Neon blue goby- Stiphodon atropurpureus

I have a few and love them. They are very active and extremely curious.



When I first got them I put them in my community tank thinking they would be a good algae eater. While they did snack on the algae, it was obvious they were not getting sufficient nutrition. They were slowly wasting away.

So, I moved them to my Blue Pearl shrimp tank in which I encourage algae growth. The extra algae helped keep them alive, but just barely.



While they do enjoy algae, they will not flourish on it alone. I highly suggest Repashy Soilent Green food.

Since I started feeding them this aufwuchs gel they have gotten fat, happy and show beautiful colors.

My guy (?) is doing well. Lot of feeding on algae, the stone is a favorite spot for that. I've found Hatori mini wafers to be a real treat for him. Last night I offered a a strip of Seaweed I found at PetCo that looks & smells exactly like Nori Wrap for Sushi ? :smile: I was going to just go the Asian market but that's 5 towns away here in Chicago's NW subs and time would not allow for the trip.

Every thing in the tank hit that Seaweed, The goby was 1st at the table but the Cherry barb pack (2- trios) hit it like sharks, the Amano shrimp & a few cherry shrimp managed too grab a few scraps. Eventually the smails can in for the crumbs.

I did buy some Soilent green on recommendation. Maybe I'm cooking it up wrong? Not exactly the fish/shrimp treat I had hoped it would be. I tried it pretty much straight to recipe and the 2nd batch I added fresh (live) frozen blood worms. Maybe because the tank is heavily planted they are happy with grazing???

The nice thing about having the Orandas in my Aquaponic tank is they aren't fussy about easting anything, not unlike slop to the hogs. :hihi:

QUESTION - When the LFS had these the two larger (one I have) had more of a checker board pattern. the 4 smaller ones had the blue stripe. As in the pic in the post by aposterprises. Is that a sexual or age difference.???