Best sand sifting fish for 25 gallon tank?

[Chris_Noles]

^

 

[Andreas' Reef]

any prawn goby. personally have a yellow watchman goby named Bob. He's very grumpy ;P

 

[jeffchapok]

I've never seen anything better than a diamond goby for keeping your sand clean. But be aware, they have zero respect for your aquascaping tastes. Also, they are notorious jumpers.

 

[Chris_Noles]

any prawn goby. personally have a yellow watchman goby named Bob. He's very grumpy ;P

I thought yellow watchman do not sift sand?

 

[Chris_Noles]

I've never seen anything better than a diamond goby for keeping your sand clean. But be aware, they have zero respect for your aquascaping tastes. Also, they are notorious jumpers.

Yeah I have a ton of frags on the bottom of my tank so that might not be an option, also don't they get big?

 

[JumboShrimp]

I just bought two Court Jester Gobies for a 20-gallon, but they arrived at a very small size. They are at least 'trying' to peck at my substrate with their tiny little mouths. Supposedly the fish will max-out at 3".

 

[Morelia]

I couldn't keep a diamond goby in my tank without jumping out for the life of me. I added a sleeper goby to my tank about 2 months ago, and he has been great - constantly sifting the sand, and not nearly as jumpy as the previous diamond gobies I had. May be worth a try!

 

[BostonReefer300]

I have a similar question for my daughter's new 20G cube. I have two diamond watchman gobies in my 300G and I can't be happier with how they keep my sand bed. However, they grew very fast. Even a baby would outgrow a 20G in no time. I think the sleeper could be great at sifting too, but 5-6 inches is too big IMO for a nano tank. So, the question is (for me anyway), is there a good sand sifting option that maxes out at 3 inches?

 

[Chris_Noles]

I have a similar question for my daughter's new 20G cube. I have two diamond watchman gobies in my 300G and I can't be happier with how they keep my sand bed. However, they grew very fast. Even a baby would outgrow a 20G in no time. I think the sleeper could be great at sifting too, but 5-6 inches is too big IMO for a nano tank. So, the question is (for me anyway), is there a good sand sifting option that maxes out at 3 inches?

Just bought a 2 spot goby they only grow to 3 inches long and sift through sand, this might be the option for you

 

[dedragon]

Wouldnt recommend a two spot goby to many people, they have a terrible track record for staying alive long term. If you see it getting skinny supplement with live copepod, 25 gallon tank is going to have a problem sustaining a high enough population of organisms to keep a 2 spot goby alive.
I have one in a 75 gallon and i still try to supplement once and a while, only had it for 7 months though so i wouldnt say i have long term success by any means

 

[Chris_Noles]

Wouldnt recommend a two spot goby to many people, they have a terrible track record for staying alive long term. If you see it getting skinny supplement with live copepod, 25 gallon tank is going to have a problem sustaining a high enough population of organisms to keep a 2 spot goby alive.
I have one in a 75 gallon and i still try to supplement once and a while, only had it for 7 months though so i wouldnt say i have long term success by any means

Crap....I did not know that, I have no pods in this tank, any advice on what I can try and feed it if it doesn't take the frozen mysis?

 

[dedragon]

Not really mine doesnt eat frozen foods. Sometimes I turn off all pumps and let pe calanus settle on the sand, this is more for corals but i hope some of it settles and the goby eats it. Other than that im pretty sure it is surviving off of copepods in the tank and other organisms in the sand

 

[Chris_Noles]

Not really mine doesnt eat frozen foods. Sometimes I turn off all pumps and let pe calanus settle on the sand, this is more for corals but i hope some of it settles and the goby eats it. Other than that im pretty sure it is surviving off of copepods in the tank and other organisms in the sand

Hmm, I have no copepods so if he doesn't eat the frozen mysis I probably have to dose in the pods and pray he eats those

 

[dedragon]

Ime, it doesnt peck at foods or even live copepods in particular, just sifts through the sand to pick up stuff. Mysis is probably a bit big for them as well, hopefully you get a weird one that likes to actually eat food, did you see it eat in the store?

 

[Chris_Noles]

Ime, it doesnt peck at foods or even live copepods in particular, just sifts through the sand to pick up stuff. Mysis is probably a bit big for them as well, hopefully you get a weird one that likes to actually eat food, did you see it eat in the store?

Did not see it eat in the store but the LFS doesn't feed any live food in the tank that he was in

 

[dedragon]

My LFS had about 40+ two spot gobies for sale and honestly i dont think i saw a single one eat frozen foods wen they fed them, they are really finicky with food. I would just order a bottle of copepods asap, they will help the whole tank out anyway as a food source and detritus eater. Tommy's phyto and copepods were good when i ordered them, algae barn is good too just a bit more expensive

 

[Chris_Noles]

My LFS had about 40+ two spot gobies for sale and honestly i dont think i saw a single one eat frozen foods wen they fed them, they are really finicky with food. I would just order a bottle of copepods asap, they will help the whole tank out anyway as a food source and detritus eater. Tommy's phyto and copepods were good when i ordered them, algae barn is good too just a bit more expensive

Thank you for the help, wish I would have looked a bit more into this, but I think I can hopefully handle keeping this dude alive, I might also try some PE Calanus to broadcast the tank with

 

[Chris_Noles]

My LFS had about 40+ two spot gobies for sale and honestly i dont think i saw a single one eat frozen foods wen they fed them, they are really finicky with food. I would just order a bottle of copepods asap, they will help the whole tank out anyway as a food source and detritus eater. Tommy's phyto and copepods were good when i ordered them, algae barn is good too just a bit more expensive

Also do I need phyto and copepods? or just copepods

 

[dedragon]

You dont need phyto, but live phyto will help copepods establish a population faster

 

[Chris_Noles]

You dont need phyto, but live phyto will help copepods establish a population faster

Hopefully he picks at any of the food I drop in tomorrow if not, copepods it is!