A not-so-common classic goby ignites nostalgia in editor Nathan Hill. Here’s a sizeable centrepiece that can look outstanding in the right set up.
WORDS: NATHAN HILL
I FIRST MET KNIGHT gobies, Stigmatogobius sadanundio, when I was at an especially early and naïve stage of my fishkeeping journey. Unaware of their needs, I initially housed a pair of them in a small tank with gravel and decoration that was ‘of its time’. The water was tropical but fresh, and it may have only been down to the fact that my tapwater was harder than depleted uranium that they did so well in it.
Acquiring some literature (this being a pre-internet age of print), I discovered that they would benefit from brackish water. What luck! I had a brackish set up running at that time, and so in they went, where one of them promptly choked to death trying to swallow a young bumblebee goby. The remaining singleton seemed happy for the absence, and went on to become a magnificent centrepiece fish.
Stigmatogobius sadanundio is an occasional face in retailers, more commonly available in hardwater regions, and at face value it looks to be a total catch. It gets a decent size (around 10cm including the tail) and is usually halfway there at point of sale. It has goby looks but doesn’t hug the substrate, and it’s day active. In the case of the male, it also has magnificent fins.
Alas, there are catches. Purists will maintain that the fish needs slightly brackish conditions to survive—something I can only contest with personal anecdote. If the water is hard and alkaline enough (8.0pH or greater, 20°dGH or more) it seems to do just fine, at least when I’ve had it.
It’s also a bit of a singleton. Multiples can be kept, ideally more females than males, but if so, then hiding spaces are prerequisite. Flowerpot caves are a favourite, but ceramic catfish tubes or even trimmings of plastic pipework will all be appropriated. Breaking up line of sight with big chunks of wood or dense planting is also suggested.
On its own, a single fish is attractive but predatory. In true goby fashion the mouth is cavernous and small tankmates are tempting. For an adult knight goby, anything endler guppy sized or smaller is going on a one-way tour of the goby’s guts.
On the flipside, the knight goby is easy to feed. Flakes and pellets are
