Do you have an engineer goby and snowflake eel in the same aquarium? Do they get along? This is a question we often hear. The answer depends on many factors, such as tank size, water temperature, diet, etc. In this blog post, we will discuss these factors and more to help you decide if they should live together or not!
Do engineer goby and snowflake eels get along in the same aquarium?
To answer this question, we’ll need to examine some factors.
Engineer Gobies and Snowflake Eels have very different personalities. Engineer Gobies are peaceful creatures that will only attack prey if they feel threatened, while the snowflake eel is a more aggressive predator.
The engineer goby’s diet consists of brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, and algae wafers while the snowflake eel can eat everything from snails to fish eggs. These two species may not get along in the same aquarium because of their differences in feeding habits and aggressiveness levels.
We recommend finding an alternative home for one or both of these animals if you’re considering housing them together.
Engineer Goby
The engineer goby is a small marine fish that lives in the temperate to tropical underwater rubble. They are members of the genus, Gobius and their natural habitat includes Bermuda, Florida, Jamaica, Iberian coasts from the Bay of Biscay to Morocco’s Atlantic coast, Japan, and probably Taiwan.
Engineer gobies have black with orange dorsal fins for males with red tints on females’ bodies. Their mouths have thin lips and two barbels under them. The typical length for this species is about 10 inches which can be up to 12 inches long depending on age but usually, it does not exceed more than this size.
Snowflake Eel
The snowflake eel is a large marine fish that lives in the temperate to tropical underwater rubble. They are members of the genus, Monopterus and their natural habitat include Australia, New Zealand, and Norfolk Island. The typical length for this species is about 20 inches with males being larger than females.
Snowflake eels have a black body with orange or yellow spots and stripes. They also have a small spot on their head that is darker than the rest of its body which can be white, red, pinkish-red, purple, or light brown in color. Males will usually grow larger than females but they do not exceed more than two feet in length.
Will they fight if they are kept together in one tank?
The engineer goby is the more defensive of the two, and will likely flee from any conflict. The snowflake eel may not fight as often due to its larger size.
Their tank should be at least 150 gallons because both fish are semi-aggressive in nature. It’s also worth noting that they each have different feeding habits: engineer goby eats brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, and algae wafers; snowflake eel is a more opportunistic feeder that consumes snails, fish, and even other animals like starfish.
What fish can you put with a snowflake eel on the same tank?
A snowflake eel can be put with a variety of fish, but it’s ideal to have tanks that are at least 150 gallons in size for these animals. Snowflakes prefer slow flow environments and will not thrive in high-flow situations.
They also require live or frozen food items like shrimp, krill, and clams. If you are keeping the animal with other fish, like a harlequin tuskfish, you might want to look into adding some live rock and corals.
For more information about snowflake eels, check out the Eel species post.
Will an engineer goby eat other fish?
This is a question I get often, so I’ll share some insight. First of all, an engineer goby will not eat other fish if they are already getting plenty to eat in the tank or aquarium with live rock and algae since it gets most of its food from these sources.
Secondly, when you do have an engineer goby in your tank, they will not eat other fish unless it is a type of algae eater.
This means that if you do have an engineer goby and introduce another type of fish to the same tank (such as a tang), then there’s no risk for the second fish being eaten by the first one.
Are engineer gobies reef safe?
Engineer gobies will not disturb many corals and anemones in a reef’s environment. However, they may eat some of the smaller ones like mushrooms so it is best to avoid putting them into the same tank with these types of animals.
Do engineer gobies have teeth?
An engineer goby does have teeth and they are used to eat its food items. These fish may also use their teeth when defending themselves from other animals if needed and the snowflake eel will often pick at things with its mouth but it is not known for actually biting prey in a fight.
In Conclusion
It is possible for engineer gobies and snowflake eels to co-exist in the same aquarium, but it’s not a good idea. The two species can fight each other as they are territorial fish. You can only keep one of these types of fish in an aquarium at any given time or you risk them getting injured or killed from fighting with another species that isn’t their own.
If you have both types of fish, we recommend putting them into separate tanks so they don’t get hurt by trying to defend their territory against another type of fish.
Hi, my name is Sean, and I’m the primary writer on the site. I’m blogging mostly about freshwater and saltwater aquariums, fish, invertebrates, and plants. I’m experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. All my knowledge comes from experience and reading forums and a lot of informative sites. In pursuit of becoming a professional, I also want to inspire as many people as I can to pick up this hobby and keep the public interest growing.
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