Fijian zebra dwarfgoby
Eviota pseudozebrina
The Fijian zebra dwarfgoby exhibits striking blue and yellow stripes on its body, with a slender shape and large eyes typical of its genus.
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About the Fijian zebra dwarfgoby
This is a true micro-reef goby from Fiji that hangs tight to rockwork and algae-covered spots in super shallow water. It is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it fish, but once you start watching, you will see it perching, hopping, and picking at tiny foods all day. The big catch is keeping it well-fed and not letting bigger tankmates intimidate it or outcompete it at mealtime.
Also known as
Quick Facts
Size
1.8 cm SL
Temperament
Peaceful
Difficulty
Intermediate
Min Tank Size
10 gallons
Lifespan
1-3 years
Origin
Oceania (Fiji)
Diet
Micro-carnivore - copepods and other tiny live foods, plus frozen cyclops/finely chopped meaty foods (small frequent feedings)
Water Parameters
22.2-25.6°C
8.1-8.4
8-12 dGH
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This species needs 22.2-25.6°C in a 10 gallon tank. Use our heater calculator to find the right wattage.
Calculate heater sizeCare Notes
- Give it a small reef-style setup with lots of rubble, tiny caves, and branching rock or coral to perch on - they spend their whole day hopping and sitting, not cruising open water.
- Keep salinity steady around 1.025-1.026 and temp around 76-79F; these little gobies get cranky fast when swingy salinity or heat hits them.
- Feed small foods often: live or frozen baby brine, copepods, cyclops, and finely chopped mysis; 2-3 tiny meals beats one big dump because their stomach is basically a thimble.
- If your tank is too 'clean' and pod-poor, they slowly fade out even if you see them pecking - seed pods and let some microfauna zones exist in the rockwork.
- Tankmates: think peaceful nano reef fish (clown gobies, small blennies, firefish) and chill inverts; skip anything that can swallow or outcompete them like dottybacks, hawkfish, big wrasses, or chunky clownfish.
- Use a lid or mesh top - they can pop up and out when spooked, especially during lights-out or sudden room movement.
- Breeding is doable in a calm tank: pairs will use a tiny cave or shell and the male guards eggs; the hard part is raising larvae since they need very small live foods (rotifers/copepod nauplii) right away.
Compatibility
Good Tankmates
- Other tiny, mellow gobies and perching fish - think neon gobies (Elacatinus), clown gobies (Gobiodon), trimma gobies. They all do the same chill hang-in-the-rockwork thing and usually ignore each other if the tank has lots of little bolt-holes.
- Small, peaceful wrasses that are known to be polite with microfish - like possum wrasses (Wetmorella) or pink-streaked wrasse (Pseudocheilinops). They cruise around and generally do not bother a dwarfgoby.
- Firefish (Nemateleotris) and other shy dartfish. Same vibe - peaceful, hover-y, not into picking fights. Just give everyone a few caves so they can claim a spot.
- Tiny, calm basslets like a chalk bass (Serranus tortugarum) in a decent-sized tank. In my experience they act tough but mostly just posture, and they are not usually hunting down microgobies if everyone is well fed.
- Peaceful small clowns (like ocellaris/percula) in a tank where the clowns are not huge and established. Most of the time they ignore a dwarfgoby hanging in the rocks.
- Non-fish tankmates that help the vibe - cleaner shrimp, small hermits, snails, and copepods. These little dwarfgobies are pod pickers, so a pod-friendly setup is a big win.
Avoid
- Anything predatory or mouthy enough to treat a 1-inch goby like a snack - hawkfish, lionfish, larger dottybacks, big basslets. If it can fit it in its mouth, assume it will eventually.
- Hyper territorial rock-hogs - especially dottybacks (Pseudochromis) and some damsels. They love the same caves and will chase a tiny Eviota nonstop until it stops coming out.
- Nippy, high-energy fish that constantly investigate everything - some larger wrasses, aggressive clowns, and big damsels. The dwarfgoby is peaceful and slow, and it just gets stressed into hiding and missing meals.
Where they come from
The Fijian zebra dwarfgoby (Eviota pseudozebrina) is one of those tiny reef gobies that lives tight to the rocks and coral in Fiji and nearby islands. Think shallow reef slopes, rubble zones, and little crevices where a fish the size of your fingernail can duck out of sight in a heartbeat.
They are not open-water swimmers. In the wild they do the whole "hop, perch, vanish" routine all day, picking at micro-food drifting by.
Setting up their tank
These guys do best in a mature, peaceful nano or reef tank where the rockwork has lots of little caves and ledges. You are basically building a tiny goby apartment complex.
- Tank size: 10-20 gallons works well for a single fish or a pair, bigger is always easier for stability
- Rockwork: plenty of small holes, overhangs, and rubble pockets so they can perch and retreat
- Flow: moderate overall, but give them some calmer zones behind rock where food can settle and they can hunt
- Lighting: whatever your reef runs - they do not care as long as they have shade spots
- Cover: a lid or mesh is smart; dwarfgobies can and do hop when spooked
If you add one and it "disappears" for a day or two, do not panic. Mine often picked one favorite crack in the rock and only showed their face at feeding time until they felt safe.
Avoid brand-new tanks. They lean on the constant background of microfauna and stable water. A tank that has been running a few months is way less stressful for them.
What to feed them
Feeding is the make-or-break part with Eviota. They have tiny mouths, they burn through energy fast, and they are not bold at the dinner table. If you keep wrasses, dottybacks, or other speedy eaters, the dwarfgoby often ends up watching the buffet instead of eating.
- Best starters: live baby brine shrimp, copepods (Tigriopus, Tisbe), live adult brine as a transition food
- Frozen foods they usually take: Cyclops, calanus (small pieces), finely chopped mysis, roe/masago, small frozen copepod blends
- Prepared foods: some learn tiny pellets, but I would not count on it early on
I have the best luck feeding small amounts 2-3 times a day instead of one big dump. Target feeding helps a lot - gently squirt food upstream of their favorite perch with a pipette so it drifts right past their face.
Watch the fish, not the tank. You want to see it actually snap at food and swallow. If it is hovering but never striking, the food is either too big, moving too fast in the flow, or getting stolen.
How they behave and who they get along with
Personality-wise, they are classic perch gobies: curious, a little shy, and always posted up on a rock like they pay rent there. They do not bulldoze corals, they do not dig, and they pretty much mind their own business.
- Good tankmates: small clownfish (not overly pushy), firefish, small cardinals, peaceful blennies, tiny shrimp and snails
- Use caution with: other tiny perch gobies (can bicker if the tank is tight), basslets if they are food-competitive
- Avoid: dottybacks, hawkfish, large wrasses, aggressive damsels, bigger shrimp that like to grab fish (some large coral bandeds), anything that treats nano fish as snacks
With multiple Eviota, space and sight breaks matter. If you want to try a pair, give them a few separate bolt-holes so one fish is not constantly getting nudged off its perch.
They are small enough that "peaceful" fish can still be a problem just by outcompeting them at feeding time. The dwarfgoby might never get a bite even if nobody is actively bullying it.
Breeding tips
Breeding is possible, but raising the babies is the hard part. Like a lot of Eviota, they can spawn in tiny caves or under rock ledges. The male usually guards the eggs. In a reef tank, the larvae almost always get eaten or pulled into filtration before you ever notice.
- If you want a shot: keep a bonded pair in a quieter tank with lots of tiny caves
- Feed heavy with small meaty foods so the pair stays in spawning condition
- Use a sponge prefilter and gentle filtration so larvae are less likely to get shredded
- Expect pelagic larvae that need live plankton foods (rotifers, copepod nauplii) and a separate rearing setup
Even if you never raise fry, spawning behavior is fun to watch. The pair will get extra cave-focused, and the male will do short little guard patrols around the entrance.
Common problems to watch for
Most issues with this fish come down to food, stress, and shipping. They are tiny, so they do not have much "buffer" if something is off for a week.
- Slow starvation: the fish looks normal at first, then gets pinched behind the head or along the belly and becomes less active
- Getting bullied off food: no torn fins, no chasing, just never eating because the fast fish vacuum everything
- Jumping: especially right after introduction or after a scare
- Ich/velvet sensitivity: small fish can crash fast; treat early and do not wait for "one more day"
- Injury from strong intakes/overflows: they perch and explore tight spots, so cover intakes with sponge/mesh
If you suspect velvet (rapid breathing, dusting, hiding, refusing food), move fast. With tiny gobies, delays are usually what kills them, not the treatment.
My best advice is to set up the tank so feeding them is easy: calm perches, lots of cover, and a routine where you can deliver small foods right to their zone. Do that, and they are one of the coolest little "micro reef" fish you can keep.
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