Neon Goby

Elacatinus oceanops

Also known as Cleaner Goby, Blue Neon Goby

SaltwaterFish

Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops) — Jmk7 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 2 in (5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Western Atlantic (Florida and the Caribbean)
Family: Gobiidae

Overview

Neon gobies are fully reef safe and will not bother corals or invertebrates. They are peaceful and small enough for almost any community, and they can even help larger tankmates by cleaning parasites, though they should not be relied on as a cure for disease. They may be picked on by very aggressive fish, so choose calm tankmates. They are among the easier marine fish to breed at home, and a bonded pair will spawn in a crevice or shell, though rearing the fry takes tiny live foods.

In the wild

Neon gobies come from Florida and the Caribbean, where they set up cleaning stations on coral heads and rock and pick parasites off larger passing fish. They are small, hardy, and stick close to a perch or crevice, so a nano tank of around 40 liters with rockwork gives them everything they need. A mated pair will share a cleaning station and get along peacefully in the same tank.

Good to know

This is one of the classic cleaner fish of the Atlantic. Its bright blue lateral stripe is a signal that advertises its cleaning service, telling larger fish not to eat it but to line up for a parasite pick instead. It is a Caribbean counterpart to the Indo-Pacific cleaner wrasses and was one of the first marine fish to be reliably captive bred, which is why tank raised neon gobies are widely available.

Did you know

A neon goby will happily set up shop as a cleaner and pick tiny parasites and dead skin off fish many times its size, with the bigger fish holding still and even opening its gills and mouth to let the little goby work.