sleeper goby

[PowerJuice]

I have 20 *reef to be* and i really love sleeper/watchman(The kind that sifts sand out fo thier gills) gobies and there any species that i could put in my tank? I have about a 2-3 1/2 sand bed. could i get away with a diamond goby(prolly not)? Any info welcome 30pounds of live rock 25 pounds of live sand(or somewhere close to 20-25 puonds).

[PowerJuice]

anybody?helloooooooooooooooo

[CollegeReefer]

Not sure what you are asking. Yes you can keep a watchman. On a different note many of us work all day and/or are in class and don't come onto the forums till the eveing.

[PowerJuice]

what i am asking is a species such as diamond goby yellow watchman goby, golden headed sleeper goby one that would be ok for my tank(preferably not a shy species)

[Scuba Kid]

I wouldn't get any of the sleeper gobies for a tank as small as a 20 gallon. A watchman goby would be fine.

By the way, sleeper gobies and watchman gobies are not the same. They're in two different genuses.

[PowerJuice]

theres a few kinds of watchman gobies diamond watchman goby yellow watchman goby pink spotted watchman goby ( unless you mean yellow )

[Scuba Kid]

Well what kind of watchman are you looking at? The diamond watchman goby is not actually a watchman, its a sleeper goby. IME, sleepers are more active than watchman gobies and therefore require a larger tank.

[PowerJuice]

well if im going to get a watchman goby and it sits under a rock all day i rather not get one. thats why i really liked the diamond gobies at my lfs( they were in a 20 gallon) because yes they did have a home in the rock work but they would be all around the front of the tank sifting through that sand and i guess i could say kind of jumping from rock to rock. if the watchman gobies are a really shy group of fish i rather not get one. if theres any watchmans you know that are a generally bold fish please post. but then there comes to larger tank sizes, but anyinfo is helpful thanks

[CollegeReefer]

I first like to apologize for my first post for it doesn’t answer much. I don’t know why but I just wasn’t getting what you wrote and that would be partially to the watchman/sleeper being tied together.

I would first like to note that now all watchman or sleeper gobies are sand sifting gobies. Actually most of those gobies just burrow in the sand but eat food suspended in the water column.

When it comes to sand sifting gobies I would not recommended them for a smaller tank. The reason is that it is very difficult to get these gobies to eat prepared food and seeing that this 3-5 inch fish only eats whatever it can find in the sand should tell you that it requires an ample amount of sand to sift through. Also this sand needs to be very alive for it to actually get the food for it to survive. Unfortunately in a newer tank and especially a smaller tank the food runs out quick and the goby will starve to death.

Some however have had success keeping them and getting them to adapt to frozen suspended food. However if one does this what was the point in even getting a sand sifting goby? If you really are keen on having a sand sifting goby check this out. The care and feeding of sand sifting gobies.

I hope this helps you out a bit.

[PowerJuice]

oh yes i know about the food problem thing the ones at my lfs eat every thing squid, shrimp( to come extent ) krill brine all that frozen food stuff and additionally sifting through the sand. i was watching them feed the fish last week xD

[Fishfirst]

I'd have to say that the size of most sleeper gobies would get is enough reason not to get one for a 20 gallon. 6-7" fish is a huge fish for a 20 gallon tank, not to mention most likely thatfish will make that small of a tank a sand storm