The Engineer Goby is a fantastic beginner's fish which has fascinating characteristics, and the ability to mesmerize the aquarist into watching him work away his hours.
Engineer Goby - Pholidichthys Leucotaenia
This comical little fellow has personality galore. Secretive and hardy, the convict blenny (of which it is neither a blenny nor a goby, but more related to the perch) has been known to grow to eighteen inches or more in length, though in retail, it is usually offered as a juvenile, often not much more than an inch long. Resembling the catfish eel (probably as a defense mechanism) when in its juvenile state, this fast growing fish will lose the horizontal stripes of white on black, and develop a more splotchy, polka dotted look as it reaches maturation.
The Pholidichthys Leucotaenia goes by many different names:
- Pacific Neon Goby
- Worm Goby
- Worm Blenny
- Convict Blenny
- Engineer Goby
- Eel Goby
- Eel Blenny
Can he build it? Yes He Can!
Inexpensive, but often overlooked, the Engineer Goby is a delightful addition to the reef tank with a deeper sand bed. He makes up for his plainness with character. This little guy will cart around your araganite or oolite sand base with his mouth, piling it up where he deems fit, in order to dig extensive tunnels and caves for him to dwell. Since this behaviour can cause rockslides in your aquascaping, it is best when considering this fish, to make sure the base rock is secure on the bottom of the aquarium and then the sand substrate added on top.
This fish is also useful if you are looking for a critter to naturally stir up your sand bed.
Habitat
Calling the Indo-Pacific Ocean home, the Engineer Blenny is a social animal that enjoys companionship with either three or five other individuals, to follow the odd number rule of fishkeeping. In the wild, they will school with large groups of individuals, but keep in mind that for long term success, each fish requires approximately 100 gallons of water, and loads of rockwork.
Worm Blenny's Health
The Convict Blenny is not as susceptible to ich and disease as many other types of marine fish, and he can tolerate varying degrees of water conditions, so he makes a fantastic beginner fish. A word of caution, however: he does not tolerate copper, formalin or other chemical additives. If parasites do seem to be the concern, a cleaner fish such as the neon goby is better off employed here. Eating most anything that comes his way, large specimens of this bottom dweller have been known to eat invertibrates that are smaller than themselves, but interestingly, the goby is uninterested in pretty well all species of fish (as they are of him) and is happy to be left alone in his self-made caverns.
