I would really like to add a tiger sleeper goby to my sps tank, however it's bare bottom. Has anyone had long term success with this goby in a non substrate tank? I have one on hold for me at a LFS and has been eating frozen/pellets for over a month. Any chance it will live long in this barebottom tank?
keeping Valenciennea wardii goby without sand
- Thread starter Felixc
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michael_cb_125
New member
While the fish may survive for a while, this is not the ideal habitat.
The fish would be stressed much more than normal, and as such would have a drastically shortened life span..........
~Michael
The fish would be stressed much more than normal, and as such would have a drastically shortened life span..........
~Michael
With the absense of sand, wouldn't they just sift whatever is available, like detritus? My thinking is, if the goby is readily eating prepared food and is a healthy weight, sifting sand is just something for them to kill time. Having one of these goby would definitely help keep the bottom cleaner and perhaps detritus free. I guess the only way to know for sure to is to try it out.
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
While slightly different, numerous diamond watchman gobies have starved to death while eating prepared foods, so the sifting isn't just to "kill time"
If you are having detritus issues in your barebottom tank, you are having flow issues -- either not in the right areas, and/or not enough of it. Address it that way, and not putting in a fish that isn't appropriate for your set up.
blennielove
New member
Just my 2 cents...
I did an experiment a while back while quarantining my Tiger goby, I have a 55 gallon tank and half of it has 3 inches of sand while the other side was completely bare. The goby did not like the side without sand even if it provided more areas to hide. He would sit and arrange his little sand dunes, sifts and sifts.
We have to remember that in keeping these animals, are we merely wanting them to survive or to thrive?
Please also make sure that your tank is solidly covered, they are know to jump out of the tank.
I did an experiment a while back while quarantining my Tiger goby, I have a 55 gallon tank and half of it has 3 inches of sand while the other side was completely bare. The goby did not like the side without sand even if it provided more areas to hide. He would sit and arrange his little sand dunes, sifts and sifts.
We have to remember that in keeping these animals, are we merely wanting them to survive or to thrive?
Please also make sure that your tank is solidly covered, they are know to jump out of the tank.
I agree with Todd, a fish just isn't the answer here. When my tank was barebottom, it was almost impossible to keep ALL detritus suspended, I get that. But you can get your flow adjusted so that the detritus basically just collects in a couple piles. Super easy to siphon out during a water change.
As stated, the sleeper gobies eat the microfauna in the sand bed. They aren't just sifting for the sake of something to do. They are actively eating while they sift.
Wolverine
Premium Member
Even ignoring the correct posts above mine, if you have enough detritus for the fish to sift through, you have much bigger problems ahead for this tank, and probably shouldn't be adding anything.
I fully understand what everyone is saying. By nature, this fish live, eat, and sleep on the sand. However, in an aquarium there is no absolute one way of keep animals alive. I want to try something different to see if it's possible to keep this goby healthy for long term without the sand. Using this goby to help with detritus was only a second thought, it's not the primary reason for wanting it. If you have more personal experience, please share.
Why bother making this thread if you weren't going to listen to any of the advice given anyway? You ask a question, everyone says don't do it and provide a variety of good reasons not to, and then you say I'm going to do it anyway.
Wolverine
Premium Member
I agree with Stumped. You started the thread asking for advice. After getting some you didn't like, you kept re-asking the question in hopes of getting the answer you wanted to hear, and now you're intending to ignore all said advice anyway.
While it's true that there's no one way to keep any given fish, the fact of the matter is that there's a tremendous amount of cumulative reef-keeping knowledge in this thread. There's not enough time to make all the mistakes possible in this hobby, so it's important to learn from others.
While it's true that there's no one way to keep any given fish, the fact of the matter is that there's a tremendous amount of cumulative reef-keeping knowledge in this thread. There's not enough time to make all the mistakes possible in this hobby, so it's important to learn from others.
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
Might want to tone down the attitude quite a bit.
Wolverine
Premium Member
Your first post is essentially asking how to keep this fish alive, since you wondered how long it will last. People are giving you better ideas on how to keep it alive (or to avoid killing it, depending on how you want to look at it). The idea here is to foster better reefkeeping, and often that means going beyond the question asked and looking at the bigger picture.
I've given you the advice that would help, whether you choose to follow it is up to you. I've seen this tried several times, and it's never ended well. I haven't done it in my own tanks, primarily because I think it's a stupid idea, and, as noted above, I like to learn from the mistakes of others.
Yep, I do.
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