Yellow watchman goby

[greg1786]

I have a diamond watchman goby and he keeps my sandbed immaculate. A friend of mine wants a sand sifting goby but doesnt want the same one i have for whatever reason. He likes the ywg but im having trouble with conflicted info on whether they are sandsifters. Anyone have experience with this fish sifting or not sifting sand?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

They will sift a small area of sand near an area which they will guard as their home, but they will not go around the whole tank sifting sand like a diamond goby. If you want a true sand sifter like a diamond goby look for something from the genus Valenciennea (gold head sleeper gobies are common).

 

[velvetelvis]

They're not sand-sifters, as far as I know. Prawn gobies (Stonogobiops and Cryptocentrus spp.) and sand-sifting gobies such as Valenciennea spp. are often lumped together in the trade, but they're entirely different fish.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

My YWG never sifted or burrowed into the sand at all. Before I added my pistol he would just find an area on the bottom naturally dug out with rock overhand and hang out there. I have a Randalls as well and same thing.

 

[Dmorty217]

Pink spot, or yellow head will sift sand like your diamond goby does, the others just move enough sand to make a den under a rock

 

[greg1786]

Ok great thanks for the responses, so the tiger watchman is not a sand sifter either than correct?

 

[greg1786]

Anyone????

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Tiger "watchman" is from the genus Valenciennea - so it is a sand sifter.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

My YWG paired with a pistol shrimp sifts sand all the time. They are constantly moving sand around and rearranging their "home."

 

[Khemul]

My YWG paired with a pistol shrimp sifts sand all the time. They are constantly moving sand around and rearranging their "home."

There is a big difference between "sifting" and "burrowing".

Shrimp gobies, at best, burrow. That is if you get one that feels the need to actually dig out a burrow. Often though a non-bonded shrimp goby will just look for something that is close enough to resemble a burrow, and move around shells and large pieces of sand or small rocks to keep it up. A bonded shrimp goby will be constantly keeping house, since the shrimp is constantly rearranging things.


But, sifting is entirely different. Sifting is taking the whole upper layer of the sand and moving it. Not just a small area. The whole tank. Sand-sifting gobies will constantly take mouth fulls of sand from all over the tank, sift out the edible bits and drop the rest back down. And they will keep doing it and doing it until they've sifted the whole tank. And then they'll start again. Endlessly moving the whole upper layer of the sand bed.