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View Full Version : Rainfordi goby in 30 gallon


thrillreefer
12/04/2007, 09:32 PM
I have a 29 gallon with a 5 gal sump (to be upgraded to a 10). I've read that Amblygobius rainfordi can be kept in small tanks, but I have a few doubts. It seems the fish prefers to eat pods and sift sand for most of its food, with some taste for filamentous algae.

Currently, I don't have a refugium, and I have a yellow watchman (the only inhabitant), which spends a good amount of its time sifting sand. So I wonder whether the two might compete for food.

I've read that the rainfordi will jump, but only if harassed. The tank is mostly covered, but the back of the canopy is open and would allow a determined jumper to find the floor.

Any thoughts?

thrillreefer
12/04/2007, 09:34 PM
Dang, meant to post in the fish forum. I've got too many windows open

PSam
12/04/2007, 09:50 PM
Good luck with it. Difficult to keep / feed. Best left in the ocean, imo.

Alaska_Phil
12/04/2007, 09:51 PM
I've had a Rainford's in my 20 gal for over a year now. Yes, he loves pods, but he also likes frozen brine shrimp and even flakes. No sump and only a shallow sand bed.

My Tank is open topped and he hasn't jumped yet, but there's only an antenna goby and very small false perc clown for company.

Phil

thrillreefer
12/04/2007, 11:52 PM
Alaska,

Do you remember where you got your goby? I don't have a good LFS in my area, so I have been thinking about ordering one from an online vendor. But I wonder if they are one of those species that does much better once they have been acclimated in a dealer's tank for a while and are eating before being taken home. Do you run a refugium on your tank?

Alaska_Phil
12/05/2007, 01:07 AM
Thrill
I got mine from the LFS, no idea where they get their stock. I don't have a refugium, but the rainford was the second fish I added, only 2 weeks after the antenna goby. At that point my tank was over 3 months old, with only live rock in it. Pod's of all kinds were thick at that point. The Rainfords didn't eat anything I put in the tank for a month. There were just too many pods for him to bother. As the Pod population was thinned down, he started eating frozen brine shrimp. The tank still has a decent population of pods, and I'm sure he still gets some, but he eats prepared foods too. If I ever start another tank, I'm going to let it sit with only live rock for at least 6 months and feed rotifers before adding any fish or corals.

Maybe I just got lucky and got one that eats well. But I think letting my tank sit and develop a strong pod population before adding fish was a critical component.

Phil

P.S. Yes, that is my rainfords in my avatar.

thrillreefer
12/05/2007, 08:03 AM
Yeah, beautiful specimen you got there. Although I just moved the tank, a lot of my rock is at least 5 years old, so it is fairly well developed. The only guy in there right now is a yellow watchman goby. I rarely feed him, and he is fat and happy, so I know there are plentiful pods around. I see them walking all over the rocks and glass (the tiny, isopod ones) and see the bigger shrimplike ones occasionally too. I have a small HOB filter that I will retro into a pod farm since the light thrown from my halide should light it fairly well.
Maybe I'll set that up before I go on vacation for a couple of weeks and evaluate the pod population then.