Aioliops megastigma - Mini Dart Goby

[DFason]

I have been thinking of trying a small school of these gobies in my new nano tank. There is not much about them on the web so I figure I would post something here.

Anyone have any experience with them? What food works best and how many feedings?

Thanks in advance!

-Dave

[DFason]

Mini Dart Gobies - I ordered five to start with and received them Wednesday. One did not make it from shipping. After putting the four that survived in my tank I lost one right away or so I thought. Thursday three were still in a group and the other still no where to be found. I wake up Friday and then next thing you know, all four are alive and in a group! So happy they all lived. I am feeding them 5-7 times a day with cyclo and there bellies are looking better each day.

I would love to see LA try them out. By far one of the BEST nano fish you can get.

Here's a few pictures...

The Four Amigos
http://images54.fotki.com/v460/photos/2/269729/6860244/IMG_4891-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v451/photos/2/269729/6860244/IMG_4892-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v438/photos/2/269729/6860244/IMG_4893-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v295/photos/2/269729/6860244/IMG_4894-vi.jpg
http://images56.fotki.com/v548/photos/2/269729/6860244/IMG_4901-vi.jpg


-Dave

[barnett8]

They look awesome. What do you feed them (they look really small)?

[DFason]

So far just frozen cyclopeze. Its been working great too!

I want to add some rotifers here and there for live food. With how small there stomachs are they need to be feed small amounts a few times a day.

-Dave

[AquaticFins]

Those are incredible.

Never seen them before, where did you find them?

Best of luck with them!

[DFason]

My LFS ordered them from Quality Marine. They have an amazing amount a different goby species.

I'll try and snap a few new pictures.

-Dave

[cee]

They're pretty hardy, I've had mine for several months now. His mate didn't survive the shipment though. They seem to have a strange habit of swimming with their head elevated but perhaps that is because of the current in my tank. Another major online etailier carries them fairly often.

Dave

[rssjsb]

Yes, please keep us updated. Those guys are awesome. I've never seen them anywhere.

[DFason]

cee - Do you have any photo's? Also how much are you feeding them?

-Dave

[Matt_Wandell]

Here's a video that Rich Ross shot of the 19 we are caring for. We ordered 20, one DOA, the rest are still doing fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngwMQ_NdqQc

I haven't heard of anybody keeping them longer than a year. They may have short lifespans.

The short term challenge is getting them on different foods right away. They like live baby brine but will need other foods long term. Ours are now eating enriched baby brine, rotifers, Otohime A, microworms, and very very finely chopped clam that I strain through mesh so it is between 200-400 microns in size. Long term challenge is feeding them all day.

[cee]

Mine eats like a pig. Takes frozen mysis almost as big as he is, eats it all (takes several minutes), and goes after another. I had no problem acclimating him to frozen. He's about ready to burst after feeding time. No photos yet. BTW, my "source" shows stock right now but I don't think they are a sponsor here. Less than $20 each. Put the word "pet" in your search and you might hit it.

Dave

[29reef]

Dave, Matt, and others keeping these-

Do they show any sign of a pecking order in the group? Any ideas on male and females? If the lifespan is short, how easy would these be to breed? I'm guessing they broadcast spawn; any thoughts? Does anyone know how long and where these have been coming from?

Sorry about all the questions. Very cool find thanks for sharing!

[Matt_Wandell]

Dave, Matt, and others keeping these-

Do they show any sign of a pecking order in the group? Any ideas on male and females? If the lifespan is short, how easy would these be to breed? I'm guessing they broadcast spawn; any thoughts? Does anyone know how long and where these have been coming from?

Sorry about all the questions. Very cool find thanks for sharing!

Hey Brian, those are all very good questions--I haven't noticed any sort of pecking order, but that could mean nothing. At this size they all look the same and are virtually indistinguishable from each other. However, I don't see any dashing or chasing that you see with cardinalfish, chromis, etc. in loose groups. Even after settling in a bit they seem very attached to each other and keep in a pretty tight ball.

No ideas on males vs. females, or whether they are gonochoristic or hermaphroditic, or how reproduction takes place, but your guess that they broadcast spawn is probably a good one.

We'll keep this thread updated...

[cee]

Philippines is what they are listed as from where I obtain mine.

[Kahuna Tuna]

Those are awesome little fish, I have never seen those before.

[aquadonkey]

Bump - anyone have an update on these? I'm considering getting a pair for my 7G tank and it would nice to hear how it went for you all!

[iamwhatiam52]

tagging along

[Matt_Wandell]

Bump - anyone have an update on these? I'm considering getting a pair for my 7G tank and it would nice to hear how it went for you all!

I will go ahead and cop to the fact that I lost every one of mine. I made the dumb mistake of placing all of them in with my Apogon parvulus cardinals, which ate them. I figured the size difference was close enough. Sucks because they were all chubby, and apparently happy when I added them.

I still think they'd be okay in a very carefully planned tank if you have access to live foods. I think they will not do well in the majority of tanks. Keeping them in a refugium connected to a larger reef tank may be a good way to keep up with the feeding.

[aquadonkey]

I'm sorry to hear you lost yours :(
I'm starting to think this might not be the fish for me - I don't know if I can realistically keep up with several feedings a day of live food..... so cute though!