Engineer Goby

[jupoc911]

Any idea how to get one out of my tank. I never knew that they eat all of the pods in dsb. I dont want to starve my mandarin. I tried to net him but he is to smart. I was thinking of actually fishing him out with a silverside and a hook. I have a seperate tank for him ready to go. Do they actually eat all the pods and destroy a dsb? he only digs homes under the rocks. he has been in the tank for 2 years.

 

[draczka2]

i had to remove my gobi, and a yellow tailed damsel recently. the only way i got him out was by taking everything out of the tank. he was, like you said, to fast and smart to be lured out. i hope you have better luck than i. it really didn't take as long as i thought to remove and replace everything, but i had my tank the way i liked it and it's hard to get it back just the way i had it. so, good luck

 

[jupoc911]

i have so many corals in there. It would be a mess if everything had to come out. That really isnt an option right now. Is it possibly that a fish with a brain the size of a dot is smarter than me :thinking:

 

[ktsdad]

Originally Posted by Jupoc911
i have so many corals in there. It would be a mess if everything had to come out. That really isnt an option right now. Is it possibly that a fish with a brain the size of a dot is smarter than me :thinking:

It may have a small brain, but it only has 2 things to worry about
1. Find Food
2. Get away from anything that may try to eat it (or capture).
I would bet if all of us only had 2 things to worry about we would be pretty good at both of them also!

 

[jupoc911]

how long can coral live out of water? I dont have any where to put them while I do this tommorow.

 

[ktsdad]

Depends on the kind of coral.
Sponges cannot be exposed to air at all!
I would guess that you wouldn't want to expose your corals to air for more than a few seconds at best.
Make up some water change water.
Then take some water out of your tank into a clean trashcan.
Put rocks with corals into the trash can with old tank water.
Once you get the little bast***d your are after, put the rocks (and corals) back in and replace water with the water change water you made up prior to starting this order.
You get the fish out and do a water change at the same time!

 

[himandher]

for the most part gobies are so beneficial for your tank, more so than your mandarin. but if you have to have a mandarin set up a refugium and grow your pods in there for him.

 

[jupoc911]

i have been reading that engineer gobies are really bad for a dsb? Is this true? Mine doesn't seem to do much except move sand under rocks to build his home. Does he actually destroy the life of the bed?

 

[unleashed]

I cant say for sure about the sand bed I had one in my agressive for about 3 1/2 yrs they do clean the debres from the substrate which do help keep nitrates down.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Jupoc911
i have been reading that engineer gobies are really bad for a dsb? Is this true? Mine doesn't seem to do much except move sand under rocks to build his home. Does he actually destroy the life of the bed?
Where did ya read this? I haven't heard that.
Both of mine dig, but they don't eat detritus and they don't hunt pods.. they just wait with their heads sticking out of their holes for food to float by.

 

[speg]

I think your information is... bad.
Mine will grab sand in its mouth but only to spit it out away from the cave he is digging. Mine also sits with his head just slightly out of a cave waiting for me to drop in the almighty flake food.

 

[wax32]

You can leave your corals in the air for quite a while with no ill effects. Think LOW TIDE. I had all of mine out of the tank for about an hour, for the same reason you are about to... they are all fine. IF you have a lot of softies you might want to drain a little of your water into your bucket and put them in there. Mine were all SPS/LPS and some zoas.

 

[oreo12]

I have one 13inches long in my 75 gal he lives in pcv pipe but dose dig under and around the pipe but no where else in the tank. There are pods on all the live rock. I love mine and would never give it up.

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by Jupoc911
Any idea how to get one out of my tank. I never knew that they eat all of the pods in dsb. I dont want to starve my mandarin. I tried to net him but he is to smart. I was thinking of actually fishing him out with a silverside and a hook. I have a seperate tank for him ready to go. Do they actually eat all the pods and destroy a dsb? he only digs homes under the rocks. he has been in the tank for 2 years.
Bad info.... They do not eat pods, they just move the sand around, hence the name.

 

[teresaq]

I have both eng gobie and mandrine. My eng gobie is like everyone elses. He sits with his head sticking out of his hole waiting for shrimp pelets. spits sand out of his hole, and dosent bother any one. or any thing.

 

[zanoshanox]

How Big Is That Thing?

 

[teresaq]

its about 6 or 7 inch. When i got it, it was about 1 1/2 inch long. He has grown a lot in the last 9 mo.

 

[oreo12]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
its about 6 or 7 inch. When i got it, it was about 1 1/2 inch long. He has grown a lot in the last 9 mo.
Arent they just so cute that small. Wait untill it gets twice that size. Mine can move live rock from one end of the tank to the other side of the tank don't ask me how they are the most active at nite time.