Randall's goby looks pregnant. Worth a try?

[Humble_Reefer]

My friend has raised some clowns successfully and seems to have the basics down. He's offered to help if I try to raise the fry... Neither of us know where to start with gobies, though. I can't keep them out of the fish trap whenever I put them in, so moving them to another tank wouldnt be too hard.

Advice? Is it worth trying?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Nobody’s succeeded with Amblyeleotris just yet to my knowledge. But you should definitely try!

 

[Humble_Reefer]

Nobody’s succeeded with Amblyeleotris just yet to my knowledge. But you should definitely try!

Any threads you'd recommend of success with similar species?

 

[TriggerFinger]

@ThRoewer may have some advice or insight for you. It would be great if you documented your work in a thread on here. I hope you can find some info, good luck!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Any threads you'd recommend of success with similar species?

Hmmm....Cryptocentrus and Stonogobiops are probably going to be your best bet for looking at what's been bred since they're all shrimp gobies. Most of the Stonogobiops work was with S. yasha, although Herbert Nigl bred S. nematodes last year I think. Cryptocentrus has been bred for a while in the hobby.

 

[jlanger]

I have had two different pairs of A. randalli spawn in my reef tanks; possibly a pair of A. wheeleri as well.

They will spawn inside of the burrow where the eggs will form a large mass at the top of the burrow. The gobies and pistol shrimp will likely close the main entrances to the burrow and use one more discrete. You may not even see the gobies for a few days.
Since this happened in my reef aquariums, I never tried to capture the egg mass to try and have a hatching event.

Sadly, both of the females eventually died from getting egg bound. Their bellies would get huge and then I would find them dead soon after. I asked if this was due to something missing in their diet or what, but no one had any good answers.

You can see the white egg mass inside the den on the right. They closed this entrance up soon afterwards; privacy violated.

The parents.

 

[Humble_Reefer]

I have had two different pairs of A. randalli spawn in my reef tanks; possibly a pair of A. wheeleri as well.

They will spawn inside of the burrow where the eggs will form a large mass at the top of the burrow. The gobies and pistol shrimp will likely close the main entrances to the burrow and use one more discrete. You may not even see the gobies for a few days.
Since this happened in my reef aquariums, I never tried to capture the egg mass to try and have a hatching event.

Sadly, both of the females eventually died from getting egg bound. Their bellies would get huge and then I would find them dead soon after. I asked if this was due to something missing in their diet or what, but no one had any good answers.

You can see the white egg mass inside the den on the right. They closed this entrance up soon afterwards; privacy violated.

The parents.

Very cool. Huge size difference with yours. I actually had 3 in my tank and there was a bit of a love triangle until recently, when the mated pair started hunting the other around the tank. Probably related to the upcoming clutch. I'll have to do some reading on the similar species mentioned above and see if it's feasible for me to try.

 

[Humble_Reefer]

I have had two different pairs of A. randalli spawn in my reef tanks; possibly a pair of A. wheeleri as well.

They will spawn inside of the burrow where the eggs will form a large mass at the top of the burrow. The gobies and pistol shrimp will likely close the main entrances to the burrow and use one more discrete. You may not even see the gobies for a few days.
Since this happened in my reef aquariums, I never tried to capture the egg mass to try and have a hatching event.

Sadly, both of the females eventually died from getting egg bound. Their bellies would get huge and then I would find them dead soon after. I asked if this was due to something missing in their diet or what, but no one had any good answers.

You can see the white egg mass inside the den on the right. They closed this entrance up soon afterwards; privacy violated.

The parents.

On a somewhat related note, what do you feed your guys? They look so much healthier compared to mine

 

[jlanger]

On a somewhat related note, what do you feed your guys? They look so much healthier compared to mine

Frozen food blends and other frozen foods; PE Mysis, bloodworms, etc.

 

[ThRoewer]

They should not be impossible to raise but you will need copepod cultures.
And if you are serious about breeding them you may have to transfer them to a dedicated tank where you can easily harvest the eggs.
The one I want to try is S. dracula - just got a pair of them.