Diamond goby...did I make a mistake?

[Scottrshoe]

SO my lfs recommended this diamond goby for my tank. Seems like a nice little guy, but now I have a constant cloud of sand blowing around my tank...Is this going to be an ongoing issue? Probably stuck with him, because I seriously doubt that I can catch him now...suggestions?

 

[KrisReef]

Buy an eel?

 

[Scottrshoe]

Buy an eel?

lol...not my first choice :P

 

[shakacuz]

your best bet is either take it out, deal with the cloudier water, or invest in a power filter in your DT that'll help with filtration and cloudiness!

 

[NickHolmes]

Is your sand sugar-fine?

 

[Scottrshoe]

Is your sand sugar-fine?

It is fairly fine. CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand.

 

[Scottrshoe]

He seems to have burrowed under one of the rock in the tank....perhaps the problem will lessen once he is settled into his new home?

 

[lulubap]

Is your sand sugar-fine?

Highlighting this; sugar fine sand is definitely a blast for diamond gobies but it's generally disliked by tank owners due to it being constantly kicked up by powerheads. Besides that, there are most likely other options for sand sifting, as an article posted here regarding sand sifters suggests that "true" sifters like diamond gobies may not be the best for tanks as they run out of nutrients with time. OP, if you're looking for a good sand aerator, may I direct you to the nassarius snail? Conch snails? Perhaps it may be because I'm a sucker for inverts, but I'd definitely favor these over diamond gobies. Best of luck.

 

[Geebs19]

Mine would make a Taj Mahal with the sand. He was removed as soon as I could catch him.

 

[Scottrshoe]

Highlighting this; sugar fine sand is definitely a blast for diamond gobies but it's generally disliked by tank owners due to it being constantly kicked up by powerheads. Besides that, there are most likely other options for sand sifting, as an article posted here regarding sand sifters suggests that "true" sifters like diamond gobies may not be the best for tanks as they run out of nutrients with time. OP, if you're looking for a good sand aerator, may I direct you to the nassarius snail? Conch snails? Perhaps it may be because I'm a sucker for inverts, but I'd definitely favor these over diamond gobies. Best of luck.

Would you consider this to be fine sand?

 

[exnisstech]

Looks fine for a sand sifting goby :face-with-tears-of-joy: wait till you start placing coral on the bottom and it buries them in sand. I love gobies but won't have another one

 

[MexiReefer]

Looks fine for a sand sifting goby :face-with-tears-of-joy: wait till you start placing coral on the bottom and it buries them in sand. I love gobies but won't have another one

It is a very nice dog you have in your profile pic @exnisstech, do you work him in any way?

 

[lulubap]

Would you consider this to be fine sand?

Can't exactly tell from the picture, but it looks finer than mine (mine is around ~1mm grain). Do you have a powerhead? With or without the goby, sugar fine sand proves to be an issue if you're constantly dealing with cloudy water. In my opinion, your tank doesn't look particularly cloudy so I would bite the bullet and care for the goby until the end of its days. Seeing that you're just now having an issue with cloudy water, I wouldn't worry about the sand unless you haven't had any sort of aeration or flow in the tank before.

At the end of the day, it's your call. Monitor the goby's behavior, be patient. As someone else mentioned, it may slow down as it gets used to your tank. If nothing changes, perhaps invest in a cute little snail! : )

 

[Scottrshoe]

Can't exactly tell from the picture, but it looks finer than mine (mine is around ~1mm grain). Do you have a powerhead? With or without the goby, sugar fine sand proves to be an issue if you're constantly dealing with cloudy water. In my opinion, your tank doesn't look particularly cloudy so I would bite the bullet and care for the goby until the end of its days. Seeing that you're just now having an issue with cloudy water, I wouldn't worry about the sand unless you haven't had any sort of aeration or flow in the tank before.

At the end of the day, it's your call. Monitor the goby's behavior, be patient. As someone else mentioned, it may slow down as it gets used to your tank. If nothing changes, perhaps invest in a cute little snail! : )

I do have a Jebao SLW-10 in addition to the return pump. Cloudiness has not been an issue until I placed the goby in the tank. Hoping that the problem will decrease once he does most of the "remolding" he wants to do.
(and I would have to remove all my rocks and corals to catch him).

Here is a clip of the tank yesterday, before the goby introduction, for reference.

 

[exnisstech]

Deleted double post

 

[exnisstech]

It is a very nice dog you have in your profile pic @exnisstech, do you work him in any way?

I have taken him through quite a bit of obediance and he has passed his shutzhund BH temperament test. Other than that it's just us working together around the house and out in stores like home depot etc. He is awesome out in public. Much better behaved than any of kids ever were. He off lead heels in public and has zero aggression when out but he has no official "work" He's mainly my companion. I tend to have anger managment issues and he is very good at bringing me out of those before they escalate so kind if my self proclaimed service dog I suppose. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[lulubap]

I do have a Jebao SLW-10 in addition to the return pump. Cloudiness has not been an issue until I placed the goby in the tank. Hoping that the problem will decrease once he does most of the "remolding" he wants to do.
(and I would have to remove all my rocks and corals to catch him).

Here is a clip of the tank yesterday, before the goby introduction, for reference.

Tank looks beautiful. Let's stay optimistic. At least you don't have sugar fine sand being kicked everywhere!

 

[i cant think]

Would you consider this to be fine sand?

I recently replaced my sand to this exact same sand and yes it’s fine. However it works best for fish that love to burry in the sand (For example Halichoeres wrasses).

As for your Goby, this is possibly one of the biggest issues with many LFSs and recommending Valenciennea species. Your tank looks rather young (<1-2 years old) and Valenciennea feed a lot on the sand bed, much more than a Koumansetta species can. I have several articles on Gobiidae and two of them cover multiple genera. Both of them explain a bit more in depth of why Valenciennea and other large sandsifters run out of nutrients faster.

 

[ASIN28]

I was always more concerned about my diamond goby undermining my rocks and everything come tumbling down

He seems to have burrowed under one of the rock in the tank....perhaps the problem will lessen once he is settled into his new ho

 

[Bucs20fan]

Diamonds are the best for not covering corals provided you do not have them on the sand bed. If you had a blue line or yellow headed goby, they take a gulp of sand and swim 6 inches up and dump it....Diamonds do a great service provided you can keep them from jumping out, they give morays and octopus a run for their money, true escape artists. The cloudy part will subside with time as your filter gets rid of the fine particulate. I had the same thing happening when I added bahamas oolite sand. Diamond gobies rarely swim up in the water column especially if they have a mouthful of sand, they usually dump it right back on the sand bed.