Anyone ever heard of a Convict Goby??

[Anonymous]

The convict goby, a.k.a. the engineer goby. A real terror in a medium or small tank with a sand bed. These guys can move more sand than anything I've ever seen. You will literaly have a new sea floor every morning. Unless your rock is extremely stable and you like blowing sand off your rocks daily with a turkey baster stay away from this guy. Note: extremely hardy and impossible to remove without tearine down the tank

Zerah

 

[Anonymous]

Huh...
Never had any problems with these buggers

 

[Anonymous]

I saw one of these at the LFS today and wanted to buy it. This is actually a GOOD LFS

The sales guy, who I trust, talked me out of it for my 120 gallon. He said they get very large pretty fast, up to 12 inches i think he said, and as they grow they become more destructive. Seems there is a limit to how much sand sifting you want, and this fish goes way overboard.

 

[Anonymous]

A LFS here has a large eel-like fish they claim is a convict goby. I looked for this fish on FFE's website and had no luck finding it. I have also had no luck finding it on any search engines. While I am not purchasing any fish right now due to an upcoming move, this was a very interesting looking animal and almost put me to sleep with its serpintine swiming. A possible addition later if I knew more about it. Anybody know anything??

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

FWIW - I have one of these guys, and
he (she?) is really cool and fun to watch.

While he does move alot of gravel, I don't
believe it has been destructive. He's
burrowed a home under one of the rocks,
and seems to constantly rearrange his
space; so every few days, there's a
different pile of gravel around the openings to his burrow.

However, I'm not use a LS bed; so I'm not
sure if this fish would be a problem in a
Berlin style tank or not.

BL

 

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, I've had one in a 29 gallon for years, and yes, they eventually get the size of a small eel. I think they're a neat fish, and I've never had any problems with it. It sifts and rearranges the sand, which is why I got it. Never damaged my reef. I kinda like when it evicts hermit crabs from under the base of the rockwork, which it considers it's home. Other than feeding times, you'll rarely even see these guys. I actually have a small one in a refugium right now for sand stirring.

Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Convict Blennies AKA Engineer Gobies are great fish. Very hardy and very interesting. They almost never get sick. They are cute in pairs or more but they get more territorial as they get bigger. They normally make a home under a large live rock and just push the substrate out every morning. You rarely see them, but when you do, it is great. I love how they can swim full speed backwards to get back in there whole.

The fish is neither a Goby or a blenny, but falls in a species somewhere in between. Scientific name is Pholidichthys Leucotaenia. In a tank with no other fish or very passive fish, they will school around, but inmost tanks they stay in their holes. It is awsome to watch them change their coloring from juvinile to adult. Great fish for someone who wants an eel in there tank but doesn't want an eel.

If you put a live rock in the corner of your tank so as when they dig the cave, you will be able to see into it through the glass and you start the tunnel for them you can watch them all day long in there. I would disagree with them being destructive, because they don't swallow the substrate and carry it out of the whole then drop it while swiming. They tend to just poke their head out and spit the sand into a pile.

My Fav. Fish!!



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