Sand Sifter and Coral

[Chitownpw]

Are sand sifters and in-the-sand-bed corals a bad combination? I was thinking of getting a sand sifter goby (a diamond) to work the substrate b/c i've been having some cyano buildup so i'm hoping the sifter will keep the sand churning; however, my concern is that it will dump sand on the coral i have on the substrate and kill them. Thoughts?

[JamesWang]

What coral? Im guessing a Trachy, or open brain, and believe the goby will be fine with it.

Here is an amazing video on the subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0d101sMIk

[ca1ore]

I have had very mixed experience with diamond gobies. Some I've had would regularly cover my rocks and corals with sand, others barely sifted at all. My current one is in the latter camp. I'm not sure why. Perhaps getting them onto prepared foods dissuades the sifting behavior? Anyhow, a slightly coarser sand helps to mitigate sand on corals.

[biomek]

my diamond watchman sifts ALL day long. doesn't really throw sand on my corals however he and I did have a mexican standoff for a few days. i had a lobo that was mounted on a piece of ceramic tile and the little bastard kept digging underneath it. the only problem was, he'd then pile up all the sand on top of the lobo literally covering the thing up. I'd clean it off, move the lobo and then wait. soon as i'd leave the room, he'd sneak over and start doing it again so before he'd get too far along, i'd clean it off, fill in the cave underneath and start all over again and again. finally had to remove the tile and put a little bit of JB water weld putty around the base to help the lobo stand on its own and the diamond finally leaves it along. The whole thing was more comedic than anything else. fortunately the lobo is fine and he hasn't messed with any other corals in my sand.