New to the Hobby

[rhuaytalla]

Im new to wamas and also to the hobby. I started my salt water aquarium about a ago and now i got some fishes in it. Three damsels, clown fish and a fish I'm not quiet sure what it is (i adopted him from petco bc someone didn't want it anymore) can someone tell me what type of fish it is? and also one of my smallest damsel has been bullied by the other kind of bigger size demisels i have added quiet a few rocks so they leave him alone but they still chase him around. What can i do to stop that?

[Rob A]

Hello and welcome!

The fish in the picture is an Engineer Goby. They start out as juveniles looking like a regular shaped fish then morph into this eel-like shape as adults. They tend to dig holes and move a lot of sand around so make sure your rocks are secure!

Damsels can be pretty aggressive so I don't know what else you can do besides what you've already done (move rocks around). Perhaps others will chime in.

[rhuaytalla]

Is there certain temp that it needs? Lately hes been swimming on top of the water alot

[Rob A]

Typical reef temp should be good. I have had an engineer goby for a few years and i keep my tank at 78 to 80 degrees. I feed pellets, flakes and occasional frozen mysis and brine shrimp. He really likes the dry pellets but I don't kow for sure if he likes the other stuff. He needs a place to dig and hide, generally under rocks, to make a burrow. If he can't get under them he might not be happy. (I also feed nori sheets for my tangs but I don't think he touches that)

Edited August 4, 2015 by Rob A

[Origami]

Engineer goby. In addition to what you've been told, they can get kind of large. It's always a good idea to research a fish and it's needs before taking them. How big is your tank?