engineer gobies

[TreudenVB]

i have a question. i would like to get an engineer goby for my aquarium,sometimes i hear they are peaceful, and other times i hear they eat smaller fish and inverts. which one is true

 

[Donya]

I've had several engineer gobies over time; they're cool fish although they like their privacy so you won't see much of it once its an adult. Aggression varies from one individual to another, but they are largely show with no muscle to back it up. They will eat things that fit in their mouths, a rule that is true of most fish. Because adult engineer goby mouths are pretty big, tiny fish like neon gobies might not be safe and really small inverts like sexy shrimp and pom-pom crabs will be seen as a snack. Hermit crabs will be fine even if they can get the shell in their mouth since their jaw isn't strong. Engineer gobies don't bite at things unless they're getting harassed near their burrow entrances or if another fish is trying to invade their burrow, in which case they might nip a fin or similar, but they prefer to keep to themselves peacefully. However, I have never kept them with other sand-sifters - they may well go at it with those fish, but with other free-swimming and non-burrowing fish they're fine.

 

[TreudenVB]

will they be okay with my cleaner shrimp and firefish?

 

[Donya]

I never realized there was another reply here, sorry! Well, this is a month late and perhaps too late because of that but yes - I actually kept my engineer gobies with both cleaner shrimp and firefish at various times. Firefish are fine because they're free swimming - they stay clear of the burrow. As for shrimp, just get a good-sized cleaner shrimp; skunk and fire cleaners a couple inches long will do fine. Back when I had engineer gobies I had them with skunk cleaners and coral banded shrimp and never had any issues there.