Desert goby

The desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius) is a remarkably hardy small goby endemic to the Lake Eyre drainage basin in arid South Australia, where it inhabits isolated freshwater springs, artesian bores, and ephemeral waterholes. This resilience in the face of extreme conditions — surviving temperatures from 5–41°C, pH 6.5–11.0, and salinity up to 37.5 ppt — makes it one of the toughest aquarium fish available. Males reach about 6 cm (2.4 in) and develop brilliant breeding colours of deep blue, yellow, and black banded fins, while females remain a mottled brown–grey.

Despite their hardiness, desert gobies have specific husbandry requirements. They must be kept in hard, alkaline water with pH 7.0–8.5 and moderate to high hardness; acidic conditions will prove fatal over time. A tank of at least 40 L (10 gal) with a sand substrate, rock piles, terracotta caves, and other crevices is needed to provide territory for males, which can be aggressive toward one another — especially during spawning. A single pair or a well-structured group with ample cover works best.

Desert gobies are primarily benthic omnivores with a long, coiled intestine adapted for digesting algae. Feed a varied diet of sinking dried foods, algae wafers, and live or frozen brine shrimp, bloodworm, and Daphnia. They are cave spawners: the female deposits 150–300 eggs on a cave ceiling; the male guards them for 10–17 days until hatching. Fry are large enough to accept Artemia nauplii immediately. In a species-only or carefully chosen hard-water community tank, they can live around 5 years.