Pink Spotted Goby

[Courtney13]

I am thinking of adding a sand sifting go by to my tank to sift through the sand and clean up left over food. My problem my LFS recommended the sand sifting starfish. I was under the impression this is what the starfish did not eat micro organisms and than starve (which is what I was just told by some other refers would happen). My question is, am I going to run into the same problem as the starfish?

 

[Neptune 555]

I have a yellow goby and he eats meaty foods... frozen that I add to the tank. He is a bit timid only darting out to take a mouthful and then retreating. He is a joy in the tank. I have about 2 inches of substrate for him and lots of rocks. He hangs in the substrate.

Good luck!
Neptune

 

[Marshall O]

What size tank do you have? You need a large and established sandbed in order for one to not starve to death.

 

[Sgchick]

My Yellow watchman goby and tiger pistol shrimp really keep my sand bed sifted. They are fun to watch and they are always visible.

http://youtu.be/CXh6gsMSSn8

 

[Irishdolphin]

You shouldn't have a starvation problem if you target feed the goby using a pipette or something similar

 

[SecretiveFish]

IME, no.

I had a pink spotted goby in my 65 for over a year before a mean lemon peel angel killed him... I now have one in my 150 and he has been doing well for a couple of months. I hope he will be around for years to come; I really like these fish!

Note, I have not had to target feed these guys. They seem to grab enough food on their own.

 

[eatbreakfast]

If you are getting the fish for sifting purposes, i would not get a pink spot goby, as they are a watchman goby and not a sifter.

If you want a sifting goby get a diamond goby. Diamond gobies are less likely to bury coral with sand than other species. But they are prone to jumping so make sure the tank is covered.

Diamond gobies are generally not picky about food either, as anything on the sand that is edible is readily consumed.

 

[Marshall O]

Diamond gobies are generally not picky about food either, as anything on the sand that is edible is readily consumed.

Eh, I don't think it is nearly this simple. In a smaller tank, they will deplete all available fauna and slowly starve to death. These are not fish that should be recommended to anyone with a smaller tank IMO.

 

[falconut]

Agree with eatbreakfast on the pinkspot. They aren't really a sand sifter, if that's what you're looking for. Mine would wait for food in the water column and only on rare occasions scoop sand. Not sure on the Diamond, from what I've read they sift, but for food. So, it might just starve.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Eh, I don't think it is nearly this simple. In a smaller tank, they will deplete all available fauna and slowly starve to death. These are not fish that should be recommended to anyone with a smaller tank IMO.

It is true that they sift for fauna, but they will eat anything on the sand that is edible. Pellets, frozen, tankmates that are slow and fit in their mouth, anything. They are not like a mandarin that needs to rely on the fauna your tank produces to survive(of which there are exceptions, but in general).

Not being appropriate for a small tank, I do agree with, as they can reach 7". Anything smaller than 50g they might outgrow.

 

[Irishdolphin]

It is true that they sift for fauna, but they will eat anything on the sand that is edible. Pellets, frozen, tankmates that are slow and fit in their mouth, anything.

+1 my diamond will eat live dwarf shrimp if he can catch one that the flow brings close to him