Bloody Yellow-headed Sandsifting Goby

[dandyfop]

What a terrible fish this is. I just got it.

All it does is make my fish tank look like a snow globe, and cover all of my corals and LF with gravel!! The worst part is that he is here for good, there is no way I can catch him without dismantling my tank...

So what he keeps the gravel nice looking if it is at the expense of the water clarity (which I have tweaked my protein skimmer, added filter socks / phosphate removers, refugium, overflow, etc etc etc. to make look nice), and corals/liverock.
arrgg..

Why is this fish even in the trade...

What not add fish that eat LR, or the silicone sealing the tank?!


Am I overreacting?

[kat]

Originally Posted by dandyfop

Am I overreacting?

uhhhh...yeah. Research before buying.

[xtreme]

You could try trapping him. I've had some luck with traps in the past. Depends on the fish, some won't go near it, others have no problem swimming right in.

[Brent F]

Sand sifting gobies are great fish for a deep sand bed with the correct texture of sand. If you are getting a lot of clouding your sand is probably too fine.

I have a pink spotted watchman and love it. It is very aggressive toward other fish and is a jumper so needs to be kept in a tight tank with large fish or alone. My sand is a mix of sugar sized, slightly larger, and live rock rubble and there is no clouding. He is constantly rearranging the sand searching for food in it.

I have a coco worm, hermit crabs, shrimp and star polyps with it, all of which are fine with the constantly shifting sand base.

I agree, they wouldn’t be the best fish for a tank that you need to worry about things being covered in sand.

[super7]

I have a pink spotted watchman do, great fish to have and one of my favorite.

IF YOU do the research you will get the right fish.
Super7

[Black Phantom]

It must be just your fish
My orange spotted is a great addition and pretty much leaves the sand alone. He mostly spends his day perched on his favorite rock.

[SATELLITE]

i too have that exact same goby. he is pretty cool looking, doen't go to far from home and likes to keep it clean. any empty shells close to him he moves it. kinda wierd

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Black Phantom

It must be just your fish
My orange spotted is a great addition and pretty much leaves the sand alone. He mostly spends his day perched on his favorite rock.

The Orange spotted behaviour is very different from the yellow-head. Yellow heads take a mouthful, then swim upward letting the sand fall through as they rise. Orange spotted stay on the sand bed. As a result, the yellow heads tend to deposit a lot more sand in higher areas.

However...like clockwork every few weeks, my orange spotted male tries to bury the female under a mountain of substrate. This is deliberate building not related to eating. Drives me nuts, but it is still easier than cleaning the sand all the time!

[Whatigot]

I LOVE my pink spotted shrimp goby, never aggressive and doesn't make much of a mess either.
was my first addition and hasn't been a problem in any of the ways described above....

[fishoholic]

I have a yellow headed sleeper goby and yes he does move sand around the tank, but I don't notice it that much. He does a great job keeping the sand bed clean, so I for one am quite happy with this fish.