I added a Diamond Goby and now have Sand Storms... going to change my sandbed

[waverider]

I have a fish only tank and rock that has been cycling with Clownfish for about a month. I used Caribsea Fiji Pink, Bahamas Oolite and Ocean Direct (coarse sand) -About 20lbs each bag in a 65 gallon system. Tank was looking great before I added a Diamond Goby who's sifting the fine sand has caused chronic cloudy water. I really like my Diamond Goby and I want to keep him. I added an extra canister filter full of floss... a hang on back filter with carbon and floss... a powerhead with a container of floss... All my filtration media are full of fine powder sand now after over a week with little reduction of sand in the water column. ...

So I want to replace my sandbed entirely with a sandbed that the Goby can enjoy and not cloud the water

I read about alot of people using Caribsea "Special Grade" reef sand.

What live sand do you guys recommend I use to replace my sandbed for a diamond goby that he will enjoy and wont cloud my tank?

I plan on adding corals in a month or so...

 

[jasonrusso]

Give it time. He's doing what he does. Eventually he will go through all the fines. If it's not bothering anything (except you), let it happen.

I love diamond gobies. They keep the sand nice, they change the sea scape, and they are entertaining.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s just what they do and with most any substrate
Realize there could be both a loss of bacteria and added silicates

 

[waverider]

Are you guys saying that in his process of sifting, over time he will mechanically send all the fine sand into the water column to be removed by filtration????? I used a 20lb bag of Caribsea bahama oolite (a fine sand), 20lbs of fiji pink (fine to medium) and 40lbs of Ocean Direct (medium to coarse).

He will sift through all that and work the fine sand out??? Versus... replacing the sandbed entirely with a more coarse live sand?

Would vacuuming the sandbed speed this up? I dont mind if it takes months. As long as *eventually* I will have clear water.

 

[William Mumford]

Are you guys saying that in his process of sifting, over time he will mechanically send all the fine sand into the water column to be removed by filtration????? I used a 20lb bag of Caribsea bahama oolite (a fine sand), 20lbs of fiji pink (fine to medium) and 40lbs of Ocean Direct (medium to coarse).

He will sift through all that and work the fine sand out??? Versus... replacing the sandbed entirely with a more coarse live sand?

Would vacuuming the sandbed speed this up? I dont mind if it takes months. As long as *eventually* I will have clear water.

I wouldn't ever remove substrate even done slowly is a major destabilizing event.

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

The Bahama Oolite is the only sand causing you problems, I believe. Vacuuming it out a little every week would probably be a good start, although I'm only guessing .

 

[sfairtx]

The sandstorm only comes usually when you first introduce him to the reef. As he turns over the substrate, some of the very fine particulate goes into the water column. However, after he was done the entire tank, the sandstorms don’t continue. He leaves you with clean sand. They are great fish.

 

[madweazl]

I have a mix of fiji pink and special grade; course enough to fall back to the bottom of the tank easily and fine enough for the gobies to sift. I've never used oolite so I don't know if you're actually collecting sand in your pre-filters or just loose debris that is common with any sand in the early stages (especially if it was rinsed extremely well).

When it comes to removing sand, it wouldn't bug me in the slightest if it has been maintained. I moved our reef to the new home after it had been setup 2 1/2 years. Acropora dominant with black sand that got vacuumed once or twice a year. I tossed it in five gallon buckets where it sat for a couple days before getting the tank set back up. No problems what-so-ever.

 

[josvanmeer]

Dont disrepect my boy like that. Diamond gobies are the OG vacuum cleaners. They are reliable; affordable and look ***** good while doing their job. Shoutout to Hoover jr.

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

Dont disrepect my boy like that. Diamond gobies are the OG vacuum cleaners. They are reliable; affordable and look ***** good while doing their job. Shoutout to Hoover jr.

My wife and I are trying to figure out the word ***** you used. Everything we come up with is 4, 6 or 7 letters long. She thinks maybe you spelled it wrong, I think maybe you have a very hip vocabulary we aren't familiar with.

 

[josvanmeer]

I said h e l l a but apparently thats not allowed?

My wife and I are trying to figure out the word ***** you used. Everything we come up with is 4, 6 or 7 letters long. She thinks maybe you spelled it wrong, I think maybe you have a very hip vocabulary we aren't familiar with.

I said h e l l a but apparently thats not allowed. Petty if you ask me.

 

[Dkmoo]

My guess is "h-e-l-l-a" good

Edit: nice... I'm giving myself a pat on the back for still being "hip" with current lingo

 

[waverider]

For the Record: My Diamond Goby chewed through every bit of dust in my substrate in about 48 hours. -On a 65 Gallon with 36x18 dimentions. Its been nearly 2 weeks now, and the water is *Crystal*. I didnt do a thing but add some floss to one of my powerheads.

 

[FullReefSurvivalMode]

Get the White blue dot sexguttata Goby instead, it’s a workhorse that stays on the sandbed/lower rocks. I find the diamond and strigata fast learners of free food at feeding time + they grab sand and filtrate it up high in the aquarium which creates sand clouds. Happy reefing

 

[SuncrestReef]

Goby says “hey, I’m just doing my job!”

 

[waverider]

Get the White blue dot sexguttata Goby instead, it’s a workhorse that stays on the sandbed/lower rocks. I find the diamond and strigata fast learners of free food at feeding time + they grab sand and filtrate it up high in the aquarium which creates sand clouds. Happy reefing

My Diamondy Goby will take advantage of feeding time -and Im happy to see him eating. But he's always on the prowl chewing thru my sand bed. Was just reading your comment so I decided to watch him for a little while just now, and sure enough -he's munching sand.

 

[maugustine]

I have been told the diamonds are least .. miss behaving of the sand sifters.. is there truth to this? My diamond goby did his job and also dumped sand on EVERYTHING! Need a new B sifter ASAP!!

 

[krash7172]

I had a bunch of sand when I got my diamond goby. I slowly removed sand when he would pile it high. Eventually, there was an amount of sand that allowed him to do his thing without wrecking my view. You can't beat them at their game!

 

[DaneGer21]

Like others, give it time. My 220 took him months to clean and it was a sand storm daily. But all is well now.