Sand Sifter Goby/Six Line Wrasse

[SuperXdude]

Did a little reading on them at liveaquaria.com.

I'm looking to get two more fish for my 80 Bowfront.

I currently have 110lbs live rock, one yellow tang (med), one scopas tang (smaller med), one blue tang (small), and a tomato clown who is happily hosted in a LTA.

Any thoughts on these fish? Comments?

Thanks for any help. I've been busy with work and haven't had time to check message boards in ages.


SuperX

[adamRS80]

I had one with a tomato clown, regal tank, six line wrasse, and it was fine. I liked it alot but it was a little jumpy. It ended up on my floor. It was nice to keep the sand moving.

[Reef69]

Some sand sifting gobies fill their mouths with sand and expell it out their gills, sort of...but some glide over the rockwork and cover it with sand, i used to have 1, i had to take 200 lbs. of rock out to get him out..no more sand sifting gobies for me..

[jaded]

sand sifting godies will also eat the critters that are doing work down in your sand... not a big deal if your running a bunch of machanical filtration, but if your dependent on LS then I'd opt out on the sifters

[SuperXdude]

I've got a 3.5 inch deep sandbed and plenty of live rock. I don't think one could completely clean me out could it?

X

[dow]

I've got a Hector's Goby, that's a sand sifter. Very peaceful, and is pretty much ignored by the rest of the tank, with the occasional exception of the Coral Beauty. Once in a while he'll chase the goby for maybe a second or two... More of a "You know I'm bigger than you, don't you?" kind of thing.

[Reef69]

If you are asking if they are reef safe..yes they are, will they eat corals..no, will they glide and spill sand all over your rocks..yes..

[jaded]

and my point is that they eat critters that I'm trying to propagate... I REALLY doubt that they could eat anywhere near a majority... You would need a team of them to clean out the sand! It's just in my case I wont have one becuase the possitives arent great enough to outweigh the negatives

[CD]

We had a diamond goby (sifter) in our 75G. It jumped a couple of months ago :( , but prior to that, it did a good job of keeping the sand clean. The only thing I didn't care for, is that it was always trying to cover our Hawaiian featherduster under a lump of sand...the featherduster just happened to be right where the goby decided to dig it's cave. They will dig under rocks, move rocks and frags if they are small enough to pick up (you'd be surprised what they can lift!) if they get in their way. We almost had a rock slide once because of him...they are very industrious/active diggers! I doubt seriously we would ever get another one. Once they are in your tank, you'll have a heck of a time getting them out too...FAST little buggers! Personally, I'd stick to nassarius snails to keep your sand bed clean....or a cuke'/snail combo. JMO ;)

Wendy