Anyone familiar with Diamond Gobies?

[teacampuzano]

I knew the pros of having a sand-shifting fish and I was really interested in a Diamond Goby. I know their general behavior and I read that they were jumpers. I have traded my damsels for a small sailfin tang and the diamond goby. The LFS showed me one that was pretty mellow, sifting sand without a problem, but when I got it home it was jumping in the bag. Today as I was doing a 10% water change in my 29g BioCube, the goby jumped out of the water! After I finally caught it, and put it in the water it attempted to escape once again! Is there anything I can do to distract him? I've been worried about ammonia creepying up since my nitritate is showing up on my water tests. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[ballardjr2000]

hmmm.... don't know what you can do to distract him. i have a diamond goby and he is happy just siffting and going through my sand. he even has his spot dug out under a peace of live rock where he goes to sleep. haven't had problem with him jumping though. i would get some egg crate and put over the tank if its not covered. mine will get jumpy if i disturb him too much so i guess try not to freak him out when you do water changes.

[kkiel02]

I knew the pros of having a sand-shifting fish and I was really interested in a Diamond Goby. I know their general behavior and I read that they were jumpers. I have traded my damsels for a small sailfin tang and the diamond goby. The LFS showed me one that was pretty mellow, sifting sand without a problem, but when I got it home it was jumping in the bag. Today as I was doing a 10% water change in my 29g BioCube, the goby jumped out of the water! After I finally caught it, and put it in the water it attempted to escape once again! Is there anything I can do to distract him? I've been worried about ammonia creepying up since my nitritate is showing up on my water tests. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

On the nitrate question- The nitrogen cycle goes from ammonia to nitrite then gets converted to nitrate. So if you dont have a nitrate removal system set up you will eventually have a nitrate build up. Nitrate can be removed by water changes, macro algae or deep sand bed to name a few. Water changes just help to keep the levels lower by seitching out the water. Macro algae uses it to grow and then the algae is removed. DSB uses anearobic conditions to break down down the nitrate. Another newer idea is the algea turf scrubber which I am not too familar with at this time.

[Kristy]

Diamonds and other types of gobys are jumpers. You will need a lid or canopy or most likely you will eventually have him go carpet surfing. He may calm down some though after he settles in.

[Squiers007]

Maybe I missed it, but what size tank to you have? Diamond gobies typically do well for a while, but if you dont have a very large tank they can deplete the food in the sand fairly quickly and will starve unless you get it to eat frozen foods and feed it regularly. Also like the above posts said most gobies are jumpers so some type of canopy of egg crate are recommended. Hope this helped