Maltzan's goby
Wheelerigobius maltzani
Maltzan's goby features a slender body with a pale background and distinctive dark spots, along with elongated pelvic fins adapted for substrate clinging.
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About the Maltzan's goby
This is a tiny West African coastal goby that lives right down on the bottom in warm, shallow inshore water. Its big appeal is the "little predator" vibe - it perches, scoots, and hugs structure like a classic goby, but its real-world habitat is marine shoreline rather than a typical freshwater community setup.
Also known as
Quick Facts
Size
4.5 cm
Temperament
Peaceful
Difficulty
Expert
Min Tank Size
10 gallons
Lifespan
2-4 years
Origin
West Africa (eastern Atlantic)
Diet
Carnivore/micro-predator - small crustaceans and other tiny meaty foods
Water Parameters
24-28°C
8-8.4
8-20 dGH
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Calculate heater sizeCare Notes
- Give Maltzan's goby a sand bed with scattered rubble and a few tight caves - they want bolt-holes, not wide-open aquascapes. If the rockwork is wobbly, they will undermine it, so put rocks on the glass and sand around them.
- Keep salinity steady around 1.025-1.026 and don't let temp swing day to night (24-26 C / 75-79 F works). They get touchy fast when pH/alk drifts, so avoid systems that are still bouncing around.
- Feed small meaty stuff they can grab off the bottom: enriched mysis, finely chopped shrimp, copepods, and quality sinking pellets once they're eating well. Target feed with a pipette after lights dim a bit, or faster fish will steal everything.
- Skip aggressive sand bullies and boisterous feeders (most dottybacks, big wrasses, hawkfish) - they get stressed and stop coming out. They do fine with calm reef fish and other small bottom dwellers as long as each one has its own hole.
- They can be rough with their own kind in small tanks, so either keep one or go bigger with lots of line-of-sight breaks. If you try a pair, add them together and watch for one getting pinned in a corner.
- Lid the tank - they can jump when spooked, especially right after introduction. Also quarantine if you can; they don't handle copper well, and a bare QT with PVC plus observation is usually safer than medicating heavy.
- Breeding is possible if you get a true pair: they tend to use a cave and the male guards the spawn. If you see them cleaning a hole and getting extra territorial, cut flow blasting the nest area and keep food coming so the female doesn't crash.
Compatibility
Good Tankmates
- Small, chill reef fish like clown gobies (Gobiodon spp.) - they mostly mind their own business and dont hassle a tiny bottom goby
- Firefish (Nemateleotris spp.) - mellow, hover in the water column, and wont compete hard for the same little caves and sand spots
- Neon gobies or other cleaner gobies (Elacatinus spp.) - similar vibe, peaceful, and in my experience they ignore each other as long as theres enough perches and cover
- Small sand-sifters and micro-hermits and snails (cleanup crew) - Maltzans goby is usually fine with inverts and appreciates a mature tank with pods and critters
- Small, non-nippy wrasses like a possum wrasse (Wetmorella spp.) - they cruise the rockwork and generally dont pick on gobies
- Peaceful cardinals like Banggai or pajama cardinals - slow, polite eaters that wont bully the goby off the bottom
Avoid
- Anything that treats tiny gobies as snacks - hawkfish (like flame hawkfish), bigger dottybacks, or larger basslets can straight up eat or relentlessly hunt them
- Mean, territorial rock-and-cave bullies - damsels (esp. domino/3-stripe types) and aggressive clownfish pairs that claim the whole bottom half of the tank
- Nippy perchers and pickers - some blennies can get possessive of the same holes and will chase a little goby nonstop
- Big sand movers that hog the floor - large Valenciennea sleeper gobies can outcompete them for food and keep the sandstorm going, which stresses small shy gobies
Where they come from
Maltzan's goby (Wheelerigobius maltzani) is one of those little marine gobies that lives its whole life tight to the bottom, tucked into rubble and rockwork. They show up from the Indo-Pacific region on shallow reefs where there are lots of holes, bits of coral skeleton, and low spots to duck into when something bigger cruises by.
That habitat tells you basically everything about how to keep them: give them structure, give them peace, and feed like you're feeding a tiny predator that would rather hop and pounce than chase.
Setting up their tank
If you're thinking "small goby, small tank," slow down. These guys can live in a smaller footprint, but they do way better in a mature, stable marine tank where microfauna exists and the rock has real life on it. I would not drop one into a fresh setup.
- Tank maturity: 6+ months old is my comfort zone for finicky gobies
- Rockwork: lots of crevices and rubble zones, not just big open arches
- Substrate: sand is your friend (fine to medium), with a few small rubble piles
- Flow: moderate, but make sure there are calm pockets along the bottom
- Lighting: whatever fits your reef, but give them shaded areas under ledges
I like to build them a couple of "choices" right away: two or three small caves (think snail shell sized entrances) plus a little rubble patch. They will pick a spot and start using it like a home base.
Cover the tank. Gobies are famous for jumping, and the small, bottom-dwelling ones are the ones you least expect to find on the floor.
Acclimation matters with this species. Do a slow drip acclimation and keep the lights low the first day. They settle faster when they are not blasted by light and activity.
What to feed them
Plan on feeding meaty, small stuff. In my experience, Maltzan's goby is not a "flakes and pellets and we're done" fish, at least not at first. The biggest hurdle is getting them eating confidently while bolder tankmates are hoovering everything up.
- Best starters: live or enriched frozen baby brine shrimp, copepods, and small mysis
- Other good options: finely chopped shrimp, calanus, roe/eggs, small krill fragments
- Prepared foods: tiny sinking pellets can work later, but do not count on it day one
Target feeding helps a lot. I use a pipette and gently squirt food near the goby's perch so it can grab it without competing. Once they learn the routine, they usually come out more during feeding time.
Watch the belly. A healthy goby has a slightly rounded belly after meals. If the belly stays pinched in, it is not getting enough, even if you see it "peck" now and then.
How they behave and who they get along with
They are bottom-oriented, a bit shy, and very much a "bolt-hole" fish. Mine spent the first week doing quick dashes between two caves, then slowly started perching in the open once it learned nothing in the tank was going to mess with it.
- Good tankmates: small, calm reef fish (clownfish that are not terrors, small cardinals, small blennies), peaceful inverts
- Risky tankmates: dottybacks, hawkfish, big wrasses, aggressive clowns, larger predatory shrimp, crabs that hunt at night
- Corals: generally fine in reef tanks, but they can kick sand when they redecorate
With other gobies, it depends. Some gobies ignore each other, some squabble over the same patch of sand. If you try a pair or multiple gobies, give them lots of broken-up sight lines and more than one good hiding spot per fish.
Do not mix with fish that view tiny gobies as snacks. If it can fit the goby in its mouth, it will eventually try.
Breeding tips
Breeding in home tanks is possible for some gobies, but with Wheelerigobius maltzani you should treat it as a "maybe" project rather than a sure thing. If you end up with a true male-female pair and they feel safe, they may use a cave and lay eggs on the roof or back wall like a lot of gobies do.
- Give them caves with a single narrow entrance (small PVC elbows hidden in rockwork work great)
- Keep the tank calm and consistent (they will not spawn in a tank that is constantly being rearranged)
- Feed heavier and more often with quality frozen/live foods for a few weeks
If you ever see one fish guarding a cave and fanning inside it, do not mess with that rock. That is usually your sign. Raising larvae is the hard part: the fry are typically tiny and need live planktonic foods and a dedicated rearing setup.
Common problems to watch for
Most losses with this species come from the same handful of issues: starvation (they never really get established), bullying, and stress from being put into a sterile or unstable tank.
- Not eating: they pick but do not put on weight, especially in tanks with fast feeders
- Jumping: gaps around lids, overflow teeth, and cable cutouts are classic exit points
- Getting pinned in: aggressive fish claiming the same cave or corner of the tank
- Parasites: marine ich/velvet can hit gobies hard, and they often show symptoms fast
- Shipping stress: rapid breathing and hiding nonstop for days can be a rough sign
If you quarantine, keep it goby-friendly: cover the QT, provide a little cave/PVC, and offer live/frozen foods right away. A bare tank with nowhere to perch is a stress factory for bottom gobies.
The best "problem prevention" move is simple: pick a healthy, alert fish (clear eyes, intact fins, not hollow-bellied), put it into a mature tank with real hiding spots, and make sure it gets fed without competition. Do that, and you are already ahead of most of the failures people have with expert-level gobies.
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