Multiple Gobies in a 65g

[Ziggy17]

Just wondering if a green clown goby, a sand sifting goby ( not sure which one yet), and yellow watchman goby paired with a pistol can all be housed in a RS 300 XL 65g tank? Footprint is 33x22.

 

[Quietman]

The clown and either the YWG or a Sand sifting will be fine. They don't compete for the same resources generally (only one really relies on active mature sand bed. The clown will perch on corals and may nibble a bit so expect some minor damage but not enough to kill off coral usually. Just part of having a reef tank. A problem may arise as the YWG may identify the sand sifting goby as a threat since it's similar shape/size and mucking around in it's sand bed. YWG aren't primarily sand sifting feeder in my experience. They will own their12x12 section of tank to to bottom That should leave plenty of room for the other but it's a risk. Since sand sifting gobies don't have a great record of long term survival in most systems, I'd go with just the YWG which will readily take food you provide. Plus the shrimp bonding with it is great to watch.

 

[Ziggy17]

Appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Cthulukelele]

Seconding that sand sifting gobies really need pretty massive tanks with lots of open relatively deep sand to truly thrive long term and most of the tanks they'd thrive in are with people who have huge tanks with sand dwelling corals they don't want the sand sifters to cover

 

[Ziggy17]

My starfish and conch do a lousy job at keeping the sand turned over. Thought a goby might be the asnswer.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I have Two Yellows Watchmen Gobies, a Mandarin Goby and a Cleaner Goby in a 120 Gallon. Except for the YWG, which can’t decide whether to pair up, they ignore each other. Have plenty of Pods, for the Mandarin.

 

[Cthulukelele]

My starfish and conch do a lousy job at keeping the sand turned over. Thought a goby might be the asnswer.

For sand turnover at your tank size I'd suggest nassarius snails and a tiger pistol shrimp watchman goby combo.

Also even if it isn't doing great at turning over your sand bed, a sand sifting star is also definitely slowly starving to death at your tank size. Similar rules to sand sifting gobies

 

[Ziggy17]

For sand turnover at your tank size I'd suggest nassarius snails and a tiger pistol shrimp watchman goby combo.

Also even if it isn't doing great at turning over your sand bed, a sand sifting star is also definitely slowly starving to death at your tank size. Similar rules to sand sifting gobies

I have a half dozen Nassarious snails in there. The pistol is already in there with a YWG. None of which turn over the sand.

 

[Cthulukelele]

I have a half dozen Nassarious snails in there. The pistol is already in there with a YWG. None of which turn over the sand.

I don't know what you want me to tell you. It's hard for me to recommend you slowly kill a fish over 3-6 months that's not going to thrive in your tank instead of vacuuming your sandbed every couple months. A large adult tiger pistol shrimp will turn over more sand than you want them to in a tank that size. It keeps 50% of my 120s sand turned over. Nassarius snails absolutely do turn over your sand bed. They turn it over after lights out especially. You could go for something like a tiger tail sea cucumber. Keep an eye on it the first week before it attaches as it can nuke your tank if it ends up in a powerhead. Cerith snails also turn over sandbed if you're not fully stocked on algae eating snails yet. At the end of the day though, nothing is going to clean your sandbed perfectly outside of patience and elbowgrease.