Firefish Goby Agression Question

[josh515025]

Hey couple of questions guys about firefish,,,

1. are they hermaphroditic?
2. Do they get along with other goby species (neon gobies?)

I have a pair in my 20 gallon that was living together in the same cave and then randomly a couple days ago one had a nipped fin and was hiding on the other side of the tank. Whenever the big one sees him he’ll chase him back to his hole.
So I guess I’ll have to throw the big one into my 75, only issue is I already have a pair of neon gobies there. Will he bother them since he is bigger or ignore?

 

[nereefpat]

1. I don't think so. Conventional wisdom here is that you want to get a m/f pair or keep them singly. Maybe yours just matured.
2. They are in a different family than most gobies, the dartfish. They arguably shouldn't be called gobies. Shouldn't be a problem to mix.

 

[vlangel]

Hey couple of questions guys about firefish,,,

1. are they hermaphroditic?
2. Do they get along with other goby species (neon gobies?)

I have a pair in my 20 gallon that was living together in the same cave and then randomly a couple days ago one had a nipped fin and was hiding on the other side of the tank. Whenever the big one sees him he’ll chase him back to his hole.
So I guess I’ll have to throw the big one into my 75, only issue is I already have a pair of neon gobies there. Will he bother them since he is bigger or ignore?

I would not expect the firefish goby to bother the neon gobies,especially since they are established in the 75 gallon. Firefish are not true gobies either, they are in the dart fish family. I have 2 green citrin gobies in with my firefish and it is fine.

 

[josh515025]

Cool, just added him looks happy swimming around, they don’t seem to pay attention to each other. only fish that occasionally chases him is my black cap Basslet.

 

[ThRoewer]

Hey couple of questions guys about firefish,,,

1. are they hermaphroditic?
2. Do they get along with other goby species (neon gobies?)

I have a pair in my 20 gallon that was living together in the same cave and then randomly a couple days ago one had a nipped fin and was hiding on the other side of the tank. Whenever the big one sees him he’ll chase him back to his hole.
So I guess I’ll have to throw the big one into my 75, only issue is I already have a pair of neon gobies there. Will he bother them since he is bigger or ignore?

1. No. They are gonochoric, i.e. don't change sex once matured. Whether they can change sex before maturation is unknown and of little use since all Firefish you see in stores are well matured.

2. That depends. They can be aggressive to certain species but more likely are the ones that get beaten up by incompatible tank mates. The ones they certainly not get along with are Black Barred Convict/Circus Gobies (Priolepis nocturna), especially if the latter ones are a spawning pair. Mine badly bet up a Purple Firefish.

Dartfish belong to the Gobiidae but are not true gobies.

On how to sex and pair them, see my thread here:

Sexing and Pairing Dart & Firefish

My local store got a shipment of African Purple/Exquisite Firefish (Nemateleotris exquisita) in and I decided to give pairing these guys a shot. I was able to pick a male and a female based on their genital papilla and It seems to have worked as they paired up almost instantly: After this...

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