yellow watchman goby and banded sleeper goby compatablility

[prow]

hey everyone. well got my big tank going now stocking it. i have a couple percula clown in there now. thats it, well cleaners too, but fish wise thats it. i have a yellow watchman (Cryptocentrus cinctus) in a 20gal reef going for 4 years, i plan do plan on taking down soon, already took out the corals i want. i just bought a banded sleeper goby (Amblygobius phalaena). he is in a 30gal QT tank with a clown goby and noen goby. anyway i want to put both of these guys in the big system. however i dont want to leave the banded goby in the QT because it only has pvc for hiding dont want him to stave. i want to put him in the 20gal so he can have plenty to eat while i make sure he doesnt bring in disease to the big tank. no issues with treating in this tank if needed.
would it be cool to put the banded sleeper goby in the 20gal with the yellow watchman? the yellow has been in there for about 3 years now.
if not how would they do if i added the watchman to the big tank now then put the sleeper in the 20gal for a while before adding to the big tank, only thing here is i would have to take apart the little 20gal reef to catch the watchman.
any ideas??

[leebca]

Thanks for posting, and welcome! I'm very glad to hear you performing a quarantine on the new arrivals. Very prudent. It does make life a lot easier in the long run.

Multiple Gobies get along well when they have enough bottom area to themselves. In tanks over 50 gallons, one per 2 square feet of open space is minimum (IMHO). If the Goby is big on digging, the depth of the substrate must accommodate.

That said -- in general the Watchman and Sleeper Gobies get along. They usually don't go out 'looking for a fight' and respect each other's territory.

The above may or may not help in answering your question. You want to house them together is a small (bottom surface area) 20g, even though it is temporary. The complication is the length of time the Yellow Goby has been in that 20g tank. The Yellow Goby could consider that tank its entire domain/territory.

Since the large tank is ready, I would go ahead and put the Watchman in the large tank, and use the 20g for the new Sleeper. You might consider that catching the Goby in the 20g is 'A piece of cake' compared to trying to catch fish in a 300g.

See this thread for catching fish, if you need some ideas:
How to Catch Fish -or- Goin' Fisin'

I hope you'll stop by this Forum now and then (even if you don't have questions or problems ) and let us know how the big tank is coming along. Check out some of the sticky posts if any catch your eye!

Good luck with your new tank!

[prow]

I'm very glad to hear you performing a quarantine on the new arrivals. Very prudent. It does make life a lot easier in the long run

. so very ture. not only easier but saves lots money too. i think your right i will just put the watchman in and move the banded to the 20gal all by himself.