Best Sand Sifting Goby

[goldmullet]

Hey I am looking for a good sand sifting goby that isnt super shy and will be active during the day. One that will clean my sand and mix it up.

Any help on this? I have a 36 gallon bow front with super fine white sand and live rock.

[DoubleM 10]

I have a sleeper goby and he's great. Has a gold face. After about a week he was out and about

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[dlterry85]

i would stay away from a goby. most tend to spit sand all over your corals and quickly consume any pods or other life in your sand bed. get some nassarius snails to stir your sand bed instead. just my opinion.

[goldmullet]

I am just worried cause i have the finest smallest white sand available its almost like powder. So I am afraid that my tank might just be getting stirred up all day with the goby in there.

But they are so rad looking.

[Dyzio545]

Stay away from sleeperhead gobys. Once comfortable in your tank, it will make a sandstorm.

[Indymann99]

Orange Diamond Goby.. hard worker

[T-dub]

+1 on the diamond watchman goby. Constant sandsifter and although he has been known bury the occasional coral, he usually cleans them up too.

[Mike P]

I would do a watchman/pistol shrimp combo. Its fun to watch them work together, and both will recreate your sand bed constantly.

Some say Conches work well too, but I haven't had any luck with them yet.

[JDM_SOHC]

watchman/pistol ftw..!!

[seanathen]

The problem with sleeper goby's is they tend to build sand caves and then they don't move around much after that. I'd go with the watchman though!

[jbadd99]

Originally Posted by T-dub

+1 on the diamond watchman goby. Constant sandsifter and although he has been known bury the occasional coral, he usually cleans them up too.

I had one until he jumped out. He built 3-4 caverns under my live rock and even eventually paired up with my Fire Shrimp. My sand stayed ultra clean and I have a very fine sand as well. No burying of corals either. Excellent fish IME

[goldmullet]

So it seems like the watchman goby and the pistol shrimp are the best combo. The goby will jump out right? I need to have a covered top?

[dzhuo]

I would get a valenciennea puellaris aka diamond watchman goby. What I really like about it is that it's not a sand broadcaster (ie, it doesn't take a mouthful, swim mid water and split it out) and it's easy to feed. If your tank is small, it's guarantee to not have enough micro-fungas to sustain a sand sifting goby. Being able to easily feed it is a major advantage.

Keeps the sand extremely clean:

[vorm]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

So it seems like the watchman goby and the pistol shrimp are the best combo. The goby will jump out right? I need to have a covered top?

Yeah, they are known to be jumpers. So make sure your tank secured so he doesn't go carpet surfing. I had one once for a couple of weeks, until he got into my overflow, sucked down the drain... filter sock... yeah... it didn't end well.

I am planning on getting another one though, but will make sure the same thing doesn't happen again.

[goldmullet]

Cool sounds good. My tank has
Been running for little over a month. You think my tank is good enough to put in the watchman and pistol shrimp.

[goldmullet]

Is a yellow watchman goby different than a diamond watchman goby?

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

Is a yellow watchman goby different than a diamond watchman goby?

The yellow watchman goby or pistol shrimp is not even in the same league as far as sand sifting behavior goes. From 1 (weakest) to 10 (strongest), I would rate the yellow watchmen goby at 3 and the pistol shrimp at 5 (not because it doesn't move sand but because it's going to be localized pretty much all the time near its borrow). The diamond watchmen goby would be at least a 8. It pretty much sift 90% of the time when it's active and all over the tank every day.

[goldmullet]

Thanks for the insight on the yellow goby. So if my substrate is the finest white sand you can buy like finer than sugar. The diamond won't make my water all
Cloudy right? Like stirring it up all the time?

[jbadd99]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

Thanks for the insight on the yellow goby. So if my substrate is the finest white sand you can buy like finer than sugar. The diamond won't make my water all
Cloudy right? Like stirring it up all the time?

I have Oolite sand too. You might notice a few pieces of sand floating around near the bottom as he sifts, but the water will still appear clear. Because he actually "sifts" as he goes, most of the sand stays around the bottom of the tank where he picked it up from.

[goldmullet]

Perfect so it sounds like I'm good to go. I'm excited. Thanks or the help.

[dzhuo]

It would most certainly going to make your tank cloudy but that's the point of cleaning right? A lot of the really fine stuff are really dust, broke down waste and debris you want them out of the tank. The goby helps you to get them to the water column, down the overflow and to the skimmer.

After a few days of semi-cloudyness, your tank should clear up. Make sure you get enough food to the bottom of the tank so the goby doesn't starve.

[jbadd99]

Originally Posted by dzhuo

Make sure you get enough food to the bottom of the tank so the goby doesn't starve.

A few sinking pellets every day should be plenty... Mine caught anything that made it to the bottom.

[dzhuo]

It might or might not be enough. Mine certainly eats a lot more than "a few sinking pellets". The only way to know for sure is grow, coloration and pay attention to its belly - it should be full and round all the time.

[thebkramer]

Tagging along
not trying to hijack OP.. just a quick question

Does the diamond make burrows all over or just one burrow??

[Lemeshianos]

Originally Posted by thebkramer

Tagging along
not trying to hijack OP.. just a quick question

Does the diamond make burrows all over or just one burrow??

And how deep should the sand bed be? I plan on a shallow sand bed and would like to know what would the minimum height be be for a diamond goby.