egineer (sp?) goby

[sandman12]

Sry bout spelling, lol. I kind of want one for my 135 reef. Do u think it would just totaly destroy the reef or be ok?
If it will r thre nay sand sifting gobys that will do ok in a reef?

 

[sandman12]

bump^, no help?

 

[caryn_ia]

Can't say about the engineer, but I have a bullet/brown barred goby, which some people say aren't reef 'friendly'. Meaning they will spit substrate onto live rock, covering corals/coraline. Mine stays mostly at the bottom, sifting thru it. He will swim up towards the middle of the tank, but mostly likes to 'play in the sand'. That's all the info I have

 

[sandman12]

cool.

 

[*bta*]

clown gobies are good their peaceful but there small

 

[sandman12]

i know, they r already planned for. Iam looking for a sand sifting gobie.

 

[escape2thewater]

I have had an engineer goby for almost a year now in my 120 reef tank & he hasnt caused any probs. Hes actually my favorite fish. You just need to make sure your rocks are on the bottom glass to prevent avalanches from moving the sand around. I know people debate this fish being reef safe but mine has not harmed anything yet. heres a pic...
KYle
:happyfish

 

[nm reef]

I maintain a 220 reef that has a pair of them. They are very interesting fish to say the least. As mentioned insure your LR is very stable...they are constantly burrowing and digging under/around/thru the lr & sand bed. The only major problem I have with them is they simply don't allow corals on the sand bed. The dang things are constantly shifting the sand around and eventually bury anything on the sand bed. I would not add one myself...but since they were in this 220 when I took it over I've learned to adapt and deal with them.

 

[sandman12]

sounds like i cant do it. My sand bed has alot of coral on it and a clam. plus i plan on adding about 14 other clams.

 

[rbmount]

Search for a thread called Huge Engineer Goby. Mine was 1" when I got it, and now it's 7" long and between it and a neon damsel, they keep my 46 pretty well dug up.

 

[clarkiiboi]

I thought sand sifting gobies were a no no for the sandbed. Though they are reef safe they will deplete the sandbed critters. And then when depleted it could die, and the sandbed suffers also. I was under the impression that shifting gobies were the way to go. They just move the sand and not eat the critters there.:thinking:

 

[nm reef]

I agree...some gobys like the engineer will constantly turn over the sand bed...which in effect makes it sterile and not nearly as effective.. for a sand bed to provide de-nitrification it needs to be un-disturbed.

 

[sandman12]

but see thats just the thing. I have mad algea on my sand bed. I want to keep it sturred up so the algea doesnt grow. I dont think its my phospahtes cuase its just growing on my sand. I think i added the wrong play sand for base sand and the silicates r kicking in.