Carpet surfing. AGAIN!!!

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

Well I bought my first lovely diamond goby last October. He was great! Kept my sand bed pristine, ate pellets etc. perfect tank mate. Last Sunday while fishing I got this picture

. The tank has a screen top covering the entire tank with no gaps etc. so I figured he must’ve got through the mesh. Well, I went to the lfs that day and picked up a large one that I thought wouldn’t be able to get through the mesh. This morning I found him on the floor ;Rage. So what should i do? Buy finer mesh and get another diamond goby? Or is there anything else that will do a good job cleaning the sand bed?

mtfish · Feb 8, 2020

Kind of hard to answer not knowing what size mesh you had. But it was obviously too big, so yes on smaller mesh. I use 1/4 mesh on my tank and it seems to work well. You say completely covered, but are there any gaps around pipes or other stuff? Fish will always find that "one spot" to launch themselves. Sorry for your loss.

Cell · Feb 8, 2020

If there is a small space anywhere, they will somehow find it.

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

mtfish said:
Kind of hard to answer not knowing what size mesh you had. But it was obviously too big, so yes on smaller mesh. I use 1/4 mesh on my tank and it seems to work well. You say completely covered, but are there any gaps around pipes or other stuff? Fish will always find that "one spot" to launch themselves. Sorry for your loss.

It is 1/4 inch mesh. Sorry, thought I mentioned that. And no, no gaps

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

Should I drop down to 1/8” mesh and try again? It’s just So frustrating. ;Dead

Crabs McJones · Feb 8, 2020

Where are you finding them? Front sides back?

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

Crabs McJones said:
Where are you finding them? Front sides back?

The first fish launched away, to the right of the picture and landed on the dog bed. The fish this morning was directly in front of the tank.

Crabs McJones · Feb 8, 2020

Weird, I would have guessed the back from the overflow sump area

vetteguy53081 · Feb 8, 2020

Looks like a nice setup.
Although possible with screen, looks like it may have gotten thru your overflow opening making it into the sump then taking the leap.

mtfish · Feb 8, 2020

If you really want this fish in your tank then 1/8 inch mesh would be an option. If it were me, I would find an alternative and stick with the 1/4 inch.

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Looks like a nice setup.
Although possible with screen, looks like it may have gotten thru your overflow opening making it into the sump then taking the leap.

I don’t think either of the fish could make it through the overflow. The top is covered and the slits are less than 1/8. Here’s a picture for reference. I tried to make carpet surfing an impossible feat. Guess I don’t try hard enough ;Hilarious

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

mtfish said:
If you really want this fish in your tank then 1/8 inch mesh would be an option. If it were me, I would find an alternative and stick with the 1/4 inch.

It’s not a necessity if I can find a better option. But I do want something that will keep the sb clean.

DeniseAndy · Feb 8, 2020

I had some fish that were just bound and determined to find any tiny hole, gap, chance to get out. Must have been being spooked or bullied. Anyway, the 1/4" is really the smallest I have seen that allows the light to go through nicely. Where would one get 1/8"?
I wish you luck finding an alternative. Maybe another type of sand sifter? Even larger specimen?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 8, 2020

Ive had clowns and firefish gobies get thru slits this very size. Youd be surprised.

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

Do you guys think the leopard wrasse will do enough to keep the sand bed turned over? It sleeps in the sb every night and makes quite a disturbance but do these fish stay in the same spot or change locations?

45ZoaGarden · Feb 8, 2020

I could definitely get a bigger goby. The last one was about 2-1/2”. They sell 1/8 netting at BRS

DeniseAndy said:
I had some fish that were just bound and determined to find any tiny hole, gap, chance to get out. Must have been being spooked or bullied. Anyway, the 1/4" is really the smallest I have seen that allows the light to go through nicely. Where would one get 1/8"?
I wish you luck finding an alternative. Maybe another type of sand sifter? Even larger specimen?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 8, 2020

45ZoaGarden said:
Do you guys think the leopard wrasse will do enough to keep the sand bed turned over? It sleeps in the sb every night and makes quite a disturbance but do these fish stay in the same spot or change locations?

It should. Also a few blue leg hermits will turn sandbed over as will nassarius snails

Flippers4pups · Feb 8, 2020

If you believe they can get through the 1/4" mesh, double up on the 1/4" mesh and stagger the mesh so that it makes the mesh holes smaller. A little adjusting when placing the mesh on the frame works. I've done this in the past and works pretty well.