Yellow head (blue cheek) sleeper goby

[Scavenger]

Hi all,

When I upgraded from my 20 gallon starter reef to a 46 gallon, I desided to have a sandbed rather than the crushed coral I used for the 20.
When I set it up, I put a layer of the crushed coral and coral rubble down in the areas I figured all the rocks would go. I then put the rocks down on top of this and spread my sandbed all around the rest of the tank.

I figured this would reduce sifters from sifting under my rocks and provide a more stable reef structure. NOt to mention that it would seed the tank as the crushed coral was quite alive.

I then figured I'd need a sand sifter or 2 to keep things happy and clean. I elected to go with a yellow head sleeper goby to do this because all my reading on them said they were good at this and were a peaceful inhabitant. The only negatives were that they kicked up sand and burrowed. I figured I could live with kicked up sand and burowing shouldn't be much of an issue.

Anyway I just heard about how these fish will chase down hermit crabs and other bad behaviour. Thanks to Bob I and Namscam for the heads up there!!!

Anyone one else want to share goby experiences so I can learn what I have to look forward to or take preventative measures??

[bluetang]

I've never had a bad experience with the ones I've had. They were always non agressive an placid. a great fish in my experience with them

[Quinn]

The animals in the Valenciennea genus are all burrowers. I think the hermit crab-moving behaviour was simply part of this, as they regularly move largeish pieces of the substrate around. My V. puellaris has attempted to use snails and crabs to shore up her burrow and puts them back into place if she catches them as they wander away. I don't feel that this is likely to grow into a significant concern, nor do I think it is likely to cause a great deal of harm to the affected invertebrate, as they tend to weasel into odd locations on their own without any participation by the goby. Here's a good article on these fish: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/hcs3/

[Scavenger]

thank your for your responses and I apologize for my delay. I've been busy buying a bigger tank

ps great article teevee, don't know how that one slipped by me. Thanks!

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by teevee

The animals in the Valenciennea genus are all burrowers. I think the hermit crab-moving behaviour was simply part of this, as they regularly move largeish pieces of the substrate around. My V. puellaris has attempted to use snails and crabs to shore up her burrow and puts them back into place if she catches them as they wander away. I don't feel that this is likely to grow into a significant concern, nor do I think it is likely to cause a great deal of harm to the affected invertebrate, as they tend to weasel into odd locations on their own without any participation by the goby. Here's a good article on these fish: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/hcs3/

In my friend's case the hermits ended up missing and presumed consumed, as only the shells used by the gobies remained as evidence of their former existence.

[sumpfinfishe]

My yellow watchmen gobbies are always collecting hermits for there burrows, however I'm careful not to buy a hermit that's too small-in return I always usually see the crabs crawling back out of the burrow 5 or 10 minutes later