Burrowing gobies and sand grain size

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Gobies that burrow and sand sift obviously need sand as part of their habitat, but I wonder how important is grain size for these guys? Do they do alright with course grains like mesoflakes and reef flakes, or do they need finer grains?

Photo credit: @lba4590

 

[blaxsun]

The finer the better - especially with really small fish.

 

[PatW]

i had a pair of yellow headed jawfish years ago. They are small fish that make vertical burrows. I had them in a gravel substrate and it was coarse gravel (coral). They loved the stuff. For jawfish, you could just place a pile of coarse rubble where you want the jawfish. It might work. But your experience may vary.

When I have spots where the sand blows around, I just wash some coarser sand an dump some on the blow patch. The coarser stuff is more stable. You can have regional variances of sand size in your aquarium so if you guess wrong, it is not an irrevocable problem. Also you can remove sand by vacuuming or just scooping it out.

Another thing, I have seen gobies excavate under rocks. So strategically positioning small rocks would probably work too.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

The finer the better - especially with really small fish.

This is kinda what I was thinking.

i had a pair of yellow headed jawfish years ago. They are small fish that make vertical burrows. I had them in a gravel substrate and it was coarse gravel (coral). They loved the stuff. For jawfish, you could just place a pile of coarse rubble where you want the jawfish. It might work. But your experience may vary.

When I have spots where the sand blows around, I just wash some coarser sand an dump some on the blow patch. The coarser stuff is more stable. You can have regional variances of sand size in your aquarium so if you guess wrong, it is not an irrevocable problem. Also you can remove sand by vacuuming or just scooping it out.

Another thing, I have seen gobies excavate under rocks. So strategically positioning small rocks would probably work too.

Good thoughts on using variety in grain size.

 

[Bob Escher]

I use Fiji Pink I believe the size is 0.5-1.5mm. My gobies love it.
I keep my Vortechs a little more than halfway up the tank with no problems of blowing sand

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I have a mixture of Caribsea Fiji Pink and Tropic Eden Tonga Pink in my current tank and my diamond goby seems to love it. In my new tank, I'm using the TE Tonga Pink again, plus Caribsea Bahamas Oolite. When I get a blue spotted jawfish down the road, I plan to layer a little crushed coral and rubble rock around the base of the rock structures, for it to use to burrow.