Type of Goby for a 29g reef

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Houseisafeeling

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 6, 2008
Messages
8
Location
Bay Area, CA
So after thought about getting a 2wd or aka signal goby the lfs i get all my stuff for advised against it for my tank as they need a lot of space to roam around in and do better in pairs rather than being single and die off from stress etc. Another lfs i spoke too said the same thing and suggested the watchman goby types.

Any gobies I can get out there that will do good as a "sand sifter"? I'd like to get a goby for that function. any recommendations/suggestions I'm all ears thanks again gurus.:D
 
Not sure you got enuf roaming and sifting area for the sand sifter varieties. The bullet goby is awesome I hear, but they get 3" or so and might not be suited for a 29g.

Thought about nassarius snails?
 
I had a citron goby in my 29 for a long time. Great personality. It`s the yellow fish.

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Sorry about that. I was under the impression they did, though not to the same extent as other Amblygobius. (I even checked a couple of books on this before I posted, as I wasn't sure from my own experience - I've collected A. rainfordi and seen them in the wild but never kept them.) There are a number of other smallish Amblygobius out there, but none seem to make it into the aquarium trade. There's even a 2.5"species of Valenciennea (V. parva), but again it doesn't seem to make it into the trade. I'll keep thinking!

Tony
 
Hmm, now I'm confused. I just checked several websites and they each say that A. rainfordi is a sand-sifter. Given their small size, perhaps this depends on the size of the sand on offer - perhaps they need very fine sand to show this behaviour.

Tony
 
I did see one site that said they're sifters. The other 5 sites didn't say that. I had one once and he didn't touch the sand.

Pretty fish though. Good luck.
 
I'm always a little sceptical of information given on the internet - and I was a little concerned that the sand-sifting behaviour for A. rainfordi may have been based on extrapolation from other species. However, I was more convinced after seeing this: Old Glory, Amblygobius rainfordi. This is a webpage on the Australian Museum's Ichthyology website, which would presumably have been checked by their resident goby expert Dr Doug Hoese. (He was also my PhD advisor.) I noticed in one of my books, however, that the species is associated with reefs and the silty sand around the reefs - again that suggests that particle size may be important if it's going to sift. And of course, this will also determine whether it would work as a sand sifter in an aquarium.

Tony
 
bullets are sifters! I had my bullet for several months before I had to take the tank down. He was such a freakin goof!! He also got along real well with my clown, gramma and sixline :)
 
thanks for the info gurus! yeah the lfs i went too also had said one of the rainford's (don't remember which one) he showed me said they'd be good as sand sifters. Well if it helps my sand is close to 2" of "depth" its the aragonites one that said on the bag "live sand instant cycling" one of those bags you'd see at pretty much every lfs. Would that common brand ( sand particulate ) be a factor for the Rainford to sift it or not? Its a pretty fish though. Imma look now more into the bullet goby check it out.!
 
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