Chinese red ninja goby

Care at a glance

Overview

This is the coolest-water goby in this group, a temperate stream fish that needs an unheated tank and steady current to hold condition. Peaceful and gregarious, it does best in a small group over pebbles and stones with caves, where territorial males each claim a rock and darken and raise their fins in display. It lives on the bottom and feeds as a small predator, so offer frozen and live foods such as bloodworm and brine alongside small sinking foods. Keep only calm, cool-tolerant tankmates. A 54 liter tank with good flow, high oxygen, and genuinely cool water suits a group.

In the wild

In the wild it holds clear mountain streams of the Shennongjia massif in Hubei, China, in the upper Han River drainage, where the water is cold, fast, and rich in oxygen. Build a river-style tank to match: strong flow from a powerhead, a bed of rounded stones and gravel with crevices, and water kept well below tropical temperatures. Target 16 to 23 C and a neutral to slightly alkaline pH of about 7.0 to 8.0, changing water often to keep it clean.

Good to know

Rhinogobius shennongensis belongs to the family Oxudercidae and was first placed in the genus Ctenogobius before moving to Rhinogobius. It reaches about 6 centimeters, and breeding males deepen to a dark, charcoal body with colored margins along the fins. It is a temperate stream resident that feeds on small invertebrates, and there is no established record of it being bred in the aquarium. It takes its name from its home mountains, the Shennongjia range.

Did you know

Its home, the Shennongjia massif, is the heart of China's wild man legend, the Yeren, a Bigfoot-like creature said to roam these forests. The goby quietly patrols the same cold watershed that feeds the folklore.

Tank mates

Chinese red ninja goby is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• 

  Butterfly moth catfish

  Erethistes pusillus

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Paraguay black otocinclus

  Otothyropsis piribebuy

  Freshwater

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Guinean panchax

  Epiplatys guineensis

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Elongate moth catfish

  Hara horai

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Infrafasciatus killifish

  Epiplatys infrafasciatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Delta killifish

  Fundulopanchax deltaensis

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Mandarin rhinogobius

  Rhinogobius brunneus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–75°F (18–24°C)
• Chiangmai stream goby

  Rhinogobius chiengmaiensis

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–75°F (18–24°C)
• Yellow fin rhinogobius

  Rhinogobius leavelli

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–77°F (18–25°C)
• Caledonian red nose goby

  Lentipes kaaea

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
• Red lip goby

  Sicyopus exallisquamulus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  African algae-eating goby

  Parasicydium bandama

  Freshwater

  2.2 in (5.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)