Diamond goby = cloudy water?

Nano Gabe · Sep 30, 2018

Hi so I just got a diamond goby to help keep my sand looking white and clean. I put him in the tank 3 days ago and ever since he’s been sifting sand making my water so cloudy I can’t even see in the tank. I have the Fiji pink sand and I’ve seen others with this sand and a goby and there tanks haven’t been this cloudy. My skimmer has been pulling out a lot but I’m just worried this won’t go away. My corals and clownfish are looking ok but are probably stressed. I just want to know if this will clear up soon or if I should return the goby.

cristata.reef · Sep 30, 2018

They're very messy by nature. Your goby is probably just doing his thing; taking sand in his mouth then swiming around and spreading sand everywhere

PDR · Sep 30, 2018

Nano Gabe said:
Hi so I just got a diamond goby to help keep my sand looking white and clean. I put him in the tank 3 days ago and ever since he’s been sifting sand making my water so cloudy I can’t even see in the tank. I have the Fiji pink sand and I’ve seen others with this sand and a goby and there tanks haven’t been this cloudy. My skimmer has been pulling out a lot but I’m just worried this won’t go away. My corals and clownfish are looking ok but are probably stressed. I just want to know if this will clear up soon or if I should return the goby.

How old is your sand bed and did you rinse it before adding?

madweazl · Sep 30, 2018

If you're running a filter sock, it will get collected there. It will take time but eventually it will be pretty rare for it to kick up gunk in the sand. On the plus side, the goby is likely kicking up food for the corals/filter feeders within the tank. It's a small price to pay in the end; I find them highly beneficial. Every once in a while ours would find a new pocket that he hadnt thoroughly sifted so the tank would be cloudy for a bit. Pretty rare now and I dont run filter socks to catch the debris.

Nano Gabe · Sep 30, 2018

madweazl said:
If you're running a filter sock, it will get collected there. It will take time but eventually it will be pretty rare for it to kick up gunk in the sand. On the plus side, the goby is likely kicking up food for the corals/filter feeders within the tank. It's a small price to pay in the end; I find them highly beneficial. Every once in a while ours would find a new pocket that he hadnt thoroughly sifted so the tank would be cloudy for a bit. Pretty rare now and I dont run filter socks to catch the debris.

Thanks I’m going to run a filter pad in my back chamber tomorrow.