Avoid "log-looking" fish!

[shaunman]

If you're browsing the fish in an aquatic store, and happen to find a 10", really ugly, log-looking bottom fish, you may have found a "Marbled, Sleeping Gobie".
This is not a common fish, but sometimes they pop up and the store clerks rarely know anything about this predator, let alone its name. This fish is tough as nails, grows to about 3 feet, and eats about twice its own weight per day. My poor Tinfoil Barbs, 12", quickly became part of the food chain over night.
In my opinion, the Sleeping Gobie is beautifuly hideous, slow and boring, and cannot get along with anything. If you're into one, huge, monster in a very large tank, check out the Sleeping Gobie. Otherwise, don't bring this one home to play with what you consider, "my tough fish." Three feet is pretty big!

 

[DeLgAdO]

sounds like an awsome monster for its own tank

 

[benzjamin13]

I used to deal with them in a display tank at my old job. They were pretty cool. But one got sucked up into the filter. It was a nasty job try to get that theing out. My partner was stabbing it with a screw driver trying to pry it out

 

[big E]

That sounds like an interesting Monster!!!

 

[dapike1979]

That sounds like an interesting Monster!!!

Pic's pls!

 

[riskistang]

Pictures would be great..curious to see what it looks like....You keeping yours or geting rid of it?

 

[guppy]

Marbled goby (Oxyeleotris marmaratus). Great fish,They hardly ever move then when they do they eat something, anything. I had one that ate live fish, dead fish, frogs, crayfish, candy, canned cat food, etc. I never found anything it would not eat. One one occasion one ate a 10" large mouth bass just 2" shorter than it was. It also tried to eat a tank heater and got it swallowed all the way to the waterline, It also tried to swallow my hand a couple times. I got it free from an lfs because people kept bringing it back after it emptied their tanks. They will live in anything from fresh to very brackish water and while I can find no records of any a full 3' long there are valid records at 26". They are also known as the Soon Hock. It was on this site that I finally found out what the damn thing was years after I sold it. I had been calling it a mottled sleeper. Here are a couple pictures, the larger one is by Liao from fishbase.

 

[KurseD]

hey, i had one of those in japan...had never seen it before so i picked it up...was only around 2 in., he hung out underneath my plants and ate bloodworms, he hardly ever moved, just hovered like a dat for hours on end...didn't have him very long,he just disappeared one day...figured he jumpted out. really mean looking, even when small. they had him labled as an ancient butterfly fish, but i knew it wasn't cuz i had one of those already. i looked it up and the closest think i could find to it was a freshwater lionfish...didn't know they got up to 3ft!!!

 

[chundamunky]

I got one at the moment he is still small only about 10cm. Laughed at the petshop salesman when he told me he'll only grow to 15cm. Like guppy said will eat just about anything. They are actually grown as a food fish in the far east somewhere.

 

[gomezladdams]

I like it