looking 4 two spot goby info

fishguyxd · #1 06-23-2005, 12:52 AM

Does anyone have one in there tanks here in the city
Iam loking at getting some type of fish for shiffting throught sand are these an alright kind ?

or are there any recommends

mr_alberta · #2 06-23-2005, 02:51 AM

Twin spot gobies are known to slowly decimate your sand bed fauna then starve to death. Not the best situation for you or the fish IMO. If you are looking for just a fish or something that sifts the sand, I would recommend some snails such as Cerith or Nassisarius (I think that's how it's spelled). If it absolutely must be a fish, then..uh...I will let someone else answer that since I don't really know what a good sand sifting fish is

doublette · #3 06-23-2005, 03:11 AM

We have had our Two-spot goby in the tank since August 2004. He's been really good at keeping the sand bed stirred. Besides sifting through the sand he also will eat flake, brine shrimp, mysis and he really likes the Hikari Marine A pellets. He's even been known to tear off a piece of nori off the feeding rock for the tang. He's fat and is healthy. Perhaps you just need to find one that will eat other foods. Just my experience.

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #4 06-23-2005, 03:18 AM

Yup, we love our two spot gobies. Have to get them in pairs but like newguy stated, most will never learn to eat frzn foods so will slowly starve to death. Lucked out because mine eats everything, as well as constantly sand sifting.

My yellow watchman goby also sifts sand & is easy to keep.

Anthony

Winters · #5 06-23-2005, 05:07 AM

Actually I've been asking about sand sifters and the LFS's seem to recommend gobies as well, especially Sleeper Gobies. However, yeah they can be a bit picky about what they eat but supposedly it's not too difficult to train them to eat other foods. And yes, they do normally do much better if you get them as a pair. They seem to pair up quite early in their lives and a dealer should be able to supply a pair.

Here are a couple of good articles on reef Gobies:
The Care and Feeding of Sand Sifting Gobies
The Substrate Sifting Gobies: Fishes that Earn Their Keep

Other choices for sand stirrers are Nassarius Snails and Cerith Snails which both like burying themselves in the sand. Sea Cucumbers are also good sand stirrers but get quite large and may make live rock arrangements unstable or fall. Some sea stars will also stir up sand. Some conches are also good sand stirrers but can get a bit big and clumsy.

Here is a (commercial) listing of some good custodial crew that could also sift sand:
BYO Reef Cleaners

Thanks to Harvey for answering some of my questions on the subject earlier. Hope that helps.