Please help me identify this fish!

[RianaQuen]

Hello, i am new to the forum but i have to get some decent answers asap and figured a forum would be best! I recently placed an order on a website for fish. I TRIED to order 8 snails and 6 guppies. What i actually recieved was 8 snails and 3 mystery fish. I cant exactly ship them back and don't want them to die. I am desperately seeking help with identification so that i can care for them properly. I temporarily put them into an empty 5 gallon that i was in the process of setting up as my quarantine tank. I gave them some frozen baby brine shrimp (thawed and dispursed in aquarium safe water) and they did get active but... well they often get active when i go near their tank currently. I also put a little flake food that i had on hand in there thia morning but was running late so i couldn't observe them. They are so active that its hard to photograph them, but i posted the best photos that i could get so far. They just arrived last night and im at a bit of a loss...

About them:
They swim very fast and quite a bit. They are likely very young since places usually ship juveniles. I have seen them cling to the glass and the bag in which they arrived in. They seem to have a faint line down the side but i am also unsure of whether to really rely on that or not since they could have been fasting for a few days before shipment and that may be their organs. My best guesses so far are:
1) rosy loach (where i ordered from has those available)
2) black line loach (they were also available there)
3) 3 line pencilfish (honestly a desperate guess... i really suspect that they are a loach but... desperate!)

 

[Colin_T]

It's a freshwater goby. They are bottom dwellers that do best in water with a pH around 7.0 or a bit higher than that. They prefer live or frozen foods and don't normally take dry foods. Put sand on the bottom of their tank and have some plants and flower pots in there for them.

 

[Rocky998]

Those are alright photos but could you try for a closer photo. It has some Goby qualities to it. So maybe a type of goby? I would recommend trying to put some sand in there and some river rocks. Plants would be a good addition as well. Even to a quarantine tank.

 

[RianaQuen]

It's a freshwater goby. They are bottom dwellers that do best in water with a pH around 7.0 or a bit higher than that. They prefer live or frozen foods and don't normally take dry foods. Put sand on the bottom of their tank and have some plants and flower pots in there for them.

Ohh thank gosh. Can they survive with gravel or is sand very important? My current tanks are a 20 gallon tall with gravel, driftwood, and a little guppy grass. The animals in it are mainly guppies, with half (4) of my new ivory mystery snails.

I was ordering the guppies foe my 20 gallon long which is my first planted tank. It has caribsea ecocomplete planted substrate, a nice long piece of driftwood and an assortment of plants that i recently got. This tank currently only has the other 4 mystery snails.

Would either of these tanks work for these maybe gobies?

 

[Colin_T]

Stiphodon gobies

They do best with sand because they sometimes swallow gravel and it doesn't always come out.

A 2 foot tank should be fine for them.

 

[RianaQuen]

Those are alright photos but could you try for a closer photo. It has some Goby qualities to it. So maybe a type of goby? I would recommend trying to put some sand in there and some river rocks. Plants would be a good addition as well. Even to a quarantine tank.

I was so panicked t these fish last night. My filter and heater arrived yesterday too, so i was just happy to get them into the water! I am going to try to get more photos soon.

 

[RianaQuen]

Stiphodon gobies

They do best with sand because they sometimes swallow gravel and it doesn't always come out.

A 2 foot tank should be fine for them.

Ohh my gosh i googled them and yes! They look so alike. I feel much better.... and worse. Because i am either going to need a new tank just for them or to rip apart my 20 long, lol.

 

[Rocky998]

Your 20g long should do for them. I dont know how big he/she will get but the sand and driftwood will be good for him....

 

[Rocky998]

Ohh my gosh i googled them and yes! They look so alike. I feel much better.... and worse. Because i am either going to need a new tank just for them or to rip apart my 20 long, lol.

Why do you have to rip apart your 20L?

 

[RianaQuen]

Why do you have to rip apart your 20L?

Currently the 20L has eco gravel and driftwood. Someone said that these fish may swallow gravel and would do better with sand. I wonder if... i could just add some sand in top of the gravel...

 

[Rocky998]

Oh I thought that tank had sand... Yes, then you will have to replace the substrate

Currently the 20L has eco gravel and driftwood. Someone said that these fish may swallow gravel and would do better with sand. I wonder if... i could just add some sand in top of the gravel...

 

[RianaQuen]

I am trying to turn this surprise into a happy one. I think that I am going to attempt to set up a tank for these 3 fish. I have been doing a lot of research and I do indeed think that they are a sort of stiphodon gobies. I am thinking about getting a second 20 gallon long to set them up in. I do have some more black substrate and can likely put them on the counter in my guest bathroom. I had hoped that they could be in a 10 gallon, but there are three of them... so a lot that I have read says they may need more. Plus a 20G long will really help me to make it seem like a river bed. I am looking into a powerhead, and thinking of going with my favorite aqua clear filter. I am a little uncertain of the aquascape I will go for...Any suggestions?

 

[Colin_T]

If you use an AquaClear HOB filter, you won't need a powerhead in the tank too.

You can have plants, smooth river rocks/ pebbles and sand in the tank. Some people add driftwood but the choice is yours.

 

[Rocky998]

I am trying to turn this surprise into a happy one. I think that I am going to attempt to set up a tank for these 3 fish. I have been doing a lot of research and I do indeed think that they are a sort of stiphodon gobies. I am thinking about getting a second 20 gallon long to set them up in. I do have some more black substrate and can likely put them on the counter in my guest bathroom. I had hoped that they could be in a 10 gallon, but there are three of them... so a lot that I have read says they may need more. Plus a 20G long will really help me to make it seem like a river bed. I am looking into a powerhead, and thinking of going with my favorite aqua clear filter. I am a little uncertain of the aquascape I will go for...Any suggestions?

Sounds great! Just make sure the substrate is fine. Like a sand or something.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

looks to me like a gold spot goby. they are quite cool fish