Sand Sifting Gobies: Are they worth keeping? Your Favorite?

[Sink_or_Swim]

The goby and the damage done

*Wish the video was more steady and needs some ominous music

Looks familiar, lol.

 

[Brazilian Reefer]

And it turned out that I will end up with an Amblyeleotris aurora. No Randall’s Goby in Brazil since December Aurora Goby is easier to find around here

 

[jazzfisher]

My blue Neon goby has suddenly decided he is a sand sifter. Picks up mouthfuls and sprinkles my corals. I’ve had him for years and never has done this before!

 

[Tranquility Bay]

I love these guys! Sand sifters with PAZAAZ ! But I think I need to wait until I have a fairly mature sand bed because several years ago when I had this guy, I lost him & one other one in very short time & I've never really been sure as to WHY! I suspect they require a mature sand bed - OR plenty of pods, which we now know can & SHOULD be added early anyway, so we'll see what happens with what I know now & try again!

 

[i cant think]

The goby and the damage done

*Wish the video was more steady and needs some ominous music

I mean… Atleast it still gives off the natural look?

 

[HankstankXXL750]

I have in two different tanks diamond goby, pink spot goby, yellow watchman, weaver, dragon as sand sifters. Don’t always love their sand spreading, but even that is awesome and fun to watch. Just make sure they don’t bury corals.
Not sure if I can claim a favorite, but we live in Nebraska and my wife names our Yellow (Corn) and our Ruby red dragonet (Husker) so probably have to go with the Yellow. Really pretty also.

 

[52728299]

The photo seems to confuse many people however, I hope to try clear this up.
The only “true” sandsifting genera include:
Koumansetta
Valenciennea
Amblygobius

The other gobies being said on here are from the genera;
Stongobiops
Cryptocentrus
Amblyeleotris

Other genera involved under what I’m going to say (Including the three above);
Discordipinna
Vanderhostia
Tryssogobius

Now, why have i mentioned those goby genera? Well, for the simple reason of why they’re often confused for Sandsifters. These gobies won’t sandsift, in fact they rarely even deal with the sand not near their burrows. They will move sand around however they will only move sand around their burrow. This is most likely why they are often confused with the true sandsifters of gobiinae (One of 5 Subfamilies of Gobiidae - “The true gobies”).

My favourite true sandsifting goby has to be Valenciennea yanoi. Here’s a photo of it from a Reef Builders article;

I won’t own the Valenciennea genus for a LONG time however. This is due to them needing Atleast 3 inches of sand bed. Nothing to do with them throwing sand around. And the 3 inches of sand bed is a minimum IMHO, this is due to how much they eat and how often. Compared to other gobies, Valenciennea seem to have a much faster metabolism, potentially worse than mandarins. Due to this they can drain the sand Ed of food if it isn’t mature enough or deep enough (I’ll draw a diagram in a while and possibly do another thread about this for anyone interested).

My favourite sandsifter that I can own is Koumansetta hectori. This is due to them being more simple in colour but having some amazing golden lines.

Pros to sandsifters?
You get a clean sand bed but also you get to watch something different.

Cons to them?
If you like your coral, be prepared to have not so sensitive species or species you would naturally find on the sand bed.

Also forgot to mention I chose other for this same reason.

Thanks for this info, I just spent the last hour trying to figure out which gobies are actually sifters.

I'm considering either valencienna wardii or Koumansetta hectori, which would be best for a 100g dt with 2-3 inches of sand. About 90lb of live rock, no corals on the sand bed. Ty

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I mean… Atleast it still gives off the natural look?

My diamond goby does this constantly, lol. Also picks up shells and throws them around. I put up with the mess of sand though as he's pretty cool to watch putter around the tank and do his thing all day. I do wish I could keep corals on the sandbed, but it's a tradeoff I deal with.

 

[Starganderfish]

I always have Gobies.
I had a beautiful Chocolate/Bullet Goby which did an amazing job of maintaining a clean bed, though did tend to spread sand around a lot.
Also have a Rainfords which does a little sifting, a little algae grazing but is really more ornamental than functional.
When the Bullet passed earlier in the year I replaced him with a Gold-headed Sleeper Goby. He’s a beautiful-looking fish (though at some point he lost an eye - no idea when that happened and the kids have named him “Pirate”). Not quite as dedicated a sifter as the Bullet but still keeps the bed fairly clean and makes less mess.
I supplement their feed with sinking pellets and they will often take a bite of whatever frozen food is on offer. A well-developed sand bed is important but even the largest tank will struggle to support them long-term without supplemental feeding. I'm not bothered too much by the "mess" it makes the bed more natural and sculpted and I just put the sensitive stuff higher up. I have Zoa's all over my lower rocks which happily push the sand off, and have a large Elegance that isn't bothered in the slightest. Plate corals tend to struggle though. The sheer mass of sand is often too much for them to push off.
Most importantly I’ve never once sifted my sand bed and I occasionally only give it a bit of a stir - maybe every 3 or 4 months. Sifting Gobies, Strombus conch’s, Zombie, Cerith and Nassarius snails - a healthy clean-up crew is vital and removes a LOT of the requirements for fiddly maintenance.

 

[PeterEde]

I've not vacuumed my sand bed in a year. Between my sleeper goby and zombie snails the sand is well turned.
I do have to blow off a few corals every few days. Now sure how my Nems like it

 

[Azael]

Mine had done an amazing job. Last year I had a big problem with algae and the sand looked extremely bad. The cerith and 3 sand sifting were amazing.

 

[jacob963210]

I think im now finding out all gobies are my Favorate species of fish. I want a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp. I also love clown gobies, dragon and im in the middle of learning about them all... Im probably going to get a yellow watchmen goby soon. Im also wondering if I can keep different species of gobies together such as the watchmen, clown, dragon? still new to the hobby so Id like to hear more about this.

 

[i cant think]

I think im now finding out all gobies are my Favorate species of fish. I want a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp. I also love clown gobies, dragon and im in the middle of learning about them all... Im probably going to get a yellow watchmen goby soon. Im also wondering if I can keep different species of gobies together such as the watchmen, clown, dragon? still new to the hobby so Id like to hear more about this.

Different gobies can be kept together but if you can list the ones you like it’ll be easier to say what will coexist better.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I have three watchman's and one pistol. I just found the third living in the back chamber surfing on a sponge. They only move sand in their den out to the surface.

 

[HankstankXXL750]

I think im now finding out all gobies are my Favorate species of fish. I want a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp. I also love clown gobies, dragon and im in the middle of learning about them all... Im probably going to get a yellow watchmen goby soon. Im also wondering if I can keep different species of gobies together such as the watchmen, clown, dragon? still new to the hobby so Id like to hear more about this.

What size tank? I have a diamond, dragon, yellow watchman with pistol shrimp, Randall’s with another shrimp (don’t know that your supposed to do two pairs but thought I lost the shrimp and bought the Randall’s and a pistol then found the yellow still had his. All of these are in a RS S1000 210 gallon tank.

 

[jacob963210]

What size tank? I have a diamond, dragon, yellow watchman with pistol shrimp, Randall’s with another shrimp (don’t know that your supposed to do two pairs but thought I lost the shrimp and bought the Randall’s and a pistol then found the yellow still had his. All of these are in a RS S1000 210 gallon tank.

I just started a 40 gallon breeder,I currently Have 2 black storm clown, 1 captive mandarin (came eating frozen food). I want to get a watchman goby pistol shrimp , Green clown. I want a sand sifting but that doesn't sound like the best idea from what im reading. and not decided what else to stock currently.

 

[Badboyan93l]

Not anymore, they create sand storms if you have fine sand like mine SMH LOL

 

[shcrimps]

mixed feelings, i had a shark nose goby that would reek havoc upon my whole tank despite being so small
then a pink spot sand sifter who was polite and didn’t destroy the whole tank and cover corals in sand LOL