I only have three fish in my tank at
present. Fish impose a larger biological "load"
on a tank than do corals and anemones, primarily because the
latter do some photosyntheis, which aids in the recycling of
nutrients. I only have herbivores right now, which load the
tank less than carnivores (as well as removing algae and
requiring less feeding [I'm lazy at heart]).
Maroon Clown Fish
Here is
the Maroon Clown FIsh. He's tough to photograph because he's
small and fast. He lives absolutely all of the time inside
the Pacific Long Tentacled Anemone: when that anemone gets small,
he becomes frantic as his "house" shrinks under him.
Blue Spotted Goby
Here is my tiny Blue Spotted Goby.
Or maybe he's a Yellow Goby (even though he's green). No one is
sure.
Gobys gobble up sand, chew the algae off
of it, and then spit the cleaned sand out. He is pretty
skittish, and scoots into small caves if you approach too
quickly.
This one has a perpetual frown on his mug.
I decided that I needed another, larger
Goby to help sift the sand. When I introduced that Goby, my
little one puffed himself up so that he could defend the cave he
had chosen as home. Here he is being fierce.
Watchman Goby
Here is the new (and relatively huge)
Watchman Goby. He is placid and wonderfully camaflaged.
I introduced this Turtle Weed (a form of
macro-algae) and within a day or so, I discovered Mr. Watchman
reclining in luxury on a bed of the weed (which he also nibbles
on periodically). Very cute! Photo by Stacey.
Goby's lack a swim bladder, and thus must
either swim or sit on the bottom: they cannot hang in the middle
of the tank effortlessly, as can some other fish. Thus, the Gobys
often are to be found perching cutely on something. Here it is an
algae infested rock.
Here, the Yellow Goby rests on a Green Moon Coral.
And here are the Goby Brothers, resting in apparant tranquility.