Does everybody regret their sand sifting fish?

[vanguard]

My 150g tank is currently ~6 weeks old and has brown diatoms on the sand bed. I've always REALLY valued a clean sand bed and I'm thinking of a pair of Sleeper Banded Gobys or maybe a Bella Goby.

As I dive deep in the research rabbit hole it's hard to ignore how many people regret their sand sifting fish.

Do you like yours? Can you tell me about it and its pros and cons?

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Diamond goby, my favorite! Loved watching her make hills sometimes lol so definitely would get again

 

[blecki]

I have two engineer gobies, just about a foot long.

Pros:
Constantly poking out of the rock work in unexpected places.
The way they slide in and out.
Only fish I've ever seen swim backwards.
Sand is constantly being turned over.
Amazing clean up crew (No really - they eat everything that even gets near the bottom)

Cons:
The extensive caves under the rock give the other fish way too many places to hide!
They occasionally put all the sand into a single massive pile in the middle of the tank.

 

[Reeftogo]

I got bored with my sand shifter. It’s usually hiding in the sand, eventually get up m, and slowly move to sink itself in the sand.

Eventually it got hungry and climbed the wall. It perish about a month later.

I have no idea what they eat.

 

[blecki]

He's talking about fish, not starfish. Sand shifting starfish honestly don't belong in our tanks. They always just starve to death.

 

[Troylee]

Love my diamond goby…. Sure there’s a little cloud here or there but hey! My sand stays sparkly white without any work!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I get tired of the sand storms. But honestly, my clown would fan the substrate and cause as many dust ups my gobies have in the past.

But I regret my clown purchase also.

 

[David3147]

I have heard Sleeper Blue Dot Goby's (Valenciennea sexguttata) tend not to lift the sand so high and drop it. Though, mine died after 2 days in the tank, so can't verify. But the reef2reef community seems to agree with the statement.

In the past I've had Diamond Goby's. They've been 50/50 on being model sand sifters vs sand stormers and mountain builders. I'm about to retry one; though, my tank has a high water turnover rate and mechanical filter fleece. Hoping that helps keep water clear-ish.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

I have a ywg + pistol shrimp pair and I guess that kind of counts as sand sifting because the goby does sand sift but they also move sand around a lot. I don't regret them one bit, there is just one thing to be wary of and that's to have secure rocks. I have a visible scratch right in the center of my tank because of a rock tumble caused by them. I'm very lucky that it didn't crack the glass and only left a shallow scratch.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

I get tired of the sand storms. But honestly, my clown would fan the substrate and cause as many dust ups my gobies have in the past.

But I regret my clown purchase also.

You and me same to have the same experiences with fish. My maroon made just as much of a mess as my sleeper goby did.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

My dragon sleeper goby was the absolute worst at getting mouthfuls of sand and then going up to sift through it. To the point I had to move home to a different tank. I really enjoy them and how clean the keep the sand, but I’ll never buy another one. It’s just not worth it for me.

 

[vanguard]

My dragon sleeper goby was the absolute worst at getting mouthfuls of sand and then going up to sift through it. To the point I had to move home to a different tank. I really enjoy them and how clean the keep the sand, but I’ll never buy another one. It’s just not worth it for me.

This guy? https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/reef-safe/products/sleeper-banded-goby

Man, that's on my short list. They say it sifts sand, eats cyano, and eats hair algae. It left me wondering if it would eat aiptasia too just to be the world's most perfect fish.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

This guy? https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/reef-safe/products/sleeper-banded-goby

Man, that's on my short list. They say it sifts sand, eats cyano, and eats hair algae. It left me wondering if it would eat aiptasia too just to be the world's most perfect fish.

That’s the one.

 

[Spare time]

I just regret having ocean direct sand as some of the particles are oolite size and never settle.

 

[kevgib67]

I love my diamond watchman goby, biggest personality in my tank. Once it created it’s permanent cave it settled down. God help any snail or hermit crab that gets to close to it’s cave, they get a ride in its mouth to the opposite side of the tank and spit out. My goby, conchs and nassarius snails keep my sand bed crystal clean and white as white can be.

 

[KQuillan]

He's talking about fish, not starfish. Sand shifting starfish honestly don't belong in our tanks. They always just starve to death.

I took it as talking about starfish also.

 

[drtechno]

lol. “Ride to the opposite side of the tank.”
like others, we absolutely love our diamondback goby. Using oceans direct sand (which tends to move a bit too much) but he doesn’t really create any sandstorms.
Not sure why people would regret having one? Super cool fish and behavior different than our other fish.
I love how, in the evening, he waits until no other fish is looking before diving into his burrow for the night.

 

[1000rrstunna]

Mine was a little wild when I first put him in he’s super calm now and does a good job cleaning things

 

[CBonito]

There is no real detriment to sand sifting fish in a reef tank. It's all good.
The worst, is they move the sand around and that's providing you even care about that. They're great to have.

 

[JayM]

I’ve got a YWG & Tiger Pistol Shrimp. My sand bed was just about perfectly flat at the time. Now it looks like sand dunes. I swear those two (99% the shrimp) have touched every grain of sand in the tank 10x over in just a few months.

No regrets here. I kinda enjoy the ever changing sand scape.