Desert Goby
Chlamydogobius eremius
Gobiidae
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About
The desert goby lives in artesian springs, bore drains and desert creeks of the western and southern Lake Eyre basin in South Australia, in water whose conditions swing further in a day than most aquarium fish meet in a lifetime. FishBase records field and laboratory tolerance of "wide ranges of temperature (5°-41°C), salinity (0-60 p.p.t.), pH (6.8-11.0) and very low dissolved oxygen level", and the fish gulps air at the surface when the water runs out of oxygen. That list is exactly why its water line deserves reading rather than skipping. On salt, the honest answer matters: this is a freshwater fish - FishBase's environment line begins "Freshwater; demersal" and the Australian Museum says it "occurs in freshwaters fed by artesian springs" - which happens to survive salinities past seawater. It is brackish-tolerant, not brackish. Salt is optional; hard, alkaline water is not. Aquarium Glaser is explicit that "the pH should be above 7.5, better in the range of 8-8.5" and that acidic water is bad for them. The other thing the tolerance figures hide is that they describe slow seasonal swings in a spring, not a heater failing overnight - Glaser warns that sudden changes are dangerous and can kill. Behaviourally it is a bottom fish that holds a crevice: males defend a cave, court conspicuously and fan the eggs, and will not share a territory with another male, while being peaceful with everything that is not a desert goby. It reaches 6 cm, though 4-5 cm is what most aquarium fish actually make.
Care
Hard, alkaline water - pH 7.8-8.5, GH 8-25 - over sand with a generous supply of rock caves. It tolerates 10-35 °C, but keep it steady around 20-24 °C: the tolerance is for slow seasonal drift, not for overnight swings. Salt is optional, not required. Give one cave per male, or keep a single male with two or three females. Peaceful with other fish but too slow to compete with quick mid-water feeders, so feed it deliberately on the bottom.
Diet
Omnivore taking insect larvae, crustaceans, fish eggs, algae and detritus in the wild; frozen bloodworm, Daphnia, brine shrimp and sinking granules in the aquarium. Feed on the bottom - it is slow and will be beaten to the food by anything faster.
Tankmate compatibility
Gets along with (146)
Possible with care (238)
Avoid (34)
Computed by the AquaSage engine for a spacious reference tank — always check the full verdict for your exact setup in the calculator.
Telling males from females
What works for this species, most reliable first.
- Colour and patternA hint only · from about 6 months, and only on a settled fish
In rainbowfish, killifish and several barbs the male carries the colour — deeper and more saturated, intensifying further when he displays.
Also in these lists
Similar species
Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.
Sold in Lithuania
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Frequently asked questions
- What tank size does a Desert Goby need?
- A Desert Goby needs an aquarium of at least 60 litres (15.9 US gallons) with a footprint at least 60 cm (23.6 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.
- What water parameters does a Desert Goby need?
- Desert Goby does best at 10–35 °C (50–95 °F), pH 7–9 and a general hardness of 8–25 °dGH.
- Is the Desert Goby suitable for beginners?
- Yes — Desert Goby is one of the easier species to keep and forgives typical first-tank mistakes, as long as the aquarium is cycled and maintained.