A Sand Sifting Goby

[Windy Miller]

I'm looking to source a sand sifting goby for my 3 foot shallow cube. It's an unusual setup in as much as I have several species of seagrass planted. This has the upside of a very open display with a large sand bed area for the goby to feed from.

I would like the best goby to fit the job of cleaning the substrate without going deep enough to unearth any seagrass roots. Substrate falling on the seagrass isn't really an issue as it would be if it were covering corals.

So I'm look for people's opinions on their sand sifting gobies. I'm assuming most species are fairly shallow feeders but would like some experienced owners to back that up.

If I had to pick a species at this point it would be a Banded Goby (Amblygobius phalaena). My only concern is its maximum size... ....would prefer a smaller species.

 

[snorvich]

Aren't you concerned that with that sized tank, that the goby would deplete the sand bed?

 

[FlaReefDude]

yellowhead sleeper goby. they are the best.

 

[bhuddafunk]

I have a diamond Goby in a 46 gallon Bowfront, it lives under one of the peices of live rock. It moves a lot of sand, all day long. It has created a burrow under just about all of my foundation live rock. All it does is shift sand. Keep a lid on your tank, I think some have a habit of jumping.

 

[Windy Miller]

Aren't you concerned that with that sized tank, that the goby would deplete the sand bed?

I'm not too concerned or I wouldn't consider housing one but without any previous experience of sifters I'm happy to hear any arguments to the contrary. I think it is worth re-emphasizing I do have a very open aquascape - pretty much all of the 9 square feet of sand bed is available, running to about 6 inches deep in places.

 

[Windy Miller]

yellowhead sleeper goby. they are the best.

Is this also known as the blue cheek goby? Do you have one, if so how long have you kept it? During my research there seems to be a school of thought that the blue cheeks don't live long in captivity (often less than 6 months).

I have a diamond Goby in a 46 gallon Bowfront, it lives under one of the peices of live rock. It moves a lot of sand, all day long. It has created a burrow under just about all of my foundation live rock. All it does is shift sand. Keep a lid on your tank, I think some have a habit of jumping.

Cheers bhudda. I do have a lid on the tank but not too keen on another burrower because they can uncover the seagrass roots. Does it venture out sifting across the sand bed in the day and then retreat to its burrow to sleep/hide?

 

[gradth]

have a diamond goby in both my tanks, mine only burrow under the rock it selects for his home. runs around the rest of the tank sifting sand all day. Not sure about plants though.

If you do, be aware they are jumpers. I think its trial and error on finding the right one. Mine in my 180 never goes more then 6 inches off the surface, unless it is coming up during feeding time. Had a few that have jumped. I found the ones that are not freaking out at the lfs do the best. They do a great job cleaning the sand.

 

[steelhead77]

I'm on my third. My first was a Yellow Headed sleeper. He would pick up a mouthful of sand, swim about halfway up the water column and let it go. It made for a very cloudy, messy tank. He got caught by a hitchhiker (now deceased) Rock Crab. The second was a Diamond Goby. He was a bulldozer. He moved A LOT of sand. Constantly. He would bury any corals on the sandbed. Constantly. After a couple months, he committed suicide. My third is a Ward's Sleeper Goby (Tiger Goby). He's perfect. He moves a fair amount of sand, but does not make a mess of things and has his one little burrow that he is constantly working on. He also has a great personality. We like him the best.