Sand shifting goby

[Coralbeauty85]

Hi everyone,
I was hoping to gain some feedback on a sand shifting goby in a 40 gallon. I wanted to get a sand shifting sea star also. Would this cause trouble?

 

[Joeganja]

I reccomend a diamond goby. I've had two in a 90 gallon and they keep the sand spotless

 

[The Kahnasaur]

An orange diamond goby will sift better than any other goby. He'll cover anything you keep on the sand bed along with all of his/her sifting though. 40 Gal might be small for a sifting star on its own. One might eventually starve.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Diamond gobies get surprisingly large, 6+inches, but are not super acyive so should be fine in a 40b. Other species of sand sifters actually swim up into the water column and drop sand causing more damage than the diamond sandsifter, which stays on the sand when shifting.

May I ask why you want the sand star? They eat beneficial microfauna in the sand, much of which helps break down uneaten food and undesirable nutrients.

 

[Oscaror]

because of you I can't stop reading sand sifter as sand shifter lol. Well I had a diamond goby and he starved to death :( Not enough stuff in the sand, it's a 46 gallon

 

[Coralbeauty85]

Thanks for the helpful hints. How i didn't proof read and catch that.. lol! My bad! I was interested in the star cause I thought it was cool. It isn't a must have however. I was going to pair my sifter with a pistol shrimp.

 

[Oscaror]

I think you could do that, mine never rerally made a burrow, he just wandered around being cool

 

[The Kahnasaur]

I could be wrong but I don't think diamond gobies pair well with pistol shrimps. You might want to look into varieties of watchman gobies if you want to attempt to pair it. For the most part they sift less however. The yellow watchman I had barely sifted at all. I currently have a pink spot watchmen that sifts a little but nowhere near as much as orange diamonds I've had in the past. I think smaller gobies pair up better but I don't have experience with them to know for sure.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I could be wrong but I don't think diamond gobies pair well with pistol shrimps. You might want to look into varieties of watchman gobies if you want to attempt to pair it. For the most part they sift less however. The yellow watchman I had barely sifted at all. I currently have a pink spot watchmen that sifts a little but nowhere near as much as orange diamonds I've had in the past. I think smaller gobies pair up better but I don't have experience with them to know for sure.

Correct, sifters don't pair with pistol shrimp and watchman gobies don't really sift sand.