Diamond gobys hard to keep?

[IveGotSunshine]

Hi all ,
Ive had 2 diamond gobies in my 220G at separate times and have lost both after a few months. Does anyone else find these hard to keep or am i doing something wrong? They are great while i have them, constantly sifting, fat and happy, 2 inch sand bed, and then they just disappear? (Egg crate over openings inside a canopy, no floor bodies). All my paramters are good, other 20 odd fish healthy, corals and inverts fine etc. Is there a particular fish that would big them? (Never seen them br messed with) idk. Thoughts?

Need a sand sifter of some sort, anyone reccomend anything else? (I dont thinj my tank is big enough for a starfish and the snails dont seem to do it or are picked off by the crabs.)

Thanks!

 

[Uncle99]

Diamond gobies need a mature sand bed for their micro Fauna food requirements.
You right, excellent sand sifters but maybe a bit too good.

Starfish generally don't survive long in cavity either as their foods can run out too.

The problem is more the crabs, otherwise I would employ 20 narussis snails which spend 9/10 of their time under and churning the sand. maybe a cucumber?

 

[OurCoralReef]

They are definitely jumpers and once they jump they continue flapping so can literally end up anywhere

They eat regular food with all the fish they sift as a extra or to dig holes

What other fish do you have maybe something is eating the fish

 

[Crooked Reef]

A few conchs would be good. Technically snails but pretty big so most hermits leave them be unless the hermit is really big and needs that shell. Careful if you go with a cucumber. I had one die and poison a 65 gallon. If you keep one, run carbon.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

IMO, I think these guys are nice looking but I have never seen someone keep them long term for more then a year...eventually they will starve and slowly get skinny and die off without you even realizing it. Most tend to disappear within 6 months for what ever reason.

 

[nereefpat]

Most end up starving or carpet surfing.

 

[T-dub]

I had one for a couple of years but as my lawnmower blenny got bigger they started to fight and eventually the blenny won. I had another that did some carpet surfing but I am trying again now. Had this one for a month or so and he seems fat and happy.

 

[D-Nak]

IMO, I think these guys are nice looking but I have never seen someone keep them long term for more then a year...eventually they will starve and slowly get skinny and die off without you even realizing it. Most tend to disappear within 6 months for what ever reason.

I've tried a few times and this is what always happens to me. Even the ones that seem to eat mysis and other foods still wither away. It seems like it doesn't matter how much they eat, they will still starve.

I read somewhere that in the wild, each one defends an area of 5,000 sq. feet of sand bed, which I'm guessing means that they need a lot of territory to feed upon (or else why defend it?).