Orange Diamond Goby - can I add another or similar fish

[hoooop54]

I have an Orange Diamond Goby that has been awesome. However, he only stays on one side of the tank. So my sand by where he hangs out is amazing. The other 2/3 of the tank is not as white. I would love to find another fish that cleans sand, with the hopes that it would hang out on the other side. Yes, I know, but if. Any ideas?

[hoooop54]

Anyone with any ideas?

[Indymann99]

how long have you had your Goby? I have 1x Orange Diamond and he moves around the entire tank 120g (48x24x24). Might just give him some more time to get comfortable in the tank.

I also have about 12x Nassarius snails that help stir/clean the sandbed as well. (they tend to work primarily at night)

[formsix]

How big is your tank?

[hoooop54]

165 gallons, 5ft long. I have had him about 2 months.

[skimjim]

Interesting you should bring this up.....

in my 6ft 180g i put two ODGs in at the same time, one fully grown, one a very young adult.

the very first 2-3 weeks they got along great. they actually swam together looking for sand to eat.

then about 4 weeks in, the older one found a nice nook under a large rock. i suppose it was only one way in and one way out. the young one started bullying the older one, forcing the old one to stay in its hole.

just this week the young put a bunch of sand (like 3-4ins high) in front of the hole to put the old one in a tomb. i just let nature take its course to see if the old one would dig his way out. its been 3 days and the mound of sand still remains. i'm guess the young one won the war by burying the old one alive.

so i'm now thinking, aren't we all suppose to honor the elderly? not accroding to ODG reality. the young one purposely buried the older one to the point he couldnt get out.

if things change and the older one does appear again, i'll update this post.

[slief]

Originally Posted by hoooop54

I have an Orange Diamond Goby that has been awesome. However, he only stays on one side of the tank. So my sand by where he hangs out is amazing. The other 2/3 of the tank is not as white. I would love to find another fish that cleans sand, with the hopes that it would hang out on the other side. Yes, I know, but if. Any ideas?

How long have you had the goby? They tend to move on as far as they need to in order to get enough food. They will continue to work the same area over until they've exhausted the food supply then move to another area. If you feed heavily or have lots of pods in your sand, then you may be OK adding another. If you have only had this one for a little while, you might want to give it some time as it should venture to other sides of the tank before long. I've had multiples in my tanks and the issue is that once they deplete the food source, they will end up starving to death so adding another one can be counter productive.

Perhaps a sand star would be another option or sand sifting snails.

Originally Posted by skimjim

Interesting you should bring this up.....

in my 6ft 180g i put two ODGs in at the same time, one fully grown, one a very young adult.

the very first 2-3 weeks they got along great. they actually swam together looking for sand to eat.

then about 4 weeks in, the older one found a nice nook under a large rock. i suppose it was only one way in and one way out. the young one started bullying the older one, forcing the old one to stay in its hole.

just this week the young put a bunch of sand (like 3-4ins high) in front of the hole to put the old one in a tomb. i just let nature take its course to see if the old one would dig his way out. its been 3 days and the mound of sand still remains. i'm guess the young one won the war by burying the old one alive.

so i'm now thinking, aren't we all suppose to honor the elderly? not accroding to ODG reality. the young one purposely buried the older one to the point he couldnt get out.

if things change and the older one does appear again, i'll update this post.

LOL.. Diamond Goby's don't bury themselves or their tank mates alive. They move sand around and create burrows by nature. It's what they do. I've had them and they will move sand around from where ever they can and barricade themselves in to little caves that they make or move sand infront of and under rocks creating big piles or barriers. I'm sure you will see the bigger goby before long.