Diamond Goby

[davidadelp]

I just bought this guy because I use to have one and it was awesome I loved its personality and everything and that he sifts through the sand and keeps it stirred up and looking white but I FORGOT how bad he screws up your sand bed. lol I come home to find mountains of sand EVERYWHERE and alot of my zoas covered up completly. He has also decided to make the unused side of my tank "his" he has dug himself a cave under my live rock and continues to pull sand out and spit it where ever he feels necessary.


Who all has this fish in there tank or one similiar? Are they more trouble then helpful in your opinion?

 

[rogermccray]

I have one that does the same thing, I had to rearrange a coral or two because he decided to make a mountain of sand there. That being said I really enjoy watching him, he is the most entertaining fish in my tank. Always at the front of the tank sifting sand or throwing a snail away from his "home."

I think the aggravation is completely worth it for the fish. They do kick up a sand storm at times but my sand always looks nice and clean and I find that to be totally worth it.

 

[Tradewinds]

I think the aggravation is completely worth it for the fish. They do kick up a sand storm at times but my sand always looks nice and clean and I find that to be totally worth it.

+1 - I love my Diamond Goby, it's a crowd pleaser.

 

[superrmario]

I just bought this guy because I use to have one and it was awesome I loved its personality and everything and that he sifts through the sand and keeps it stirred up and looking white but I FORGOT how bad he screws up your sand bed. lol I come home to find mountains of sand EVERYWHERE and alot of my zoas covered up completly. He has also decided to make the unused side of my tank "his" he has dug himself a cave under my live rock and continues to pull sand out and spit it where ever he feels necessary.


Who all has this fish in there tank or one similiar? Are they more trouble then helpful in your opinion?

They are tempermental in my eyes.

I had a 3 inch Orange spotted Diamond goby in my 29g Cube. He bulldozed my whole tank in one night which caused a rock avalanche. I placed the rock on the glass and he was good for the duration he was in there. I moved him to my 72g and he was a model citizen. He never covered corals such as plates and anything on the sandbed.

I purchased a 2 inch guy for the 29g to replace the guy I put into the 72g. he covered everything within 2 hours. I had to move a plate coral to my 72g so the goby wouldnt kill it. Since then he has been good, but is non stop on his quest to move all of my sand.

The 3in guy in my 72g decided to carpet surf the other day while we werent home. RIP..

 

[davidadelp]

I used to have a pink spot but this one is a orange spot he is about 4-5inches long. As long as he stays over in his end of the tank where he has his cave dug im happy I just dont want him bulldozing and covering my zoa frags again that was crazy when I come home to find it. lol.

Ive got a screen over the top of my 65g so no worries of any of my fish jumping out. I want to get a rimless tank so I dont know how to rig a screen on top of it and not make it look bad.

 

[thebkramer]

Love my Diamond Goby (Dozer)!!!!

when I first put Dozer in the tank.. he did just that.. BULLDOZED!! he was a machine lol and covered anything that was towards the bottom of the tank. But once he got adjusted to the tank.. he seemed to calm down some. I no longer deal with crazy piles all over or him loading sand on any and everything. Maybe he just needed to get it out of his system? hahaha
I've had him now for almost 2yrs! :bounce3: I can't imagine my tank without him! They are AMAZING at keeping the sand clean!!!!

 

[alton]

I love my pair, they are worth the trouble in my book

 

[Khemul]

I have a Golden Head Sleeper in my tank (relative of the Diamond). It probably depends heavily on what you want to keep on whether they are worth it. None of my corals seem to mind, but he definitely does rearrange things to his liking.

For a while I was keeping about a dozen Kenya Tree frags on the sand bed. Then noticed one day that as I kept adding frags to the collection the number didn't seem to go up at all. Turned out the Sleeper was trying to plug a hole in the roof of his cave using the small rocks the frags were being attached too. Lost about half-a-dozen small frags to that new roof. But he left the rest alone. Also learned not to keep small pieces of macro algae on the sandbed, since he'll pick up anything under a couple inches in size and try to accessorize his home with it.


But overall, as fall as destruction goes, he's nothing compared to the two large hermit crabs (they live in fighting conch shells, which luckily are pretty common down here). Those things will turn over rocks 4-5x their size just to see what is underneath (food? nope...next rock!) And I tolerate them, even after they damaged a Pipe Organ colony to satisfy their own curiosity, so no reason to get upset with the Goby who only dumps sand everywhere.

Plus I think the Sand-Sifting gobies are still pretty calm when it comes to sand movement. If you really want to see crazy changes to your tank, try an Engineer. :spin2: