Tiniest reef fish ever!

I ordered in this little Panda Goby to eat some of the Isopods that are taking over my pico and messing with my corals. This is the smallest saltwater fish I have ever seen, it is literally 1/2" long, check out the pic with my finger in it for comparison, I hpe he makes it ok.

they seem to do ok as long as the flow isnt so strong that they cant move, also they are quite shy so dont get frustrated. They are really cool fish , I was looking at them for mine , but you beat me to it.

that is a tiny fish. pretty kewl addition

That's a great looking fish, I just hope the clam doesn't get him!

Yeti wrote:That's a great looking fish, I just hope the clam doesn't get him!

Na, the Panda is in the 2.5 gallon pico tank. I'm getting over run with Isopods and they are eating on my zoa's and corals so I figure the Panda will get rid of some of them but dang some of the pods are as big as the Panda.

Donnie I've been following your build thread assiduously, well ok in awe. The Panda Goby will max out at 1.5 inches, and I'm wondering about the oxygen level in the tank. I know you changed the build from fully sealed to only sealed on the "visable" area, up front. But will the small surface area of the fuge be sufficient to aerate the tank as it grows?
I'm not being "picky" I'm more intrigued as to how you calculated the O2 level being sufficient for the Goby.

Good question Yeti, The tank does have a full glass cover over the entire tank not just the main display. The oxygen is produced by the Chaeto in the refuge area in the back and from the corals themselves, as we all know plants produce oxygen as a bi product just like our oxygen comes from trees and plants and even coral in the ocean. I didn't calculate anything but just figured from the exploding pod population that there was more than enough oxygen present to sustain the little Goby with no problem. I have watched him in the tank and no labord breathing that I can see, he looks pretty comfortable even though he is hiding which was to be expected knowing how shy these fish are at first. I don't plan on leaving him in the tank permantly, he is just a means of ridding the tank of some of the pods in there that I see pestering my corals and keeping them from opening fully. If he grows to large for the pico I will move him to my 28g but I don't think he will outgrow the pico as most fish will only grow as big as space allows for them comfortably.

Its more of an experiment than anything else just like the whole concept of a 2.5 gallon reef tank, everything involved is a gamble. Its highly possible I could loose the little fella in the coming days but thats a risk I'm willing to take. I figure he has a better chance with me and my little pico than he would have had in probably 95% of the other homes he would have gone to. We have all lost fish and corals and it will always be that way but ya gotta admit its been interesting watching this little pico tank and seeing just what it will do. I will keep ya'll posted on the health of the little Panda Goby.

Thanks Donnie, I didn't know corals produced oxygen, I was presuming that they were oxygen users.
As for having found a good home. I'd agree totally.

Yeti wrote:Thanks Donnie, I didn't know corals produced oxygen, I was presuming that they were oxygen users.
As for having found a good home. I'd agree totally.

Yeti
Maybe I didn't state that just right.
Not so much the corals themselves producing oxygen as the zooanthelia algae inside them. zooanthelia are a form of plant and feed off the corals waste and during photosynthesis create more oxygen than the corals need so some is released back to the water. Any and all algae exposed to light will produce oxygen and we all know algae of some form or another is always abundant in the reef tank. I copied the paragraph below from Reefkeeping Magazine that says a little about it. Another reason I figured there was plenty of oxygen was the fact that the PH always stayed 8.1-8.2 this won't happen if a tank s low in oxygen, as lack of oxygen leads to carbon dioxide build up which lowers PH dramatically.

The photosynthetic demands of the zooxanthellae therefore result in the cycling of the coral's waste products into new organic matter. During the daylight hours the symbiotic algae produce more oxygen than the coral polyp can utilize for its respiration, and some of the carbon dioxide produced by the respiratory process is refixed by the algae into new organic matter. In order to estimate the efficiency of the internal carbon eyeling in corals one of us (Thomas J. Goreau) determined the abundance in the coral tissue and skeleton of carbon 13, a rare but nonradioactive natural isotope, with respect to the abundance of the common natural isotope carbon 12.

I know nothing about keeping a SW tank, and think I need to read up on this so that I understand the actual cycling in the tank etc as it's very different to that in FW.

Yeti wrote:I know nothing about keeping a SW tank, and think I need to read up on this so that I understand the actual cycling in the tank etc as it's very different to that in FW.

Yeti
I think the biggest difference is in filtration, fresh uses more mechanical means to filter the water where as the type marine tank I run uses more natural ways. In fresh we are always trying to keep algae away but in the reef tank we welcome most algae and only discourage a few. Algae is a great filter if used right. You are correct though the difference between salt and fresh is like daylight and dark. I will have to say though that salt to me is easier than African Cichlids in fresh, I have kept those too. Start a reef out right and it will pretty much take care of itself.

I actually agree that it's easier than freshwater when done correctly. However... done correctly means exactly what you're saying Yeti... take time and read. Gain knowledge and experience from others first! :-)

Well, after I added the Damsel to the pico, he has really cut the isopod poulation so on my water change the other day I took out a couple of rocks and caught the little Panda Goby and put him in my 28g thinking he was probably not going to have enough to eat in the pico now. He looked fine when I put him in the 28 but just like the pico he headed straight to the rocks and its been several days now and I have not seen hide nore scale of him. I'm sure he has found him a nice spot in all those rocks, I hope to see him again soon. I hope I don't have take rocks out of the pico again, I snapped off one of my favorite corals while moving the rocks to get the Goby. It is the Milli in the front center but I super glued it back and it looks fine, just gotta wait for the new stuff to grow over again.

He'll probably show up perched in one of your sps colonies soon.

Deffinately a benefit to having a Pico You'd spend hours trying to find him in a large system... maybe weeks! Was he not able to work the pod population down... hence the Damsel?

J.Davis wrote:Deffinately a benefit to having a Pico You'd spend hours trying to find him in a large system... maybe weeks! Was he not able to work the pod population down... hence the Damsel?

I never saw him actually eat a pod, he stayed hidden most of the time, I think the current in the pico with two pumps running was just to much for him thats why I took him out. You are right about catching him, I took all but one rock out of the pico to get him. The Damsel on the other hand has made short work of the pods and I'm feeding him now. Unlike the Goby he seems to like the current in the tank and has a personality all his own. When I see he is uncomfortable in the pico I will remove him, he will be easier to catch than the Goby as he will come to food. Normally when I change water in the pico there is only maybe 1" left in the tank. not many places left to go, I was changing 100% before I added fish. I still have some pods in there to big for the Damsel, I don't know how long pods live but these guys are 3/8" long. My corals are looking much better without the pods pestering them. I know I have seen pods eating healthy Zoa's. You get to see this stuff up close in a pico, really neat.