Beware of sand sifting goby

ReefsandGeeks · 02/02/2015, 04:18 PM

A few months ago, I got a dragon goby because I loved watching them take a bite of sand and sift it through their gills. I had seen them do it manytimes at the LFS and decided that I wanted one for my 40 gallon tank. I thought that they would take a bite of sand, and sift it by the sand bed, as I have seen at the LFS. However that's not what mine had in mind. My goby made it a habit to take a bite of sand, swim over top of my powerhead, and proced to spit sand into the flow so itwould spread acrodd the tank. he'd do this day in and day out. I'd have to blow off my rocks and coral when I decided to add them to the tank several times a day. my water always had a cloudy look to it which I forgot wasn't normal (tiny sand bits) untill I finaly decided to try to catch him and take him back to the LFS.

Used the store credit for a glass scraper and couldn't be happier. No more corraline on my glass, and the water is crystal clear and I don't have to keep blowing sand off of my rock. I didn't think I would mind when I got him, but this guy was just rediculous. Ended up having to tear out all of my rock to get him back out and stressed out the other fish in the proccess.

Just trying to make a point to be sure of what you're getting into before you choose livestock. I learned my lesson on that one. No more gobies for me, no matter how cool they are. Could have just been a particuarly active goby, but not worth the work if you have a reef, and if you don't like the look of sand covered rocks.

DaveRaz · 02/02/2015, 04:22 PM

spiteful little bastaige huh? hahaha spitting sand in the power head.

Khemul · 02/02/2015, 06:41 PM

That's sand-sifting gobies. Diamond gobies are about the best at keeping the sand low. Bullet (Dragon) gobies are about the worst.

Either way, it is sort of the whole point of the process for them. Filter sand for food. Let current dispose of used sand. Cover everything that isn't sand with sand. Repeat. Basically, they're wired to tend a massive sand garden. Those stony things are just barren land waiting to be used.

gone fishin · 02/02/2015, 06:52 PM

that's an expensive snow globe.

GotZoom76 · 02/02/2015, 06:59 PM

I had a Diamond Goby once.. Lol I took him back two days later. He must have been sifting non stop as my whole tank was so cloudy I could barely see my other fish swimming around.

kottok.motors · 02/02/2015, 09:28 PM

My dragon/violet goby never sifted sand... but he was an escape artist! was always finding him in the overflow, in the sump, wherever he would fit. One time I got up in the middle of the night and saw what looked like a fuzzy cat turd on the carpet. Turned out he had jumped the tank, flopped halfway across the room. I figured he was a goner, stone cold. Stuck him under the inflow for about 10 minutes and he just shot out of my hand happy as could be.

danielmitchell · 02/02/2015, 10:44 PM

I know the pain of trying to catch a fish in a tank and there is no easy way apart from getting lucky with some food and a net.

daquan44 · 02/02/2015, 10:50 PM

I love my orange spotted goby. He keeps my sand bed clean. At first my tank was cloudy due to all the sifting, but after a week or two, all the fine particles settled in my refugium, then everything was crystal clear.

ReefsandGeeks · 02/03/2015, 08:30 AM

Yeah, I tried food with a net for a while, but every time he'd be in a good spot to get him, my foxface would swim beside him and take his food. I swear it happened 10 times. then I had to let them settle for a while ecause he would just hide when I came by. tried the food/net method 2 more times before taking most of the rock/coral out. still took 20-30 minutes to catch him. Then had to try to get all the rock back in the way it was. of course that wasn't gonna happen. Its close, but not the same. It didn't help that the girlfriend (practicaly wife at this point) was waiting on me.

ReefsandGeeks · 02/03/2015, 08:32 AM

I had my goby for probably 3 or 4 months and the cloudyness was always constant. Don't know if I had too many fine sand particals or what. I'll just go with a blenny or something next time. No new fish or coral for me for a while though. I'm anticipating a cross country move this summer so don't want to add to my tank something I may be taking out in 4 months.

tidus10 · 02/03/2015, 08:42 AM

hahahah omg i love this thread.. Ive had my diamond goby for 2 years now.. i have to fish corals from his cave every other day and he makes my water and rocks look like crap.. but i love him.. just hate cleaning up after something i got to clean up xP oh well

explorer07 · 02/03/2015, 08:53 AM

To all these people with there cloudy tanks�� hahaha. The only reasone it's so cloudy in the first place is because of your built up detritus in the sand bed. You complain he is clouding your tank and you take him out days after getting him. In the store the water was clear right. That's because the tanks are constantly sifted, let him do his job and after a few days or more it will be clear and looking great. This is my personal experience with a diamond goby

ReefsandGeeks · 02/03/2015, 08:59 AM

That's what I thought too, and for some people I think that is the case. I had mine for over 3 months though and it never got better. I had used filter floss over a powerhead to clear it up, and it was clearly fine sand particals floating arround. This isn't to say that some people have the same problem but with built up detritus.

FraggledRock · 02/03/2015, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gone fishin

that's an expensive snow globe.

HAH!

Pastey · 02/03/2015, 09:56 AM

Knock on wood, my diamond goby has been awesome and staying "low" while sifting so there is no sand storm. Every once and a while, he'll take a mouthful and then swim up but my sand isn't fine grain so it all falls back down pretty quick without the snow globe effect.

H2Ohio · 02/03/2015, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daquan44

I love my orange spotted goby. He keeps my sand bed clean. At first my tank was cloudy due to all the sifting, but after a week or two, all the fine particles settled in my refugium, then everything was crystal clear.

Did your Orange Spot dig tunnels under the rock at all? Thinking about adding one in hopes of a pair-up with a pistol shrimp.

I had a Tiger Watchman who spent all day undermining my rockwork and dumping sand over any low lying corals.

digger4rc · 02/03/2015, 01:31 PM

So I have a YWM in QT and I have oolite in the DT. Guess I better get ready for...

R6_boogieman · 02/03/2015, 01:48 PM

as soon as i opened up this thread i started laughing because i can relate. i have a golden head goby, guy is such a dick but i love him. i cant keep anything in the floor because he likes to bury things lol. but i will say he does a good job keeping sand clean. great thread !

Captain smoke · 02/03/2015, 02:00 PM

My diamond goby did the same, my problem was I got sugar fine sand and he's constantly snow globing my tank, Im in the process of changing to Seacrib special grade

ReefsandGeeks · 02/03/2015, 02:20 PM

One other thing my dragon goby seemed to do as a hobby, in addition toblowing sand into the power head is getting a bite of sand and dumping it directly onto my feather duster and coco worm. At first they would spook back into their tubes, but after a while they seemed to get used to it and would just take it untill there was too much sand on their crowns. I loved Vlad, but it was so bad I'd be blowing off the rock work and by the time I'd get done with one side he'd have the other side half covered again.

skeeter_ca · 02/03/2015, 03:29 PM

I used to have a Juvenile Dragon Wrasse that would take my crushed coral sand bed(back then it was an under gravel filter plate) and move each piece in his mouth one by one and pile it on top of a big rock. Sometimes he would move enough to get all the way down to the filter. Funny guy but a pain in the ***.

skeeter

ravin01 · 06/26/2016, 05:20 PM

I hate my sand sifting goby. I've tried everything. I take most people's suggestions at the local fish stores fore what they are worth now. Early one one of them told me I would just luv the sand shifters.

It throws sand non stop. If I could spear and kill it I would in a heart beat

BigEZ77 · 06/26/2016, 08:07 PM

I love mine. Have and orange marked/lined goby. Stays low and is constantly working on the sand as well as algae on rocks. I stayed away from a DWG from all the stuff I read about them on here, love this little guy though.

Sk8r · 06/26/2016, 10:03 PM

THe yellow watchman is a lot more sedate as a sandsifter..

WaReefer458 · 06/27/2016, 12:31 AM

diamond gobies are well behaved but I had a pair of sleepers years ago... bastards would grab a mouth full and swim to the top of the tank to spit it out... drove me nuts... they ended up in an 800 gal cube in a dentists office after that... they weren't my problem lol

02/02/2015, 04:18 PM	#1
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	Beware of sand sifting goby A few months ago, I got a dragon goby because I loved watching them take a bite of sand and sift it through their gills. I had seen them do it manytimes at the LFS and decided that I wanted one for my 40 gallon tank. I thought that they would take a bite of sand, and sift it by the sand bed, as I have seen at the LFS. However that's not what mine had in mind. My goby made it a habit to take a bite of sand, swim over top of my powerhead, and proced to spit sand into the flow so itwould spread acrodd the tank. he'd do this day in and day out. I'd have to blow off my rocks and coral when I decided to add them to the tank several times a day. my water always had a cloudy look to it which I forgot wasn't normal (tiny sand bits) untill I finaly decided to try to catch him and take him back to the LFS. Used the store credit for a glass scraper and couldn't be happier. No more corraline on my glass, and the water is crystal clear and I don't have to keep blowing sand off of my rock. I didn't think I would mind when I got him, but this guy was just rediculous. Ended up having to tear out all of my rock to get him back out and stressed out the other fish in the proccess. Just trying to make a point to be sure of what you're getting into before you choose livestock. I learned my lesson on that one. No more gobies for me, no matter how cool they are. Could have just been a particuarly active goby, but not worth the work if you have a reef, and if you don't like the look of sand covered rocks.

02/02/2015, 06:52 PM	#4
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	that's an expensive snow globe. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

02/02/2015, 10:44 PM	#7
danielmitchell Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: QLD, Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 38	I know the pain of trying to catch a fish in a tank and there is no easy way apart from getting lucky with some food and a net. __________________ "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing"

02/03/2015, 08:42 AM	#11
tidus10 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oswego, Ny Posts: 610	hahahah omg i love this thread.. Ive had my diamond goby for 2 years now.. i have to fish corals from his cave every other day and he makes my water and rocks look like crap.. but i love him.. just hate cleaning up after something i got to clean up xP oh well __________________ Support your local Reef Club! Upstate Ny - Lake Ontario Reef Society Current: 40B- Fish, Water, Rocks, Sand, Pumps, Heaters, Skimmer, Coral 93C build coming soon

02/03/2015, 09:56 AM	#15
Pastey Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 835	Knock on wood, my diamond goby has been awesome and staying "low" while sifting so there is no sand storm. Every once and a while, he'll take a mouthful and then swim up but my sand isn't fine grain so it all falls back down pretty quick without the snow globe effect. __________________ I got a fever, and the only prescription is more pictures.

02/02/2015, 04:22 PM	#2
DaveRaz Reef Rookie Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Memphis Posts: 625	spiteful little bastaige huh? hahaha spitting sand in the power head.

02/02/2015, 06:41 PM	#3
Khemul Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 988	That's sand-sifting gobies. Diamond gobies are about the best at keeping the sand low. Bullet (Dragon) gobies are about the worst. Either way, it is sort of the whole point of the process for them. Filter sand for food. Let current dispose of used sand. Cover everything that isn't sand with sand. Repeat. Basically, they're wired to tend a massive sand garden. Those stony things are just barren land waiting to be used.

02/02/2015, 06:59 PM	#5
GotZoom76 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 5	I had a Diamond Goby once.. Lol I took him back two days later. He must have been sifting non stop as my whole tank was so cloudy I could barely see my other fish swimming around.

02/02/2015, 09:28 PM	#6
kottok.motors Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 66	My dragon/violet goby never sifted sand... but he was an escape artist! was always finding him in the overflow, in the sump, wherever he would fit. One time I got up in the middle of the night and saw what looked like a fuzzy cat turd on the carpet. Turned out he had jumped the tank, flopped halfway across the room. I figured he was a goner, stone cold. Stuck him under the inflow for about 10 minutes and he just shot out of my hand happy as could be.

02/02/2015, 10:50 PM	#8
daquan44 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 75	I love my orange spotted goby. He keeps my sand bed clean. At first my tank was cloudy due to all the sifting, but after a week or two, all the fine particles settled in my refugium, then everything was crystal clear.

02/03/2015, 08:30 AM	#9
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	Yeah, I tried food with a net for a while, but every time he'd be in a good spot to get him, my foxface would swim beside him and take his food. I swear it happened 10 times. then I had to let them settle for a while ecause he would just hide when I came by. tried the food/net method 2 more times before taking most of the rock/coral out. still took 20-30 minutes to catch him. Then had to try to get all the rock back in the way it was. of course that wasn't gonna happen. Its close, but not the same. It didn't help that the girlfriend (practicaly wife at this point) was waiting on me.

02/03/2015, 08:32 AM	#10
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	I had my goby for probably 3 or 4 months and the cloudyness was always constant. Don't know if I had too many fine sand particals or what. I'll just go with a blenny or something next time. No new fish or coral for me for a while though. I'm anticipating a cross country move this summer so don't want to add to my tank something I may be taking out in 4 months.

02/03/2015, 08:53 AM	#12
explorer07 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Florida Posts: 172	To all these people with there cloudy tanks�� hahaha. The only reasone it's so cloudy in the first place is because of your built up detritus in the sand bed. You complain he is clouding your tank and you take him out days after getting him. In the store the water was clear right. That's because the tanks are constantly sifted, let him do his job and after a few days or more it will be clear and looking great. This is my personal experience with a diamond goby

02/03/2015, 08:59 AM	#13
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	That's what I thought too, and for some people I think that is the case. I had mine for over 3 months though and it never got better. I had used filter floss over a powerhead to clear it up, and it was clearly fine sand particals floating arround. This isn't to say that some people have the same problem but with built up detritus.

02/03/2015, 01:31 PM	#17
digger4rc Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: N.KY Posts: 102	So I have a YWM in QT and I have oolite in the DT. Guess I better get ready for...

02/03/2015, 01:48 PM	#18
R6_boogieman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Dallas Tx Posts: 82	as soon as i opened up this thread i started laughing because i can relate. i have a golden head goby, guy is such a dick but i love him. i cant keep anything in the floor because he likes to bury things lol. but i will say he does a good job keeping sand clean. great thread !

02/03/2015, 02:00 PM	#19
Captain smoke Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: somewhere in the midwest Posts: 227	My diamond goby did the same, my problem was I got sugar fine sand and he's constantly snow globing my tank, Im in the process of changing to Seacrib special grade

02/03/2015, 02:20 PM	#20
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	One other thing my dragon goby seemed to do as a hobby, in addition toblowing sand into the power head is getting a bite of sand and dumping it directly onto my feather duster and coco worm. At first they would spook back into their tubes, but after a while they seemed to get used to it and would just take it untill there was too much sand on their crowns. I loved Vlad, but it was so bad I'd be blowing off the rock work and by the time I'd get done with one side he'd have the other side half covered again.

02/03/2015, 03:29 PM	#21
skeeter_ca Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,007	I used to have a Juvenile Dragon Wrasse that would take my crushed coral sand bed(back then it was an under gravel filter plate) and move each piece in his mouth one by one and pile it on top of a big rock. Sometimes he would move enough to get all the way down to the filter. Funny guy but a pain in the ***. skeeter __________________ skeeter - It is easier to ask for forgiveness than premission. My motto to my wife. Current Tank Info: 75rr,6"dsb,refugium,auto top-off & semi-auto water changer, OM squirt. 4 MJs 1200, Started on 03/03/06

06/26/2016, 05:20 PM	#22
ravin01 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 36	I hate my sand sifting goby. I've tried everything. I take most people's suggestions at the local fish stores fore what they are worth now. Early one one of them told me I would just luv the sand shifters. It throws sand non stop. If I could spear and kill it I would in a heart beat

06/26/2016, 08:07 PM	#23
BigEZ77 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Ottawa ON Canada Posts: 797	I love mine. Have and orange marked/lined goby. Stays low and is constantly working on the sand as well as algae on rocks. I stayed away from a DWG from all the stuff I read about them on here, love this little guy though. __________________ Russell Banggai / Yellow Wrasse / Black Ice and Davinci Clowns / Flame Angel / Royal Gramma / Blue Chromis / LPS (dominated) / Monti's / Softies / BTA's Current Tank Info: 45G Rimless, Tunze 9004, Kessil A160WE, Gyre XF130, 50lbs rock, Reef Crystals, Phosguard in reactor, Matrix, Chemipure Blue and NP XL biopellets in sump

06/26/2016, 10:03 PM	#24
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	THe yellow watchman is a lot more sedate as a sandsifter.. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/27/2016, 12:31 AM	#25
WaReefer458 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 333	diamond gobies are well behaved but I had a pair of sleepers years ago... bastards would grab a mouth full and swim to the top of the tank to spit it out... drove me nuts... they ended up in an 800 gal cube in a dentists office after that... they weren't my problem lol