Sleeper Goby making a mess!

blondenaso1

Member
I wanted to add a new fish to my 20gal so about 3 days ago while at the LFS I saw a yellow headed sleeper goby that I really liked, plus I needed something to keep the sand stirred up. So I got the goby and put him in the tank. Well he hid for the first couple of days, then on waking up on the 3rd day I knew he had been out and around because everthing in the tank is covered with sand! So now what? All he does all day is take up sand and spit it up everywhere! I knew he would do this, but didn't think that he would spread sand everywhere. I guess there really is nothing to do except take him back to the LFS or deal with it.
 

donkeykong

Member
Has he dug himself a home yet? I have a sleeper goby and he was doing the same thing. He calmed down and is now my favorite fish. But he still reoganizes the sand every couple of days, nothing really messy.
 

CMM

New Member
I have had a sleeper goby in my tank for about a week. We have named him Chernobyl. My tank looks like it is going through a nuclear winter. Everything is covered in white. My Kenyan tree is flopped over, shedding - presumably to rid itself of the sand, etc. My Duncans have retreated and slimed up, presumably for the same reason. My rose tipped anemone is pulled in to half it's size and even my mushrooms seem to be in hiding. The poor zoas are just getting buried. Chernobyl seems to exact pleasure by picking up the sand and spitting it out directly into the wave maker. That, of course, sends it flying all over the tank like a cloud. (Insert evil fish laugh here) I'll concede that the substrate has probably never been cleaner but my corals are clearly pissed and I have not seen my Anthia in days. Will he ever stop? Is there anything I can do to filter the water that he is mucking up?
I am moving from a 4' 90 gallon to a 6' 127 gallon in December. Hopefully in a longer tank, he'll pick a corner and stick to it but I'm not too optimistic.
 
Well from what I've read sand sifting most sand sifting goby like sand up to 3.5 mm in size. So check your size first. Also unless you have a well established tank their won't be much in the sand for him just yet. Quite a few people have adjusted even sand sifting gobies to bare bottom tho so assuming you make sure he's eating during feeding he should be fine. However if your substrate large than 3.5 mm it can be bad for their gills.






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