Striped goby

Where they come from

Striped gobies (Gobius vittatus) are little Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic rock-and-rubble gobies. You usually find them hugging the bottom around algae, stones, shell bits, and shallow reefy ledges. That background matters because they are built for picking tiny food off the sand and hiding fast, not cruising open water.

Setting up their tank

Think of your tank like a messy patch of shoreline: sand, rubble, little caves, and places to perch. If you set them up in a clean, open frag-tank style layout, they tend to vanish, lose weight, or both.

• Tank size: I would not do less than 20 gallons for one, and bigger is easier if you want tankmates.
• Substrate: fine sand is your friend. They spend a lot of time on it and will hunt along it.
• Rockwork: stable piles with tight crevices and little shaded overhangs. They like a bolt-hole they can reverse into.
• Flow: moderate with calmer pockets near the bottom so food can settle where they hunt.
• Lighting: they do not care, but your algae and pods do. Just give them shaded areas.

Stability matters more than chasing fancy numbers. Keep salinity steady (they hate swings), keep nitrates reasonable, and do not add one to a brand-new tank. They do best in a mature setup where pods and other tiny critters are already crawling around.

What to feed them

Feeding is the make-or-break with Gobius vittatus. Many arrive only recognizing live foods, and they are not bold at mealtime. If you have pushy fish in the tank, the goby can slowly starve while looking "fine" for weeks.

• Best starters: live or enriched baby brine shrimp, live copepods, live blackworms (if you can source safely), live mysis if available.
• Once settled: frozen mysis (small), chopped krill/mysis bits, calanus, finely chopped seafood, quality micro-pellets if you can get them taking it.
• Natural grazing: pods and tiny worms from the rock and sand help fill gaps between feedings.

Small portions, more often, beats one big dump. If you can do 2-3 small feedings a day at first, you will get them putting on weight. Watch the belly line: a slightly rounded belly after feeding is what you want. A pinched-in look is a red flag.

How they behave and who they get along with

Striped gobies are bottom-huggers and perchers. They can be shy, but once they settle, they get this cool routine: perch, dart, pick at sand, back into a crack, repeat. They are not usually nasty, but they will defend a little patch of bottom from other small gobies or similar-looking bottom fish.

• Good tankmates: calm small fish (firefish, small cardinals, gentle blennies), peaceful wrasses that do not harass the bottom, and non-aggressive inverts.
• Be cautious with: other gobies (especially similar size/shape), hawkfish, dottybacks, and any "food competitive" fish that mob frozen food.
• Avoid: big predators and bullies, and anything that will sit on the bottom and claim the same real estate.

Breeding tips

They can spawn in aquariums, but raising the babies is the hard part. Adults usually pick a cave or a tight crevice, lay eggs on the ceiling or wall, and the male tends the clutch. If you ever see one fanning in a cave and acting extra possessive, that is a good sign.

• Provide: several small caves (snail shells, little rock tunnels, tight overhangs) so they can choose a nest site.
• Conditioning: lots of small meaty foods and stable water. Spawning often follows a good feeding stretch.
• Fry reality: expect tiny planktonic larvae that need rotifers and then copepod nauplii, plus a dedicated rearing setup if you want a real shot.

Common problems to watch for

• Slow starvation: the fish looks normal but gets thinner over time, especially with fast tankmates. Fix with target feeding and more frequent small meals.
• Refusing prepared foods: start with live foods and wean onto frozen by mixing and reducing live over a couple weeks.
• Jumping: usually right after introduction or during bullying. Use a lid and reduce stress.
• Shipping stress and parasites: watch for heavy breathing, flashing, or excess mucus. Quarantine helps a lot with this species.
• Sand bed issues: dirty, compacted sand and low oxygen zones can lead to a nasty tank in general, and bottom fish feel it first. Keep flow and do light surface cleaning rather than deep sand-stirring.