wild."

i certainly didn't need more convincing at this point, but this would do the trick.

[Dentoid]

Originally Posted by BHenderson79

that fish is gorgeous! how would it be around timid tankmates like firefish? and around inverts and so forth?

No problems at all, they are timid as well. If you are interested, take a look through the Blue Spot Club thread to make an informed decision about keeping this species.

The Bluespot Club

BLUE SPOT POWER!

[BHenderson79]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

No problems at all, they are timid as well. If you are interested, take a look through the Blue Spot Club thread to make an informed decision about keeping this species.

The Bluespot Club

Thanks, I'll check that thread out. How expensive are they?