compatibility question for neon goby's / fridmani

[abirozy]

Hello

My name is Adam and I am relatively new to setting up an aquarium and have a stocking question:

I have an orchid dotty back / fridmani and am supposed to have 2 neon goby's (one yellow and one blue)delivered in about 2 weeks from saltwater fish.com. I have heard that fridmani's can be territorial and have also heard that Neon Goby's can be aggressive towards other neons.

1) Do you think I can keep these fish together? I have a 28 gallon jbj intermediate nano with about a jbj inline uv, an aquamaxx HOB skimmer (neither turned on yet as aquarium is still cycling), 20 lbs live sand, and about 15 lbs live rock. The rock is arranged to have lots of caves, but I see the Fridmani exploring every inch and am afraid he will kill the Neon's, or the Neons will kill each other.

Thoughts? Any opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

 

[Chessmanmark]

You will have to wait and see. When I got my first neon goby I was afraid my hawkfish would eat it. When I posted a thread the consensus was that the hawkfish would eat the goby, but it didn't. The goby ended up cleaning the hawkfish. The bigger the tank the better you chances of success. With a smaller tank you take the risk of aggression because they will have more contact with each other. If they have a safe place to hide the gobies will be ok.

As far as two gobies it depends on the sex. I don't believe they morph like clownfish. When I put my second neon goby in my tank the first one didn't stop attacking it. I had to remove the second goby which was a real challenge.

You can try rearranging the aquascape when you introduce the fish. That way it is new to all of them and they can find a safe haven of their own.

Good luck with the fish.