Paganinisrvnge
In Memoriam
I have seen a few at a LFS and they seem awesome for keepin the sandbed nice and clean but I heard that they can starve and make too much of a mess with the sand. Does anyone have experience with these fish?
Gold head Sleeper goby experiences
- Thread starter Paganinisrvnge
- Start date
milkman55
New member
I had a mated pair of golden head sleepers for about 15 months. Two of my favorite fish.
Both mine ate prepared foods well, especially mysis.
Had a severe algae outbreak and they both died within a week of each other unexpectedly.
Still not sure why.
One caution, they make one hell of a mess with all the sand they filter. Pretty much everything within 6" of your sandbed is susceptible to being coated with sand.
Both mine ate prepared foods well, especially mysis.
Had a severe algae outbreak and they both died within a week of each other unexpectedly.
Still not sure why.
One caution, they make one hell of a mess with all the sand they filter. Pretty much everything within 6" of your sandbed is susceptible to being coated with sand.
groundpound4200
New member
I had one that would eat prepared food but it wasnt very good at catching enough so if your sand bed isnt full of food it may slowly waste away like mine did 
EdKruzel
Premium Member
Yes they are cool looking and docile, but best left in the sea. They are not sand bed maintenance fish, they are sand bed predators. A healthy sand bed is teeming with pods, worms and other fauna, but a single sand sifting goby like the Yellowhead will decimate that life in even a 100gal tank in mere months; maybe sooner.
Many will attempt to eat from the water column, but as stated above will eventually wither away from starvation. I would recommend a watchman goby instead. They are quite hardy and readily adapt to aquarium life.
Many will attempt to eat from the water column, but as stated above will eventually wither away from starvation. I would recommend a watchman goby instead. They are quite hardy and readily adapt to aquarium life.
Paganinisrvnge
In Memoriam
Thanks for the replies everyone. I had thought about a Diamond watchman goby before. I guess I'll stick with that.
Tmeyer220
New member
I have had a golden head goby for nearly a year maybe even a little longer. He has doubled in size to 3.75-4" makes a huge mess with sand but a joy to watch. I dont have corals in there beceause of sand everywhere, but thats ok i guess. I feed mysis and brine daily and between time he sifts my 2" sand bed non stop. Quite a joy to watch.
I had one that would eat prepared food but it wasnt very good at catching enough so if your sand bed isnt full of food it may slowly waste away like mine did
That seems to be the general experience over time. Also, if you have corals, you will not be happy with the mess they make. :uhoh3:
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