neon goby life span

[slant77]

What is the life span of a neon goby?

[tims]

i have not seen any real info on the life span at all. they are carinvores so they do need a meaty food usually a few times a day. i htnk htat is one of the problems with keeping them alive in our reefs

[racerw]

I have had 2 pair for about a year. They both live in 2 seperate reef tanks, now that I have had them I do not think I would own a tank w/out them.
Here is a picture of them doing their job

[slant77]

I liked mine he did try to clean fish not that any of them would let him. I noticed yestrday I hadnt seen him in few days. A couple days ago I took out a bunch of rock had it out the water for awhile. So I wounder if he was in one of the rocks are if he died for some other reason.

[tellycoleman]

my LFS sell them for 25 dollars
I can spend that much on a fish that small
I just cant
If they were as cheap as a chromis maybe

[ChilisREasy]

a neon goby lives at most 4-5 years..mine lived almost 5 years..1 year at the LFS & 4 years in my tank. & all the science sites i can find says around 3-5 years.

[aquawolf]

That is a cool picture.

[slant77]

Ok this is not good. As I was looking at my tank it just clicked that my blue flasher was gone and now to think about I havent seen him in a few days. So 2 months ago my neon goby and now my blue flasher someone has to be eating them. I have stayed up late on more than one occasion and never see anything. I have taken out almost every rock but of course I couldnt leave out water to long to due to corals. so who do you think is doing this and how do I go about finding him.

[Phishy]

Neon gobies are great, better cleaners then shrimp IMO. I will have them in every tank.

As for missing fish it does't take long for them to get picked over. My royal gramma (2in) died while I was at work around 7pm we was seen on the sandbed by my wife, when I got home at 11pm I went ot bed and didn't look to fish him out til 9am, the next mornig, the only thing left was his skull. And I only had 12 blue leg hermits, 12 astrea snails and 18 nassarius in a 90 (I am just stocking it up)

[slant77]

I agree about the cleaners doing there work quick. My issue is why perfectly fine fish go missing.

[Phishy]

Unfortunately you really don't know how old it was when caught and sold to you (unless you raised it from egg/fry), it could have already been old to begin with.

When it died it got scarfed up quickly, overnight is all it would have took.

I really liked mine, they cleaned my hand when I was in the tank.

[DarthOcellaris]

Are the posts here implying that a Neon Goby eats dead fish? Am I reading this right?

[slant77]

No my point was I think I have healthy fish that are being taken in their sleep. Then it was brought up how fast a dead fish can disapear. Cleaners meaning snails, crabs, worms and so forth can do quick work of a dead fish.

[Caball362]

What is there Max size ? I have one. When i get a nother should i get a larger or smaller one.
(i have a damsle warning )
I can add him in the dark and that should help prevebt him from being a realy expance feeder .

[ChilisREasy]

neon gobys get about 1 inch..max size..Slant..did you say your goby got killed..what fish do you have ? any anenomes..even aiptasia can eat them