Yellow Clown Goby eating SPS

[Marcellina]

I have a little yellow clown goby that I absolutely love BUT he is nibbling on the few sps coral in my tank. I have a Pink Birdsnest, pink stylophora and a pocillipora that he is nibbling.

I also have a green slimer but he isnt interested in it at all and its always open.

The pocillipora might have just gotten irritated by a zoa that grew to close to it, I moved it now.

Anyway, my question is will the corals that the goby is nibbling at recover or is it slowly killing the corals?

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

your shore he is nibbling b/c mine just hang out in my sps and were he hangs out all the time just get die off in that one spot. i just love these gus so much

 

[Marcellina]

Thats what I thought at first that he was hanging out on the pink birdnest and a portion of it turned white and now its dark - by the way shoudl I trim off the dark branches?

The stylo I SAW him pucker up an nip at it! It hasnt opened in a while now and it still nips at the 'skin' and then I see a white spot. Didnt think it was possible.

I want to keep the fish bc I love it its really adorable and great personality, always visibile as small as it is and he eats alot!! Flakes was and still is his favorite even though alot of people say they dont eat flakes. I feed cyclopeez and frozen mysis and arctipos and formula 1 and 2 and add selcon and garlic to food -- I alternate the foods not all of them in a day. He eats everything I feed .

If anything I will have to rehome the corals.

 

[anthony27]

I have seen it before and yes you are correct, they do that they hid out in the sps and nibble at it. I would advise taking it out and placing it in a none sps tank

 

[anthony27]

also to add to that if you want to trim off the dead branches then go ahead but yes they do eat sps

 

[ming]

If you have SPS colonies, and your tank is growing well, a little nibble wont cause too much damage. They usually create a small spot of dead acro to lay eggs on, which will regrow if you have good tank conditions. If you have only frags... thats another story

 

[Marcellina]

Mine are frags. Let me take some pictures and post them. I really loved the sps but if its going to be one or the other I rahter keep the little fish.

 

[Marcellina]

I would advise taking it out and placing it in a none sps tank

BUT I :inlove:LOVE HIM!

 

[Euroreefer]

I had to get rid of the 2 I had....the nibbled my Millie frags to death! They eat the slime that the polyps produce when they bite them. then they bite more=more slime!:letitallo

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Here is a link with some information, they do eat sps coral along with normal aquarium food

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobiodon.htm

 

[anthony27]

lol mee i am sps driven the fish would be yanked out and in the sump he goes. but they are frags that is crazy then keep the fish and let the sps die

 

[Marcellina]

Thanks guys, I only had softies and LPS when started researching this little guy after seeing in the store. I had read that they like to nibble but some people also said they never saw theirs nibble so I was hoping to be one the fortunate ones.

He didnt bother my sps for awhile and now he found his sweettooth it seems.

 

[anthony27]

lol the candy store is open for the little goby.

 

[jason18]

I'm having the same problem that little #$@& is killing my sps lol ,Question now how do we take them out?

 

[Marcellina]

I've read that some people just suck them up whe they do a water change and they are fine. Just dont make them get caught in the pumping area (the part you squeeze if that the vacuum you have)

 

[jason18]

Good idea i'll give that a try..

Thanks.

 

[JonnyIce]

Same thing is happening to me with my linear blenny...but Elliot is so friggin cute, I guess I'll deal...it happened to two monti frags, so I guess lesson learned

 

[Bob 1000]

I have clown gobies and they eat the slime coat not the coral.. Has your coral been though any extra stress lately?? Mines have been eating the slime a lot since I started vodka dosing.. The sps are fine though.. Polyp extension is all good as well.. The real problem is water quality and quick instead of gradual changes.. I did on the other hand have a type of blenny that ate polyps..

 

[Marcellina]

I have another sps, a green slimer that is always fuzzy and he hasnt nipped that one at all ... unless he just hasnt found it yet. Maybe he just likes pink???? Pink Pocillara, Pink birdsnest, pink stylo .... hmmmm could it mean anything?

Water parameters have been good, everything else in the tank is really thriving. I have missed at most a week of calcium dosing (BIonic - I only hav to do the calcium the alkalinity it always good)

DO you think the corals will now die or get better?

 

[Bob 1000]

I'd monitor the coral and see what happens If you believe that the coral is in danger of dieing try to gbet the fish out that might mean taking the tank aprt though..