Regretting our decision

[jasonrusso]

They do what they do, but to be honest he's going to starve in a 24 gallon. In the wild they claim a 12x12 area, and that's the ocean with much more microfauna.

They are super cool and keep the sand pristine, but they are little excavators. In a 24 gallon, I'd recommended a pistol shrimp /watchman goby. That's a cool pair and they keep moving sand.

 

[Twisted1990s]

I love mine in my 225. He keeps the sand clean. One of the best purchases I made!

 

[Mikedawg]

Thanks for the the feed back. I will see how it goes in a week. Worst case I will trade him in at a saltwater pet store.

A two-spot goby (Signigobius biocellatus) will provide same interesting behavior without getting too big for your tank.

 

[Merv49]

My Wife and I wanted to get a Sand Sifting Diamond Goby for our nano 24 gal. So we did. The next day we couldn’t find him so we figured he was just being shy. That following Saturday I did a water change. As I was cleaning my sponge filter in the back Lo and behold there’s the goby chilling in the back. So I got him out and put him in the main display. Awesome right... WRONG I am regretting my decision on even buying one. He is really nice but man he is making a MESS of our tank. Guess he is doing what he is supposed to do but I didn’t think to this extent. He has burrowed under all my rock. The tank has been cloudy “dirty” looking even since. My wife wants me to give him a week before I take him out to see if he will mellow out a little. For his sake I hope he does.

They never mellow out. They just get worse.

 

[Macey’s Reef]

I think they are great in bigger tanks. My sand is corse enough to stay put, but small enough for the diamond goby. He is a model citizen in my 180 and the sand is super clean. Everyone loves watching it sift the sand and it even shares its cave with my purple fire fish. Some thoughts for success:
- need a larger tank 90-100+
- sand that doesn’t blow around easy
- no sensitive coral on the sand
- give it some time & sand storms will fade

 

[notsobigtime]

I've been debating a sand sifter but I've held off. I had a conch, but I found him flipped over after work one day. A small pack of nasarrius snails were making a meal of him before I save it. It did a very good job of keeping sand churned.

 

[vetteguy53081]

YUP = That's what they do. Dig, push, sift and shove sand.

 

[Spieg]

Been there, done that... Sand gobies are on my list of "NO" fish. For sand sifting I use sand stars and sea cucumbers

 

[sixline]

As a guy who has seven engineer gobies in his tank, I know what you mean. I built my tank out with engineers in mind, so haven't had too many issues. Most of the dust has settled out of the sand.

Maybe just move your coral frags out of the sand bed and keep him? Although I'd also be worried a bit about diet. They like to eat the tiny crustaceans in the sand I think.

Don't take any of the above as gospel - I've never actually owned a diamond goby, i just researched them a bit.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

On a side note: I love your red Xenia (?)!

 

[weamdog]

I keep a diamond in my 220 and 75. He does an excellent job with my sad bed but i have to bolt diwn all my frags ir they will disappear. The one in the 220 is huge, he will actually feed with everyone else and i always get a kick out of him not being able to see past his mouth and missing food. The one in the 75 also has an engineer but i use crushed coral in that tank so it doesn't get too bad.

I have a blue spotted sleeper in a 30g, while he is still a sifter, he is much more subdued and doesn't rearrange my tank. One word of caution, you should always make sure your rockwork is on the glass and is secure with tese guys.

Another interesting alternative for your cube us the pearl jawfish, but they won't clean the sandbed.

 

[canadianeh]

What are the options for sand shifter and cleaner without having sand dunes and holes everywhere? Are nassarius snails enough?

 

[weamdog]

As a guy who has seven engineer gobies in his tank, I know what you mean. I built my tank out with engineers in mind, so haven't had too many issues. Most of the dust has settled out of the sand.

Maybe just move your coral frags out of the sand bed and keep him? Although I'd also be worried a bit about diet. They like to eat the tiny crustaceans in the sand I think.

Don't take any of the above as gospel - I've never actually owned a diamond goby, i just researched them a bit.

Good googa mooga. I started with two, but one jumped out as a juvie. I can only imagine the chaos that takes place in that tank every night.

 

[weamdog]

@canadianeh (forgot the quote)
Blue spotted sleeper goby, sand sifting star, tiger conch.

 

[Conrad Noto]

Yep, get a blue spot watchman, no mess lol. I had golden headed sleep for 5 yrs....grew to 7''. Definitely don't recommend sand shifters if you have coral on sand bed or lower 12'' of rock work.

 

[TruckerTami]

I have one in my 36 FOWLR and he’s had an awesome personality and eats anything I give him from day 1. I just started my reef and I won’t be putting one in there though, lol.

 

[X-37B]

Here is mine in my 45 frag/lagoon and his sand castle.
I have had them before. It has staked out his area. They do get big.
Mine is a pig and eats everything.

 

[Juniorh2r]

I own a pair of blue dot gobbies they sift the sand and stay in that spot they dont spray it around. I had the similar situation with a bella goby and a diamond watch goby. But the blue dot goby is perfect

 

[Reefrats]

I have a high fin goby and a pistol shrimp. They haven’t paired up. My son really wants a sand sifting goby. Is it okay to have more than one goby in a 100 gallon tank? Do watchmen gobies pair up with pistol shrimp and soft sand? The high fin hasn’t paired up with a the pistol shrimp. Sounds like a watchman or blue spot would be better choices.

 

[codycolina707]

My Wife and I wanted to get a Sand Sifting Diamond Goby for our nano 24 gal. So we did. The next day we couldn’t find him so we figured he was just being shy. That following Saturday I did a water change. As I was cleaning my sponge filter in the back Lo and behold there’s the goby chilling in the back. So I got him out and put him in the main display. Awesome right... WRONG I am regretting my decision on even buying one. He is really nice but man he is making a MESS of our tank. Guess he is doing what he is supposed to do but I didn’t think to this extent. He has burrowed under all my rock. The tank has been cloudy “dirty” looking even since. My wife wants me to give him a week before I take him out to see if he will mellow out a little. For his sake I hope he does.

the sand storm will die down as all the really fine stuff gets filtered out but he will continue to make sand dunes and cover corals