Best Sand Sifting Goby

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by thebkramer

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

The current one I have makes a single burrow. The previous one I had made 2 but only use 1.

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by Lemeshianos

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.

My sand bed is .5". The goby, however, moves some sands near it's burrow to make it deeper.

[djkms]

+1 on Diamond goby. Best investment I have made for my substrate. Snails will not keep up with the maintenance of a sandbed. I agree with dzhuo, the cloudy water is a good thing, that means the goby is doing its job and doing it well. My goby still clouds my water on occasion but only when it cleans spots that rarely get disturbed.

My goby has his area which he tends to the most and has "dart holes" under 3 or so rocks but he has cleaned my whole substrate in a 125. Hardest worker in my tank by far and probably the best member of my CUC.

[goldmullet]

Hey does it need to be housed with a refugium attached to the tank?

see from liveaquria here "need to have live sand as the substrate, and an attached populated refugium"

Are they easy to keep alive?

[djkms]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

Hey does it need to be housed with a refugium attached to the tank?

see from liveaquria here "need to have live sand as the substrate, and an attached populated refugium"

Are they easy to keep alive?

If that information is based upon available food then I am not sure. My Diamond goby eats pellets and rods food when I broadcast feed. He doesn't actively swim in the water column to get food but he will place himself below the herd and "jump" up to grab food when its in the water and near him.

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

Are they easy to keep alive?

I don't think this particular goby needs live sand or a fuge. It would help but not strictly necessary. However, if you have live rock or a cup of live sand to seed your tank, your sand will eventually become live in a few months. Having said that, your tank would not be large enough to support a diamond on pods & micro-fungas alone even if you start with live sand with a fuge. My tank has a 4'x3' sandbed and I don't believe this is enough. This is the reason why I stressed that you must be willing to provide enough food for the goby to eat. Failing to do that, it will most likely starve to dead within a few months. I would consider this particular sand sifting goby somewhere between easy and moderate.

[RcToners]

Well here is another +1 for the Diamond Goby!

My diamond goby eats anything and everything, he is a PIG. He does a great job cleaning and sifting the sand bed all day.

As far as burrows, he makes a few but usually just stays in one. My sand bed varies from 1/2" to 1 & 1/2" , he will pile up sand where needed to make a burrow.

[goldmullet]

So I bought the Diamond watchman goby and he's been in the tank for 2 days. I have seen him once but how ling before he starts sifting the sand? He Hides under the live rock all day. Does it take a while for him to get comfortable?

[thebkramer]

its because of this thread that I went and bought a Diamond Goby too!!!
Here is my Goby Thread with the same question:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2025158

mine is also still hiding.. he peaked out from his rock today.. ate.. then buried himself under again within seconds lol

Enjoy yours!! I know I already am mine!!

[CLisPRO]

I agree with watchman/pistol just got it today and they are already stirring it up pretty nicely.

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

So I bought the Diamond watchman goby and he's been in the tank for 2 days. I have seen him once but how ling before he starts sifting the sand? He Hides under the live rock all day. Does it take a while for him to get comfortable?

Yes it will take him a while to get comfortable. It's not uncommon for this particular goby to hide or do "nothing" in the first couple of weeks. Once it settles, however, it will make up for the lack of fast start with vigorous sifting behavior.

[ian09]

I had a diamond goby as well. Great for sifting the sand, one is more than enough in your tank IME, make sure your rock is anchored in well as mine constantly dug under my rock and created little hills where he spat out the sand. The bottom of my rocks were always partially buried so be careful with your low leveled coral and a tank cover is a definite must as mine jumped out as well.

[goldmullet]

Ok sounds good. So I'll let the little
Guy settle first before he cleans the sand. Also will any pistol shrimp pair up with him? Or will it only happen sometimes?

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

Also will any pistol shrimp pair up with him? Or will it only happen sometimes?

It will not make association with the pistol shrimp.

[SushiGirl]

Mine paired up with a blue coral-banded shrimp (max size 1 1/2"). It was neat to see the Diamond, a 2" red-headed goby, and the tiny shrimp all share the same burrow. The shrimp cleaned the Diamond in return for protection.

You can see the blur of the shrimp on the right here, he had been cleaning the goby's mouth & I didn't get to the camera in time.

[goldmullet]

All the post above say the diamond Goby and the pistol shrimp team up and make a great pair. True?

[muffe]

I have a sleeper banded goby and fine sand substrate. If I don't want him to sift the sand I put nori on a clip and he attacks it as primary until he's stuffed. If I don't put food on the clip he goes back to his sifting routine. I'll confess he does litter the base of my rocks with sand but its about 3" to 4" of the bottom. If I want something sand free I just place it 5" or above the substrate.

I love him, for being the largest fish in my tank he is the most shy. He's a true gentle giant.

[Sport507]

If you want corals that might like to live in the sand bed think twice about a sand sifting gobie. I have a dragon gobie and I would give anything to catch him I hate that fish. When he was small it was a big deal but now that he is about 4-1/2 to 5 inches long he makes MOUNTAINS! all over the tank. No coral is safe in the sand bed without getting covered up. I didn't think for enough ahead.

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by goldmullet

All the post above say the diamond Goby and the pistol shrimp team up and make a great pair. True?

No. I don't think it will. This particular goby is not known to associate with pistol shrimp. When you think of a pair like this, the pistol is the main maintainer of the burrow while the goby serves as standing guard. Both wouldn't venture out far from the burrow and more or less relies on food drifting to them. The sand sifting goby, on the other hand, spend majority of its time outside of the burrow and looking for food. It would not be a good candidate for the shrimp as a guard. If you are looking for a shrimp / goby pair, I would look elsewhere. However, strange relationship does develop in a closed system (think of a clown fish hosting unusual corals that almost never happen in nature) so it's possible the goby would tolerate the pistol shrimp. Or when the pistol shrimp has no other alternative, it might pair up with the goby as a last resort.

[SushiGirl]

I have to agree on the pairing with a pistol. I'd look into a shrimp goby for that. The watchman or sleepers wouldn't really get any benefit of a pairing with a pistol. In my current tank, the 6-spot sleeper dug all the burrows (except the one the pistol dug for itself), and the shrimp goby just takes advantage of what the sleeper dug. I think the shrimp goby has figured out there's a pistol now, cuz he's starting to hang out over there, but I don't think the pistol has figured it out yet. The sleeper isn't the least bit interested in any of the shrimp, including the cleaner.

[dzhuo]

For those who are looking for a goby that would associate with a pistol, the Amblyeleotris randalli (aka Randall or Orange Stripe Prawn Goby) is a good choice. The goby will not, however, sift sand. There are lots of other gobies that known to pair with a pistol.

[SushiGirl]

This is the shrimp goby I have, orange-spotted shrimp goby. It's supposed to sift sand, but it's been very rare with mine, and then just a mouthful a couple of times in 6 months. As you can see, the mouth is built different from the watchman and sleepers who are active sifters.



The 6-spot sleeper

[Angel*Fish]

I don't know how current this info is, or if we know something now that wasn't known when the list was made. I've never had one as I have a dsb, so personally I'm clueless about them. Just want to insert a word of caution. This fish is listed on RC's list of

Fish Best Left For Experienced Or Knowledgeable Hobbyists:

Diamond, Golden Head, Sleeper Gobies (Valenciennea spp.): Sometimes starve to death even when accepting prepared foods, tanks with large sandbeds containing lots of food will help as will frequent feedings when they will eat, mated pairs may help as well

[SushiGirl]

Yeah, I've been seeing that since I got back into the hobby this time around. Not sure how/why that got started from when I was in the hobby before and haven't seen anything definitive on it other than "recommendations" from web sites and individuals. So far haven't seen any factual backup for it. Would love to see it if someone has it. I do notice that it says "sometimes" though.

[dzhuo]

Originally Posted by Angel*Fish

Fish Best Left For Experienced Or Knowledgeable Hobbyists:[/B][/SIZE]

Diamond, Golden Head, Sleeper Gobies[/I] (Valenciennea spp.): Sometimes starve to death even when accepting prepared foods, tanks with large sandbeds containing lots of food will help as will frequent feedings when they will eat, mated pairs may help as well

I don't believe the after-mentioned gobies are hard to maintain long term even in a medium size tank. Unlike other sand sifters, this particular one is quiet hardy provided that you are willing to feed it daily. A few years back, there were generalized statements about certain sand sifters which do not accept any prepared food and their long term survival is low. This slowly turns into all sand sifters are impossible to keep. There were also lots of misconceptions about DSB (also a few years back) which would provide enough micro-fungas for the sand sifters to feed on to a point you don't need to feed him. For those who are following these recommendations, we certainly know they weren't true so lots of people end up not having a good experience with these fish. Now that it becomes more apparent that it's highly unlikely a sand bed in a closed system would provide anything nearly enough food these fish need so we know we need to feed.