Candy Cane Goby

About

The Candy Cane Goby (Awaous flavus), also known as the Redfin River Goby, is a compact, characterful fish native to Atlantic slope river systems stretching from the Río Atrato in Colombia down to the mouth of the Amazon near Belém, Brazil. In the wild it inhabits estuaries, river deltas, and shallow flowing water, where it spends most of its time working sandy and muddy substrates. Either sifting mouthfuls of sediment to filter out edible material or actively picking out small prey items. That substrate-sifting behavior translates well to the aquarium, making it an entertaining fish to watch as it methodically works the bottom of the tank. The red-tinged fins that give it one of its common names are a nice contrast against its more subdued body coloration, and while it stays on the smaller side, it has the presence that gobies tend to punch above their weight with. It does best with access to soft substrate to indulge its natural digging instincts. Keeping this species is rated intermediate, mostly because it comes from brackish conditions and needs that reflected in the aquarium. Given appropriate water conditions and a well-matched setup, it can live a solid five to eight years in captivity.