Valenciennea bella is a beautiful Goby; part of a group we often call Sleeper or Sifter Gobies. Of the two names, Sifter is more appropriate, because these gobies never seem to sleep, and never seem to stop sifting (a topic we'll revisit). Valenciennea genus Gobies were all named for Achille Valenciennes, a zoologist from the 1800s who was more famous for his work with mollusks and parasitic worms than anything with fish. The “Bella” portion of the name is interesting as depending on the root language, it could mean “beautiful” and this is likely the prettiest (and perhaps rarest) of the Sleeper Gobies, but it could also mean “wars.” This is not a fish you'll commonly see in your LFS, but when you do, they'll probably be called Bella Goby, or Bella Sleeper Goby, as they really don't have any other common names in English.
On the topic of sifting, the reason these fish are often called “Sifter Gobies” is that they spend their days taking mouthfuls of sand and passing it through their mouths, and it ejects out under their gill plates. As they do this, they not only turn over, clean and oxygenate the sand, but they're also feeding. In the wild, this behavior is how they would find the majority of small invertebrates they live on like copepods, amphipods, small worms etc. Feeding Bella gobies enough is the primary difficulty of keeping them. In the wild, they can sift a very large area for food, over ten square feet. This is nearly impossible for most people to replicate in the home aquarium, so the Gobies need to be fed often and well. We suggest you feed them no less than three times a day. In house we feed them a mix of thawed meaty foods from Gamma including Mysis, all sorts of enhanced Brine, Copepods, Mini Bloodworms, Tubifex, and Finely Chopped Prawn and Mussel. We also introduce them to Nutramar Pellets, and here we like the Algae and Color Boost Shots as a portion of this fish's diet in the wild is the algal matter sifted from the sand. If your fish are getting skinny, up the food right away. If they are picky about what you're feeding them, try some live loaded brine or live tubifex, both are easily cultured, and also frequently available from your Local Fish Store. Click here to learn more
On the topic of sifting, the reason these fish are often called “Sifter Gobies” is that they spend their days taking mouthfuls of sand and passing it through their mouths, and it ejects out under their gill plates. As they do this, they not only turn over, clean and oxygenate the sand, but they're also feeding. In the wild, this behavior is how they would find the majority of small invertebrates they live on like copepods, amphipods, small worms etc. Feeding Bella gobies enough is the primary difficulty of keeping them. In the wild, they can sift a very large area for food, over ten square feet. This is nearly impossible for most people to replicate in the home aquarium, so the Gobies need to be fed often and well. We suggest you feed them no less than three times a day. In house we feed them a mix of thawed meaty foods from Gamma including Mysis, all sorts of enhanced Brine, Copepods, Mini Bloodworms, Tubifex, and Finely Chopped Prawn and Mussel. We also introduce them to Nutramar Pellets, and here we like the Algae and Color Boost Shots as a portion of this fish's diet in the wild is the algal matter sifted from the sand. If your fish are getting skinny, up the food right away. If they are picky about what you're feeding them, try some live loaded brine or live tubifex, both are easily cultured, and also frequently available from your Local Fish Store. Click here to learn more
