Sand Sifter

K

Kelly

Hey folks, I'm looking for suggestions on a sand sifting fish.
It must be able to be kept long term.
So let's hear 'em.
First hand accounts would be great.
I know there are several to choose from, but some apparently slowly starve to death, even if they're eating.
 
Hey Kelly,
I loved using nassarius snails for sifting sands. They do an amazing job. They're really hard to kill too! I've had my snails for close to 2 years!
 
Thanks man,
Only 17 views, no fish suggestions.
I bet if I posted this in the Reef Discussion or Open forum, I would hear more...
 
I found that a diamond goby was a good sand sifter, a bit messy, caused my water to be less clear (the reason I may not replace him). He was fun to watch & had a lot of personality.
 
I don't know why but I've had a terrible time keeping sand sifters. I had a golden head for about 6 months. He got really skinny and eventually died. I bought a small diamond and he jumped first night...found him in the sump 5 weeks later. He died a week after that. Bought a big diamond and he jumped first night. We changed some stuff so they can't jump now, but he still died a couple of weeks later. He was being picked on though. I would love to have one, but my luck hasn't been good.
 
@ERIKATHORNBURG wrote:
I don't know why but I've had a terrible time keeping sand sifters. I had a golden head for about 6 months. He got really skinny and eventually died. I bought a small diamond and he jumped first night...found him in the sump 5 weeks later. He died a week after that. Bought a big diamond and he jumped first night. We changed some stuff so they can't jump now said:
I've read that is typical of the "Golden Head", same thing happened with mine a few years back. It was a sweet fish with interesting behavior, but got thin and eventually starved. I'd like another from the same genus with the same behavior but want to hear which species people are having luck with.
Click to expand...
 
If you want a fish with that sort of behavior and a lot of personality... I would get a jawfish. They're amazing
 
I had my diamond goby less than a year, maybe 8-9 months. He just disappeared. I think I may have accidentally buried him, I had some rocks collapse when I attempted to remove one. That was about the time I noticed I hadn't seen him. He had seemed healthy and was always active. I may get another one or try a yellow headed jawfish, I'm still undecided. I think with a sandsifter fish you definitely need a strong skimmer & lots of copepods & tiny critters in your substrate or it will starve.
 
I've kept a yellow watchmen goby for over a year. I've also kept 2 pearly jawfish in my 28g for over a year.
 
I had 2 different Diamond Watchman gobies for 2 years each...2 separate tank crashes did them in. For some reason neither of them were jumpers, no idea why not, though, as most of them do jump looking for a better tidepool. I had a canopy, but it was open on one side, so they had plenty of opportunity. Neither one of them was the least bit nervous/jumpy and were always watching me.

I had a 6-spot sleeper goby for a year, he just died a few months ago & we have no idea why so I wouldn't recommend one. He was a huge mysis hog & would eat until his belly was huge. He was definitely a jumper (earned his non-kid-friendly name by jumping into the overflow his 1st 30 minutes in the tank). He was also an extremely annoying pacer. He paced from the time the lights came on until he got fed, then he'd stop for an hour or so & start back up again until lights out. He'd pace himself to normal, healthy tummy size, then pig out to a big belly. Every day.

So are you just looking for a goby that will stay on the bottom, or is there a reason you want a sifter type even though not necessarily to sift? We've had our orange-spot for over a year now & it's fat (ridiculously so LOL). Every great once in a while it will grab a mouthful of sand, but not often at all as it's more of a shrimp goby. He also won't dig his own burrows (the other one dug them all), so he sleeps behind some rocks.

He's also a camera hog. If I take pics of corals, he comes out and hops at me until I take his pic LOL. Typical goby behavior, watches us when we're doing anything close to the tank.

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SushiGirl, thanks for the pic and suggestions. I am a fan of the orange spot.
I want a Valenciennea of some sort, that will hang out on the bottom.
I want the Valenciennea because I want the sand through the gill action, but I don't want one that will starve.
There are a few from what I read on Liveaquaria and reefcentral.
I think I'm pretty limited...
 
We had a yellow head sleeper goby that also got thin and died. When we got him, we were told that they get most of their nutrition from sifting the sand, so we didn't worry about how much he ate with the other fish. We later learned that they are aggressive eaters and really need to be fed well. So we decided to take a chance on another one. We kept him quarantined and my wife somehow taught him to eat right from a dropper. When we introduced him to the display, he would come right up with the other fish and eat (our previous goby never did this). Now, he is one of our most aggressive eaters... fat and healthy, and doing well.
They are great for sifting sand, though they tend to mellow out over time and don't sift as much as when you first get them. He seems to do a good job sifting our sand, and he's fun to watch. My kids named him "bomber" because he looks like he's dropping bombs when he sifts.
Hope that helps!
 
I fed my diamond gobies directly, as well. My sleeper that died after a year was the first to the baster every day. The orange-spot is an aggressive eater on the bottom.
 
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