Diamond Goby (Sand Sifter) and Clams!

[Yuki Rihwa]

Anyone has problem with the goby putting/sifting sand over the clams?
I used to have a diamond goby and its pretty much an insane sand sifter and put sand over everything in my tank, sand was in rock that 6 inches above the sand bed, sand went into filter intake...etc and 1 day it's just decided to do the floor surfing and I didn't get a replacement. Now, I have some clams in my sand bed and I kinda want something sifting my sand to keep it clean but the previous works of the old diamond goby scare me LOL.

 

[Pork]

If your trying to keep corals I wouldn't put that goby in your tank. They never stop moving and sifting sand. Sorry

 

[dragon99]

Look into some snails, cerith and/or nassarius or maybe a fighting conch. Much less aggressive (read: annoying) sand sifters.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Ceriths, nassarius, and conch snails do a pretty good job. If your sand bed has a lot of detritus in it I would recommend a sandsifting starfish. Watchman gobies and jawfish will also sift sand but mostly around their burrows and mine have never really made all that big of a mess. I will say that jawfish will grab shells and small rocks, including frag plugs, and try to use them to reinforce the side of their burrows so they might not be the right fish for the job if you have any frag plugs in your sand bed.

 

[Pork]

Yea jawfish only make a mess once making their burrow unless it's unhappy or feels threatened then it will dig more then one burrow trying to find a safe spot they need at least a 3 inch sandbed as well. Amazing fish tho, beautiful and fun to watch