Yasha Goby Care: Size, Lifespan, Feeding, Tank, & Pairing
Yasha goby fish is a distinctive variety of goby fish known for its fantastic behavior and appearance. It is not very common in the aquarium hobby but is immensely popular among goby enthusiasts.
It is a tropical marine fish centered mainly in the Western Pacific ocean, where it is found inhabiting the outer reef slopes in the depth of 15 to 40 meters.
Scientifically it is known as Stonogobiops Yasha. Other common names are Orange-striped shrimp goby, Yasha Haze Goby, Yasha White Ray Shrimp Goby, and Clown Shrimp Goby.
It is found living in a symbiotic relationship with the pistol shrimp. Pistol shrimp dig furrows in the sandy bottom while these fish use these burrows for hiding and to take rest.
Yasha Goby Size
They are pretty small fish. There might be variations regarding the size between different individuals, but the maximum size they are known to grow up to is 2 inches. 1.75 inches is their average size.
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Males are generally smaller than females. Their symbiotic shrimp is almost half the size of them.
Appearance
The coloration of Yasha gobies is something that sets them apart from other goby species. They have an overall body coloration of red and white broken strips that run parallel along their body’s length.
Yasha gobies have protruding eyes on the sopped head and have black spots along the lower jaw. They have a prominent dorsal fin which is elongated anteriorly and covers almost all the superior body surfaces.
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Gleaming yellow coloration along with the dorsal caudal and anal fins makes them very alluring among most enthusiasts.
Yasha Goby Lifespan
Yasha goby fish’s maximum lifespan in the home aquarium depends upon their age when they were acquired first. Let me make something quick clear regarding their age, which will help determine their age.
Their buying size must be an inch or a little less than that. When one-inch-long Yasha goby fish is brought to the aquarium, and all the water parameters are maintained optimally, they can maximally live up to three years.
Most of the Yasha goby fish keepers that I have come across online and in-person claimed that these fish remained with them for a little over a couple of years before it was time for these little gleaming fish to say goodbye.
Yasha Goby Male & Female
Earlier, these fish were thought to be monomorphic because there wasn’t any notable morphological difference that could separate the two sexes apart except for the urogenital papilla (pointed in males and round in females).
But the recent studies reveal an apparent difference between males and females based on which the two sexes can now be differentiated.
The ventral or pelvic fin in males has dark reddish-brown edging, whereas females do not have any coloration along the pelvic fin’s edges.
Yasha Goby Care
They are very hardy fish and need smart but straightforward, caring measures, and you surely would love to pay heed to them as you don’t want to lose the fish, which is still a dream for many out there.
Water conditions are essential in determining any fish’s well-being and lifespan, and Yasha gobies are no exception to that. Bulleted below are optimum water conditions for them to thrive.
- They are tropical fish and live in temperatures ranging from 72-78 ⁰F. A temperature lower than the mentioned range is dangerous if maintained long-term. Higher temperatures like 80-82 ⁰F are suitable for spawning.
- They thrive in hardness ranging from 8-12 dKH and the specific gravity of 1.020-1.025.
- They are best kept in a narrow range of pH, which is 8.1-8.4.
Feeding Yasha Goby
These miniatures are carnivorous in the wild, and small crustaceans make up the bulk of their diet. Whereas in the home aquarium, it is best to feed them a variety of meaty live and frozen foods.
Most hobbyists feed them Mysis and vitamin-enriched brine shrimp two or three times a day. The amount of food which they can quickly finish off in less than two minutes is suitable.
Many experts also recommend feeding them Formula 1 and 2 cubes along with Dainichi pellets. Pellets must not be the staple of their diet.
The Yasha gobies exhibit fascinating behavior at the time of feeding. If they are in their burrow and popping their head out of the burrow, you can crumble some food near their home, and they will come out and take the chunks of the food and get back in quickly.
It’s important to make sure that your fish will get its food. If they don’t get to know about food presence quickly, the food may get wiped by water currents.
Yasha Goby Tank Size
The suitable tank size for Yasha goby fish is no less than 10 gallons. Although many believe that smaller tanks are also appropriate but supposedly, it shouldn’t be like that. Smaller tanks are prone to the quick accumulation of toxins.
Yasha Goby Tank Setup
As far as the tank setup is concerned, the substratum is of pivotal importance for these substrate dwellers.
As we already have discussed, these fish live in pairs with the pistol shrimp and benefit from this partnership. To get the best out of keeping them, it is best to make their tank environment look like their wild home.
For this, fill the tank with the sandy substrate and loose coral rubbles of thickness 3 to 4 inches. They are incredible jumpers, and a tight-fitting lid is necessary for their tank.
You can also provide their tank with artificial burrows by putting the PVC pipe pieces in the tank. They are absolutely reef safe and easily adapted in reef tanks.
Preferably, Yasha goby should be the first goby introduced in an already acclaimed aquarium if you are planning to introduce other varieties of bottom-dwelling goby. This way, it would mark its territory and acclimate quickly.
Yasha Goby Shrimp Pair
Yasha goby fish are known to live in symbiotic relationships with the pistol shrimp. This relationship serves both partners in a beneficial way.
The pistol shrimp is blind and cannot escape the predation on its own, and the Yasha goby cannot make the burrow in the sand. So, the two solve each other’s problems. Pistol shrimp dig the burrows for itself and Yasha while Yasha goby warns it of the predators.
