Bluestripe Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)

The Bluestripe Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops) is two inches of electric blue that also happens to run a business. A single glowing stripe traces from the snout, straight through the eye, all the way to the tail on a dark body, and the fish sets up a cleaning station on your rockwork where bigger fish queue up to have parasites and dead skin picked off. Tangs will hold still and flare their gills for it. It is Caribbean, captive bred, completely reef safe, and small enough for a nano tank while still being one of the most useful fish you can add to a big one. Browse the rest of our saltwater livestock and supplies to build the tank around it.

The better cleaner

If you want cleaning behavior in your tank, this is the fish to buy. The Cleaner Wrasse is the famous one, but it is an obligate cleaner that often refuses prepared food and slowly starves in home aquariums, which is why we list it as an advanced fish. A Neon Goby does the same job, eats mysis and pellets happily alongside it, breeds in captivity, and costs a fraction of the trouble. A Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp is the invert version and the two work well together.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 10 gallons and up. They stay around 2 inches, claim a small perch, and are one of the few genuinely nano appropriate marine fish that also earn their place in a 200 gallon reef.
• Rockwork: give it a prominent perch. Neon Gobies pick a high visibility spot for their cleaning station and sit on it, so a piece of rock or coral out in the open is better than a cave.
• Water parameters: 72 to 78°F, pH 8.1 to 8.4, salinity 1.020 to 1.025. Hardy and undemanding, and captive bred stock is tougher still.
• Feeding: carnivore. Do not rely on cleaning duty to feed it. Small frozen foods like PE Mysis, baby brine shrimp, and a small pellet such as Hikari Marine-S should be offered two or three times a day given how small the fish is.
• Groups: unlike most gobies, they get along with each other. A pair or a small group in the same tank is fine, and a settled pair will often lay eggs in a shell or piece of pipe.
• Lifespan: short. Two years is a good run for this species, which is normal for a fish this small and not a reflection of your husbandry.
• Lid: recommended. Small gobies find small gaps.

Specifications

Compatibility

About as universally compatible as a marine fish gets. Larger fish that would normally eat something this small generally recognize a cleaner and leave it alone, which is the whole point of the bright stripe. It works well with the Premium Picasso Clownfish, Royal Gramma, Banggai Cardinal, Firefish Goby, Citron Clown Goby, Bicolor Blenny, and Yellowhead Jawfish. Corals and inverts are completely safe.

Its best customers. Big grazers with plenty of surface area get the most out of a cleaning station. A Purple Tang or a Starry Rabbitfish will park itself in front of the goby and wait, which is one of the better things you will see in a reef tank.

What to avoid. Genuinely predatory fish that hunt by size rather than recognizing cleaners, such as large groupers, lionfish, and hawkfish, are the exception to the rule. If you already have a bigger goby-shaped fish that guards a perch, watch the first few days, though squabbles are rare. Another Green Banded Goby from the same genus is fine company.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• Piscine Energetics PE Mysis, the staple
• Ocean Nutrition Instant Baby Brine Shrimp
• SFBB Mysis Shrimp Cube
• Hikari Marine-S small pellet
• Xtreme Marine PeeWee Slow-Sinking Pellets

FAQ

Will it actually clean my fish?
Yes. Neon Gobies are true cleaners and set up stations that other fish visit deliberately. It is real behavior, not a marketing claim, and it is genuinely useful for keeping an eye on parasite pressure. It is not a cure for an ich outbreak though, so do not buy one as medicine.

Can I keep more than one?
Yes, which makes them unusual among gobies. A pair or a small group coexists peacefully, and a bonded pair will often spawn in a shell or a short length of pipe. Adding two or three at once is the easiest way to get a pair.

Why do they only live a couple of years?
That is simply the species. Small, fast living reef fish have short lifespans, and one to two years is a full life for a Neon Goby. It is worth knowing going in rather than assuming something went wrong.

Is it safe in a nano tank?
Very. At around 2 inches with a tiny bioload and no interest in corals, it is one of the best fish available for a 10 or 20 gallon reef. Just make sure it gets fed directly rather than left to scavenge.