need good sand sifting fish

fishfreek

fishfreek

Active Member
I've got a 45g fowlr tank with 1" of cc and about 2" of dead sand (now live sand) on top of it. My sand is starting to accumulate some brownish algae on it in spots. Tank is fully cycled, (has been running over a year) added sand bed about 2 months ago. I have a total of 10 blue leg crabs mixing up the sand some what, but they don't seem to be doing a good enough job. I was thinking of getting eighter getting some sort of blennie or a goby. I almost bought a bicolor blennie but wasn't sure if it would sift sand or not. I have read on previous posts that orange spotted gobies and dragon gobies are good sand sifter choices. The only concern i have, is that i thought gobies would not be a good choice in substrate with any type of cc in it. If i am understanding sand sifting fish correctly, don't they sift through their mouth and expell it through their gills? Will the cc substrate (i would imagine the fish will eventually make its way to that 1" bottom layer) do damage to their gill plates when expelled? I have always liked these fish and really want one but not if the fish will be at risk of being injured with the substrate i have in my tank.
Can anyone help me out with these questions and possably give me any more good ideas as far as good sand sifters go?
Thanks!
 
angie118

angie118

New Member
I have a gobie and I also have cc and he does just fine with it. I also feed him some krill near his hole and he picks it right up and eats it. he will learn to recognize food when he sees it. you can also buy the shrimp pellets. once they get used to their enviroment and nobody will eat him he will come out for quite a while and start sifting through the sand bed for things to eat. They are really neat fish we really like ours.
 
fixitdude2001

fixitdude2001

Member
I am also intrested in the white goby,everything I have read about them and the are said to do a great job, my problem is will it remove to many critters from my live sand any one have this problem with gobys anyone, I like seeing all the critters and would not want to depleate them, I also have a niger trigger that sifts the sand, grabs a big mouth full and blows it through his gills, kinda neat,....cya ;)
 
shel

shel

Member
I have a dragon wrass that does a wonderful job. He sleeps in the ls, when he is up he is constantly doing shimming in the sand. My ls always looks really nice :)
Shel
 
angie118

angie118

New Member
I have a golden headed gobie, he has a blue streak on each side of his face. I named him streaker cause from far away he looks like this little white streak going across my tank.
 
fishfreek

fishfreek

Active Member
angie, does your goby dig alot of holes, or does he just skim the top of the sand?
shel, does your dragon wrass totally cover himself with sand? I've seen these at my lfs. There cool fish! Does your wrass dig deep holes when it sleeps? I am asking because i'm not sure i want a fish really mixing the cc with the sand. (although i know it will eventually. :(
thanks
 
angie118

angie118

New Member
My gobie digs a hole under the LR for his hideout. He usually sifts the sand without digging a buch of holes. He grabs some sand and sifts it out through his gills, he goes all over the tank to find stuff to eat.
 
dawn

dawn

New Member
I have a convict blenny. he is about 5-6 inches long. he is black and white, and his pattern is kind of like a snake. I have all live sand and some live rock. He digs his little hide outs, and throws sand where he wants it! he puts it in his mouth and spits it where he wants! he is very cute. But they are very nervous when it comes to cleaning the tank. You have to make sure you have your tank covered good, because he jumped out of the little 10 gal. at my work, because I took out the rocks!
 
efrank

efrank

Member
I have had an orange spot boby and I now have a dragon gobby. Both are very cool. The orange spot dug and lived under the LR while the dragon roams the tank more and sifts stuff off the rock as well as the sand. I have LS over CC and it is fine.
Of course becasue I have the dragon goby thats what I would recomend. It is a really cool, bold fish
 
angie118

angie118

New Member
the algae blenny aka rockskipper is an awesome fish to watch he will clean your brown algae in your tank. we named him mork cause he looks like an alien.
 
shel

shel

Member
Yes he does cover himself completly with sand, but only in the area where he sleeps. Back corner. The rest of the time he shimmie's on the top of the ls. Just enough to stir it up and look for stuff to eat.
Sometimes when he is just waking up you will see sticking half out of the sand looking around. It is quite the site.
I say get the Dragon. He really cool to watch. My only complaint I have about him is, He has this Feather Duster he thinks is his. I put on the LR, he takes it and puts it where he sleeps. I have 4 Feather Dusters and the green one is only one he takes. I guess he thinks he needs it in his area to decorate it. LOL :p He also keeps all the empty shells over in his area. It is quite funny to see swimming across the tank with a shell in his mouth. LOL :D
Good Luck
Shel
 
T

tiggerk27

Guest
I have two engineer gobies. They LOVE to play in the cc. They build little homes under the coral (dead) pieces. Every once in a while the pieces will start to slip down so i replace the cc into the holes. Then they find another coral to dig under until i fill that hole in too.
Only problem is that if i don't fill the hole in soon enough they will make it really big and the coral will really start to slip.
I wouldn't trade them for the world though. They have great personality and are fun to watch.
Kim
 
fishfreek

fishfreek

Active Member
Thank you all for the great suggestions! Looks like i may try to find a small dragon wrass at my lfs soon. :)
Hay, shel, do you or any else know if dragon wrasses are reef safe? I plan, in the not so distant future to slowly start going reef as soon as i upgrade my lighting. Also, i found a site wich says tht dragons can reach the length of 12"!! Any idea how accurate that is? I only have a 45g tank. Maybe if i find a very small one it would work. I usually see them anywhere from 1-1/2" long to about 5" at lfs.
Thanks again for all of the info you have given me. :D
thanks
 
shel

shel

Member
Hi Bob,
I beleive he is reef safe. I am finally starting to had corals to my 125 and he could careless about them. Only his feather duster is his concern. My lfs told me he should be fine with a reef set up. I beleive he will get 6 inch tops. At least that is what my book says. Mine started out at maybe 1 1/2 inches now he is a whopping 4 inches. He did grow pretty fast. Also he could careless about the other fish. It looks like he swimming around saying "It's all good." LOL. He is a very easy going. Fast as hell when I put ghost shrimp in. That is the only time he moves fast. The rest of the time he is very layed back floating around the tank. He does not put any effort in to swimming, he just kind of floats around. LOL
Good luck and please keep me posted or if you find out anymore info on them let me know.
Shel :D
 
fishfreek

fishfreek

Active Member
I'm glad to see this fish will probably get to be 6" or so and is reef safe. It seem to be what i am looking for. :)
Thanks again :D
 
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