Chinese zebra goby
Ptereleotris zebra
Also known as: Zebra barred dartfish, Zebra bar dartfish, Zebra dartfish, Zebra dart-goby, Zebra hovergoby, Shotsilk goby
Ptereleotris zebra is one of those slick, torpedo-shaped dartfish that likes to hover in the water column, then instantly zip back into a bolt-hole when it gets spooked. In the wild it hangs out on exposed seaward reefs in groups, often in current, and in a tank the big thing is giving it open swim room plus tight cover because it is absolutely a jumper.
The Chinese zebra goby features bold vertical black and white stripes, a streamlined body, and a long dorsal fin, enhancing its reef camouflage.
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Quick Facts
Size
12 cm SL
Temperament
Peaceful
Difficulty
Intermediate
Min Tank Size
20 gallons
Lifespan
3-5 years
Origin
Indo-Pacific
Diet
Carnivore - meaty frozen foods (mysis, brine), finely chopped seafood, small sinking pellets
Care Notes
- Give them a long tank with open swimming room and a couple rubble piles or a small cave - they like to hover and then dive for cover when spooked.
- Put a tight lid or mesh screen on the tank. These things can launch themselves out when startled, especially right after you add them.
- Keep salinity steady around 1.024-1.026 and aim for 76-79F; they sulk and stop eating if the tank swings a lot day to day.
- Feed small meaty stuff 1-2 times a day: mysis, brine enriched, finely chopped shrimp, and good frozen blends. If it only picks at food, try live copepods or live brine for a few days to get it locked in.
- They are usually chill with other peaceful fish, but skip bully wrasses, dottybacks, and big hawkfish that will harass them or steal every bite before they get any.
- Acclimate slowly and keep lights low the first day - they can come in stressed, and a calm first 24 hours makes a huge difference on whether they eat.
- Watch for weight loss and torn fins from getting chased; a skinny goby that hangs in a corner usually needs more frequent small feedings and less competition at mealtime.
Compatibility
Good Tankmates
- Other peaceful dartfish/firefish (Nemateleotris spp.) - they cruise the water column the same way and usually just ignore each other if you have plenty of bolt-holes and a lid
- Small, chill wrasses like a possum wrasse or pink-streaked wrasse - active but not mean, and they will not camp the goby out of its favorite cave
- Peaceful clownfish (especially ocellaris/percula) - fine in most tanks as long as the clowns are not the tank bosses and the goby can keep its personal space
- Blennies that mind their business (tailspot, starry, lawnmower) - different niche, and they are not typically interested in chasing a zebra goby around
- Small reef-safe basslets like a chalk bass - adds movement without being a bully, and the goby is usually too quick/alert to get hassled
- Peaceful sand-sifters like a watchman goby - they mostly stick to the bottom while the zebra goby hovers, so they do not compete much
Avoid
- Big or pushy dottybacks (like bicolor/royal dottyback types) - they love caves and will chase a timid fish nonstop, especially in smaller rock piles
- Aggressive damsels (domino, three-stripe, etc.) - classic fin-nippers and territory cops, and zebra gobies are peaceful and get stressed fast
- Hawkfish (flame/longnose) - not always evil, but they are opportunistic and can harass or snack on smaller, slender fish that hover in the open
- Predatory stuff that sees it as a snack (lionfish, groupers, bigger eels) - if it can fit that goby in its mouth, it eventually will
Where they come from
Chinese zebra gobies (Ptereleotris zebra) are little dartfish-goby types from Indo-Pacific reef zones. You usually see them hovering just off the bottom near rubble, sand, and ledges where they can zip back into a crack the second something spooks them.
That "hover and bolt" lifestyle explains most of their aquarium quirks: they want calm water to hang in, tight places to retreat to, and a tank that is locked down like Fort Knox.
Setting up their tank
Give them a tank where they can pick a home base and feel safe. Mine always chose a little cave under live rock with sand in front of it, and they spent the day hovering a few inches above that spot.
- Tank size: 20 gallons minimum for one, 30+ is nicer if you want a pair or a small peaceful community
- Aquascape: rockwork with caves and shaded overhangs plus open water in front for hovering
- Substrate: sand or fine crushed coral; they are not big diggers like watchman gobies, but they like the look and feel of a sandy zone near cover
- Flow: moderate overall, but create a calmer pocket where they like to sit (they do not enjoy being blasted all day)
- Lighting: anything reef-friendly works; they are more confident with some shaded areas
These fish jump. Not "might jump" - they jump. Use a tight lid or mesh top, and block gaps around cords and overflows. Most losses I hear about with Ptereleotris are carpet surfing.
They are a little stressy in brand-new tanks, so I would not drop one into a system that is still cycling or swinging around. Stable salinity matters a lot with these slim, active fish.
If your fish hides nonstop the first week, dim the lights for a couple days and feed small amounts more often. Once they learn the "food schedule" they get braver fast.
What to feed them
Think small meaty foods in the water column. They are planktivores, and most individuals do best on lots of tiny bites rather than one huge feeding.
- Frozen: mysis (smaller pieces), brine shrimp (better enriched), finely chopped krill, calanus/cyclops
- Prepared: small sinking pellets or micro pellets (once they recognize them as food), quality flakes in a pinch
- Live (great for new or picky fish): live brine, copepods
In my tanks, they were slow, polite eaters. If you keep them with fast pigs (wrasses, big clowns, hungry anthias), the zebra goby can get outcompeted unless you target feed.
Use a turkey baster or pipette to puff food right into their "hover zone" near their bolt-hole. You will see them pick pieces out of the cloud without having to fight the whole tank.
How they behave and who they get along with
They are peaceful, a bit shy, and spend most of their time hovering and watching. The fun part is seeing them learn the room - after a couple weeks mine would be out front as soon as I walked up.
- Good tankmates: other peaceful gobies, small blennies, firefish, cardinalfish, chromis, mellow clowns, cleaner shrimp
- Use caution: very active wrasses, dottybacks, hawkfish, larger clowns, anything that likes to bully or rush food
- Avoid: aggressive damsels, triggers, large predatory fish, anything that sees a slender fish as a snack
Keeping more than one can work, but you want space and lots of retreat spots. Two that do not get along will turn the loser into a permanent hider. If you try a pair, add them together and watch closely the first few days.
They spook easily. Sudden hands in the tank, loud door slams, or chasing with a net can trigger panic jumps. I do any maintenance slowly and keep the lid on even during water changes.
Breeding tips
Breeding Ptereleotris in home tanks is not super common, mostly because the larvae are tiny and drift in the plankton. Spawning behavior can still happen if you keep a compatible pair and they feel secure.
- Best shot is a bonded pair with a dedicated cave/crevice they claim
- Feed heavy with small meaty foods and keep the tank calm and stable
- If you see them guarding a spot in the rockwork, do not rearrange anything
If you ever want to attempt rearing, you are in copepod/rotifer culture territory, and you will need a larval setup. Fun project, just not a casual weekend try.
Common problems to watch for
- Jumping: the number one killer, solved with a tight lid and covered gaps
- Hiding and not eating: usually stress, too much aggression, or too much flow in their chosen area
- Getting outcompeted at feeding time: they are not aggressive eaters, so target feeding helps a lot
- Skin/parasite issues (marine ich, velvet): they are not unusually fragile, but they do not handle heavy parasite loads well
- Shipping stress and rapid breathing: give them quiet, oxygenated water and do not blast them with light on day one
If one is breathing hard and hanging in a high-flow corner, I treat that like a red flag: check temperature, salinity swing, ammonia, and surface agitation right away.
Overall, if you give them a secure bolt-hole, keep the tank peaceful, and feed small foods consistently, they settle in and become one of those low-drama fish you barely have to worry about.
Similar Species
Other marine peaceful species you might be interested in.
Banggai Cardinalfish
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Banggai cardinals just sort of hover like little underwater satellites, and the bold black bars with those long, polka-dotted fins look unreal under reef lighting. They're super chill most of the time, but once a pair forms you'll see real "fish drama," and the male will even mouthbrood the babies like a champ.
Blueband goby
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This is that classic gold/yellow-headed sand-sifting goby with the little blue cheek stripe-always busy, always rearranging your sandbed. In a reef tank it'll spend the day taking mouthfuls of sand, filtering out tiny critters/foods, then "snowing" clean sand back out, and it'll usually claim a burrow area (often as a pair in the wild). It's super cool behavior-wise, but you really do need a mature tank with a proper sandbed and a lid because they can jump.
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Exquisite wrasse
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This is one of those fairy wrasses that looks like it was painted with highlighters - males can shift through greens, reds, blues, and purples depending on mood and whether they are showing off. In a reef tank its usually out and cruising the water column, grabbing tiny meaty foods, and doing little display flare-ups at its own reflection or other wrasses. Biggest real-world gotcha is they are jumpers, so a tight lid or mesh top is basically mandatory.
Firefish (Fire Goby / Fire Dartfish)
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This is that little "hover-and-dart" reef fish with the yellow face and the white-to-red fade that looks like it was airbrushed on. It'll pick a bolt-hole in the rockwork, hang in the water column facing the current, and do that cute little flag-flick with the tall first dorsal fin when it's feeling bold.
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