sandsifting goby problem

[davidhughes85]

I have a sandsifting goby in my tank and my water is slightly cloudy and wont clear completely up...I think it might be his activities, or it coul dbe just because my tank is new. Does any one have any experience with sand sifters in really fine sand? I dhate to get rid of him because hes very interesting to watch but i will for teh sake of having clarity back in my tank

 

[DDS4]

Had one. Gave him right back for that very reason.

Entertaining as hell to watch but he was also rearranging the sand underneath the rockwork. And you can forget about putting corals near the sand. It will get covered.

 

[davidhughes85]

and also what do you feed tehse guys i dont know if hes getting food sifting my sand or not

 

[davidhughes85]

did he make the water slightly cloudy also?

 

[RLMainers]

We got rid of ours because they make a mess. Just like DDS4 said.
And, yes, our water, which is normally crystal clear, was cloudy all the time. What a pain in the a** to catch, too! Good luck!

 

[BenH98]

I have a Goby that I love! She doesn't cloud up my water at all, nor does she cover the corals with sand. I guess it just depends on the coin flip of what you will get

I feed my Goby brine shrimp. I use a turkey baster and shoot some shrimp down in front of her and she eats it up

 

[ACBlinky]

My pair are constantly digging and rearranging the sand. They sometimes kick up a little dust cloud that causes temporary cloudiness, but the tank is clear most of the time.
I feed mine by using a pipette to inject brine/mysis/plankton underneath the sand so they can sift it out. They're 2.5" and 3" and can go through two cubes of frozen food in a day. The biggest problem I have with these fish is the volume of food they need to stay fat and healthy.

 

[mudskiper]

I also had that same probelem but it soon whent away.I think that onece he gets the very fine sand all stired up and it get caught in the filter a few time it should clear up.Also you need to watch and make shur that he does not cause you rock to fall i had that happen and that is not fun.

 

[whiteshark]

I love my goby! keeps the sand clean, doesn't kick up dust, and readily takes frozen foods (actually outcompetes the orchid dottyback!) He does deposite a little sand on my crocea, which is on the bottom. But I will be moving it anyway, so no worries. He only made one little cave under a rock, but did not cause an avalanche. Of course it is only like 2 1/2 in long.

 

[yogisfriend]

I want a goby! I put all my rocks on the bottom, then put sand around them just for that reason--aquarium avalanche not good.

 

[RLMainers]

This is the one we had: Sleeper Gold Head Goby (Valencienna strigata) and he was 7 inches long. I guess the larger the fish, the bigger the mess.

 

[mnewsome]

I loved my sleeper goby, had him for about a year and a half. Finally, he died of starvation I guess. He just withered up to skin and bones, it was a terrible site. At one time he was fat and happy, he even ate frozen foods. I really don't know what started him downhill.

 

[JENnKerry]

I've had my blue cheek sleeper for almost a year. He's almost six inches long and eats like a pig. In fact he eats whatever I put in the tank, including nori. Sure he sifts the sand but I guess it's ok since it's a fish only. But I've never noticed the water getting cloudy from it.

 

[mnewsome]

I never had cloudy water either and mine constantly sifted.