Diamond Goby Question

[bimmer88]

I heard these guys are really good at keeping sand clean... will they just dig a burrow and only sift sand around the burrow??? or will they travel throughout the tank sifting sand everywhere???

 

[mcdonaldtj]

They will travel throughout the tank but they will make a home under a rock and stack sand on it every night. You will end up with a big pile of sand that you will have to move around occasionally.

 

[bluetang66]

I've had one for over a year, probably the hardest worker in my tank, keeps the sand nearly perfect.

 

[apshooter]

All true. They make a great sand sifters but can bury a lot of stuff. I don't think there is one grain of sand in my tank that doesn't get sifted regularly.

 

[d0ughb0y]

it will clean your "entire" sand bed, everyday. it will make other sand sifters look like slackers.
it will find a cave to sleep in, and pile up sand in front of it really high every night. but will clear it out the next day. that's what my diamond goby did every day like clockwork. it recently died because it swallowed a whole cube of frozen mysis.

 

[Indymann99]

My Orange diamond goby was the best thing for cleaning my sand bed.

Sadly he perished for unknown reason after about 1.5 yrs (he would eat mysis, flake, pellet, so he didnt starve and all the rest of the fish are fine..) Starting up my Qt this week and will have a replacement in 4-6 weeks.

The sandstorm was BAD for the almost 4 weeks. I changed out filter sock every other day.



But rewarded with nice white sand

 

[goochesfish]

the only time when my tank is not cloudy from the sand storm it creates is when it's asleep at night. Otherwise sand is all clean.

 

[Reefski's]

but the sand is also cleaned of any organisms that help process waste in the tank.

 

[dg3147]

Perfectly clean sandbed.
<a href="http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy22/david_gutkin/?action=view&current=IMG_0386.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy22/david_gutkin/IMG_0386.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

...but sand all over my acans on the bottom:
<a href="http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy22/david_gutkin/?action=view&current=f9e4071c.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy22/david_gutkin/f9e4071c.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Still, a great fish.

 

[mcdonaldtj]

Mine doesnt go all the way to the bottom of the sand, it mostly hits the top 1/2" of sand all the way around. If you have a dead spot where stuff settles then he will find it LOL. then there is always stuff floating in the water column because of him, but that way it get in the overflow and filtered out. Yep you will have to change your sock quite often with a Diamond .

 

[solitude127]

Be careful with these guys as well, they're jumpers.

 

[bimmer88]

picked one of these guys up two days ago... i haven't seen him around since i put him in my tank.... is it typical for these guys to be scared and hide for a few days before they come out??? i've got a 180 gallon... should i pick up a 2nd one? do they fight each other?? Thanks for the replies guys

 

[ddmiller38]

+1 on them being jumpers

 

[414driver]

My LFS won't even bring them in...have lost too many jumpers!!!

 

[Lynnmw1208]

picked one of these guys up two days ago... i haven't seen him around since i put him in my tank.... is it typical for these guys to be scared and hide for a few days before they come out??? i've got a 180 gallon... should i pick up a 2nd one? do they fight each other?? Thanks for the replies guys

Don't pick up a second one they will probably fight. any fish you add new to the tank will hide for a little bit and come on when they feel comfortable. Just observe and make sure that no one is bullying him into hiding.

 

[bimmer88]

I think i've figured out why he hides so much... i've caught my mystery wrasse trying to attack him a few times...

 

[Grant W]

Yep thats a mystery wrasse, mine doesn't like my gobies either lol

 

[tmb22]

I had a diamond goby for one day. He was a great cleaner, but jumped out of the tank the very first night. Egg crate will not hold these guys in! Make sure you have some cover that will contain these guys. 1/4" inch webbing is probably the minimum.

 

[aleonn]

Just wondering, what size sand grain, and how deep should the sand be to keep these guys?

 

[Snookster]

I've got sugar sized sand about 2-21/2" deep. Mine "remodels" my sand bed often. It will often go to the bottom if there are lot's of "yummies" in the area he's working. Make sure your rock piles are secure too, they'll work around and under them if they can.

They do jump, I fished mine out of the overflow 3 times in the first week. But I have a canopy, so he never made it to the floor. Very skittish fish. But it eats anything that hits the bottom, flakes, pellets and anything frozen.

Great fish to watch work

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OfpH-wtaSpE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OfpH-wtaSpE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>