Diamond Watchman Goby

[Dr.Nate]

Well, I lost my bullet goby several weeks back and my sand was getting to look not so good. After doing some reading on here, I thought I would change it up so yesterday I got a Diamond Watchman Goby. After 5 minutes in the tank, he proceeded to dig out a huge hole under a rock (and clouding my tank in the process).

He hid in the hole under the rock and I haven't seen him since. Is this normal behavior? Is he ever gonna sift the sand like my bullet goby?

thanks

 

[roka64]

They tend to be timid. Give him some time to get the feel for his new home. Is he eating?

 

[Dr.Nate]

I seriously doubt it--although I can't see him so I can't be sure. I'm sure it'll be a couple of days. They do sift sand like the bullet, right?

 

[roka64]

Yes, they do sift. In fact, I saw one at thatpetplace and thought he was super cool.

 

[Dr.Nate]

cool.....thanks!

 

[melosu58]

They do sift sand like the bullet, right?

I`m sure they sift but IMO they wont sift as much as the bullet goby. The bullet goby is one sifting machine.

 

[Dr.Nate]

They do sift sand like the bullet, right?

I`m sure they sift but IMO they wont sift as much as the bullet goby. The bullet goby is one sifting machine.

ugh....what have I done? Maybe I'll get another bullet as well. Would they get along? Is my tank big enough? (55 gal)

 

[melosu58]

Wait and see how good your watchman does. He might be enough for a 55. I think that both would be too much for a 55. Give your watchman a chance.

 

[Dr.Nate]

ok....thanks. I still haven't seen him in 24 hrs. now, but I'm sure it will take time. I just hope he's finding enough food in the sand.

 

[DurTBear]

Yeah, give him some time. I have a diamond goby and the first thing he did when I threw him in there was almost identical to what you described. He then actually jumped out of the tank the first night so I would keep an eye on him. I'm just glad I was still awake to see it and throw him back in. After a few days, he started coming out more and sifting sand. My guy sifts so much sand but ends up clouding the tank and dropping sand EVERYWHERE! And I mean everywhere. I constantly have to use the turkey baster to clean stuff off but I love the guy.

 

[allyjoe]

I also had the exact same thing happen with my Diamond Watchman. He dug a hole under one of the rocks and was very shy the first day, but still came out (just didn't stray very far from his new home). The next day I didn't see him - not any sign of him. After going all day without a trace, I thought I should check to see if he jumped. Sure enough, he did and was on the floor in back of the tank stand. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to save him as DurTBear was. As usual, I did my research and saw they were jumpers, but I don't use a cover. So once again I made a mistake when I should have known better (seems like whenever something goes wrong for me in this hobby I should have seen it coming!). Bottom line is check around your tank and make sure he hasn't jumped. If not, he is probably just hiding out (although if you don't see him in a couple of days I would think something has happened to him). If you don't have a good cover, you probably need to get one.

 

[melosu58]

IMO I would not go with a glass cover as it will cause poor gas exchange and lower your PH. I would use egg crate instead. You can get it at most hardware stores.

 

[GuOD]

my yellowhead sleeper gobies sift all day nonstop

my friends diamond goby sifts all his sand in his 40g no problem but he also spends a lot of time just sitting. it took his guy almost 10 days before he started sifting