Care Level: Moderate

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

General Description: The Tiger Wardi Goby, also referred to as the Ward’s Goby or Tiger Sleeper Goby, has a wide distribution across the Indo-Pacific and Sri Lanka. Its body is torpedo shaped, with an overall pearly-white coloration separated by dark brown-orange bands and stripes in which it gets the description “Tiger.” A relatively peaceful fish, the Tiger wardi goby is very popular for aerating and keeping the substrate clean, including managing nuisance cyanobacteria. It does this by taking mouthfuls of substrate and passing it through the gill plates, extracting microorganisms and other food. In turn, your aquarium’s sand bed will appear squeaky clean but at a cost. Small mounds of substrate throughout the aquarium will be noticeable where the Diamond goby has been and in some circumstances for larger individuals, areas of the aquarium’s substrate may be more dramatically re-aquascaped. It is not uncommon for your Tiger wardi goby to also create a “hole” to retreat to suddenly if felt threatened and this is usually surrounded by a large mound of substrate. An adult Tiger wardi goby can reach a size of approximately 5″, making it one of the smaller Valenciennea species.

Diet Requirements: In the wild Tiger wardi gobies are primarily carnivorous, feeding on small organisms and other material from the substrate. A diet largely consisting of high quality frozen preparations is necessary to maintain optimal health, coloration, and immune function. Such foods can include, but are not limited to, brine shrimp, calanus, mysis shrimp and other carnivore mixes. We highly encourage soaking frozen foods in vitamin and fatty acid supplements. Multiple, small feedings per day rather than one large feeding will also create more of a natural environment for the Tiger wardi goby as it would feed in the wild. Tiger wardi gobies may accept high quality flake and sinking pellet foods. Live foods, such as brine shrimp or blackworms, are an engaging treat from time to time.

Care Requirements: An established minimum 55 gallon aquarium is ideal for a Tiger wardi goby. A tight fitting lid is needed because these gobies are known to jump out of aquariums. A Tiger wardi goby will be indifferent to the amount of live rock in an aquarium, as an open sandbed is more important in order for it to sift and feed. Do not house a Tiger wardi goby with overly aggressive and pugnacious tank-mates. Only one Tiger wardi goby is recommended per aquarium; this species is not compatible with other members of the Valenciennea genus. Tiger wardi gobies may show territoriality in smaller aquariums to similarily shaped fish that hang out near the bottom (i.e., firefish, blennies, other gobies). A Tiger wardi goby will feel most at home in a reef aquarium, posing no threat to corals. Recommended water conditions, 72-78° F, KH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 1.020-1.025.

Purchase Size: Small: 1″ to 2″; Medium: 2-1/4″ to 3″; Large: 3-1/4″ to 4″; XLarge: 4-1/4″ or larger.

Note: Your item may not look identical to the image provided due to variation within species. Purchase sizes are approximate.