goby eating other fish?

[chel]

Yesterday we purchased a goby at a local aquarium store, being told it
was a very docile fish and a good fit for our community tank (mostly
livebearers and small tetra). However, upon introduction to the tank,
it "accidently" killed a guppy (mistaking its tail for food) and then
this morning, one of my neon tetras is mysteriously missing.

Is there any way the goby could have eaten the tetra? What sort of
environment does he need to be in? We weren't told to buy any special
food or sand for him, but the research I'm doing on the web is telling
me otherwise.

Help!
chel

[G. A. Christian Bilou]

Almost all gobies should be kept in brackish conditions, most are quite
predatory and happy to eat smaller fish. What sort do you have?

Toirtis

[chel]

Well, we decided to bring him back to the store. On the way there- he
"threw up" the missing neon tetra (yuck!), along with some of our
snails. When we got him to the store, the shop manager and clerk were
both amazed at the size of his belly. It seems like he had quite a
feast in our aquarium- several snails, a neon tetra, and two guppies
were lost in the 18 hours we had him!

Apparently he's been living in a livebearer tank (not brackish) for
almost a year with no problems. I never found out what type he was-
white with black/grey spots. Beautiful condition.

We traded him back for a dwarf gourami- hope that works out better!
Thanks for your reply.
chel


"G. A. Christian Bilou" > wrote in message news:<u1BTb.385627$X%5.226142@pd7tw2no>...
> Almost all gobies should be kept in brackish conditions, most are quite
> predatory and happy to eat smaller fish. What sort do you have?
>
> Toirtis