Clown goby eviction?

squaretwelve

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So I recently decided to add a yellow clown goby to my 10 gallon nano as the sole fish. I had heard that they will nip at SPS, but I don't have any so I figured I'd be fine. Fast forward to today, I was watching the tank and saw the goby swimming by my torch coral when all the sudden he just dove it and ripped the tip off one of the tentacles. At first I figured he was grabbing a piece of food or something until he spit out a bright green tentacle tip.

Is is time to evict this little goby already? I really like the color he adds and his character but IDK if I'm OK with him nipping at corals 10x his cost. Anyone else have issues with their YCG nipping at LPS corals? Also do I need to worry about my torch coral or just let it heal? Picture attached of the poor torch tentacle. :(

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Deiblerj

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I’ve had one for a couple years now. He was my first fish! Haven’t had any issues. Mine usually hides in the rock or in my palys haha
 
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squaretwelve

squaretwelve

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Decided to give him a second chance with a close eye. Hoping it was a one time deal but somehow have a feeling it won't be.
 

Fishurama

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Maybe try feeding him more or even though its the only fish target feed to make sure its eating. Mine likes to lay on LPS/softies like zoas which can close them up but thats about it.
 

Dragon52

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I think this (but IDK if I'm OK with him nipping at corals 10x his cost. ) is the key issue.
What are you willing to lose to find out. There's other yellow fish you can add to your tank that wont mess with coral. Search & then search some more.
 
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squaretwelve

squaretwelve

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Maybe try feeding him more or even though its the only fish target feed to make sure its eating. Mine likes to lay on LPS/softies like zoas which can close them up but thats about it.
I've been attempting to target feed him when possible and so far he has been eating like a little pig. Eats straight from the pipette when feeding mysis. He also loves to try to eat reef roids when I'm feeding my corals. Hopefully if I keep him fat and happy he won't get tempted to nip anything. Thanks everyone for the feedback!
 
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squaretwelve

squaretwelve

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Well it's official, he's being evicted. Even after target feeding him everyday (a variety of foods which he happily eats), he still has the urge to bite corals. He's been nipping at my lords' feeding tentacles the past week and tonight hit bit off one of my hammer's tentacles (pic attached). He's gotta go.

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Bells>Waimea

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How did you catch him!?

I'm here cause I just saw him nipping at my acans! He's out! He's so small. Not sure how I'll get him.
 
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squaretwelve

squaretwelve

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How did you catch him!?

I'm here cause I just saw him nipping at my acans! He's out! He's so small. Not sure how I'll get him.
I turned off all the flow in my tank. Thankfully the goby couldn't resist trying to kill his reflection when I would turn them off so just waited for him to swim out and scooped him up with the net.
 

Jesterrace

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Decided to give him a second chance with a close eye. Hoping it was a one time deal but somehow have a feeling it won't be.

I would say this is the best approach. Even "Reef Safe" fish can take exploratory nips at corals. Given that it spit it back out quickly is a sign it didn't care much for the taste. I've even seen my Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (which is supposed to be reef safe), take an exploratory nip at my Frogspawn Coral. It quickly backed off from it afterwards though so it didn't appear to like the taste. *EDIT* nevermind, saw he is now going for your acans. Time to give it the boot. You can do a homemade trap from something like an Aquafina/Dasani Water Bottle. Cut off the top and fold inwards. Weigh it down with some substrate from your tank and place it's favorite pellet food in there and a small dollar store mirror. That should do the trick.
 

Captain45

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Reviving this super old thread, my YCG has been a peaceful inhabitant for months....until I didnt get to feeding the tank for one and a half days. He was eating the edges of my monticap and the same day I saw that, there was a free floating octospawn tentacle caught in my birdsnest (hes def on the hook for the monti but eating the octo is unconfirmed).

Im giving him another chance but we'll see.
 
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