What's a good goby?

[count mackula]

Since the demise of my sand perch (RIP Mr. Feisty), My sand bed has been too stagnant. I would like to add a goby (maybe Jawfish? suggestions?) to scoot about in the sand.

My current tank inhabitants are:

Yellowtail Blenny (2 1/2")
Flame Hawk (2 1/2"')
Coral Beauty (1.5")
Tomato Clown (1")
4 Chromis (3/4 - 1")

My tank is not for pushovers, but nothing too mean. What would be a good goby to add in with these guys? I like fish with character.

 

[cardgenius]

Yellow watch-man gobys do a decent job on sand siffting. You can even add a pistol shrimp later on.

 

[Dave Cox]

My Orange Spot Goby is a non-stop digger ! He's been in my 200g 6ft tank for about 2 months now and the difference to the substrate is astonishing. He's about 2 1/2" long and has covered every inch of the tank !

 

[The steven liu]

I am not sure how big your tank is but just though you want to know that some of these gobies can get up to 6 or 7 inches, pretty big for a smaller tank. I have a yellow watchman but it never shows its face other than feeding time. However from time to time I can see clouds of sand coming out from under the rocks when he goes to work.

 

[gobygoby]

I have a pink spot watchman that has been a model citizen for 5 years! moderate digging....he wont move your sand into one big pile in the back of the tank.

he is always out and eats great!

 

[tedmc2]

I have a yellow head sleeper goby that I like. Kind of plain though. There's a couple nice looking sand sifter gobies on liveaquaria.com. The Diamond Watchman and Sleeper Blue Dot Goby look kind of cool.

 

[ACBlinky]

Just a word of warning - I've got a hawkfish and some dwarf angels in my 65g, and had a pair of saddlebacks as well (since moved to their own tank). Starting with the clowns, then the hawk, then everyone else, they ganged up on my pair of sixspot sleeper gobies and killed them. Adding a goby to your tank might result in the same behaviour; I'd get a fairly large goby, rearrange the rockwork and add the goby with the lights off. Then watch the other fish carefully for signs of agression.

 

[salt newbie01]

I have a rainford goby how is very diligent at sifting sand. He does not pile it up but is constantly working my sand bed. He's pretty cool looking also. Very good temperment. just my .02

 

[overCee]

How about an engineer goby? They are very cool looking and build all sorts of tunnels under the sand. I don't know what size your tank is though. They get quite large.

 

[SDguy]

I like my randall's goby. Pretty spunky little thing, even to my springeri pseudo in a small tank. Definitely helps to have burrows to sleep in, aka having a pistol shrimp with him.

 

[count mackula]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7162445#post7162445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ACBlinky
Just a word of warning - I've got a hawkfish and some dwarf angels in my 65g, and had a pair of saddlebacks as well (since moved to their own tank). Starting with the clowns, then the hawk, then everyone else, they ganged up on my pair of sixspot sleeper gobies and killed them. Adding a goby to your tank might result in the same behaviour; I'd get a fairly large goby, rearrange the rockwork and add the goby with the lights off. Then watch the other fish carefully for signs of agression.

Yeah, I realize most of my fish are semi-aggressive. Nano tank gobies will not work, I need to get something with a bit of fight in it. I was thinking about a tiger stripe goby. Anyone have experience?

 

[count mackula]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7161636#post7161636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cardgenius
Yellow watch-man gobys do a decent job on sand siffting. You can even add a pistol shrimp later on.

Wouldn't the hawk eat the pistol shrimp? Is the goby that good a watchman?