Toby the Goby decided I needed a deep sand bed…

[Formulator]

Despite my efforts to keep up with raking, my diamond goby has completely re-landscaped my sand bed. Basically he moved all the sand to the front left half of the tank so I now have a deep sand bed in parts and all the way to bare bottom in a few spots.

I’m not sure what to do, but the 3 options I came up with are:

1. Add more sand to make everything as deep as he seems to want his area
2. Re-level all the existing sand manually and hope he doesn’t do it all again.
3. Do nothing and just deal with the variable sand depth

Thoughts?

Red line shows sand level:

Bare bottom back center area (don’t mind the mp40 I need to re-attach):

High sand area side view:

Low sand area side view:

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Ha ha! You should see MY SANDBED!! My diamond goby has about 4 inches in his corner, and it tapers down to almost none on the other side! He and I go back and forth with the sand. I wrake it back across, that last for a day or 2, then he moves it all back where he likes it! mine also collects empty snail shells, and picks up and moves live snails if he feels the need. He is a busy guy, all day long!

 

[kvansloo]

This is what gobies do best. You could try adding a little sand in the bare spots and see what he does, he may leave it alone if you leave his house alone.

 

[fishyjoes]

I'd just leave it. I've had various digging fish in the past and I like the pits and stuff they create

 

[IceNein]

I would think of it from this perspective: I have an hour or two a week I'm willing to work on aquascaping. That goby has 24/7. He has nothing to do OTHER than move that sand around the way he likes it. You could try to exert your will on the little guy, but the effort sounds Sisyphean to me.

 

[Formulator]

I'd just leave it. I've had various digging fish in the past and I like the pits and stuff they create

I had embraced his dunes and liked them as well, but when I started seeing bare tank bottom, I thought I should draw the line. Maybe not!

 

[NonstopSoda]

My twinspot does the same in my nano! Has a big mound under my rocks and has an opening for his den, If he moves other sand around usually just shift it back to where i like it and if he wants to reshape it again I dont mind haha but again my tank is much smaller

 

[kevgib67]

I don’t know how long you have had him but mine has been in my tank just over two and a half years. He did exactly what you are describing for 6-7 months, creating many caves. Once he settled on one the sand excavating stopped.

 

[Fritz05]

Give the goby what the goby wants! Resistance is futile ( in case you are a Trekkie).

 

[crazyfishmom]

Sounds like a good time to get live sand from TBS and add some biodiversity to your tank. At least that would be what I would do. Power to the goby people!

 

[Gribbles]

Do they stop rearranging if you leave it alone? Mine doesn't, which makes me think it is just sifting for food everywhere.

I think I've read that they can potentially have long term difficulty if the sandbed is too clean and not replenished

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I don’t know how long you have had him but mine has been in my tank just over two and a half years. He did exactly what you are describing for 6-7 months, creating many caves. Once he settled on one the sand excavating stopped.

Well that gives me hope for mine then! He has only been in the tank for for 8 or 9 months

 

[Formulator]

I don’t know how long you have had him but mine has been in my tank just over two and a half years. He did exactly what you are describing for 6-7 months, creating many caves. Once he settled on one the sand excavating stopped.

I’ve had him about 7 months now… so maybe the end is near!

 

[Formulator]

Sounds like a good time to get live sand from TBS and add some biodiversity to your tank. At least that would be what I would do. Power to the goby people!

Possibly… I’m not too concerned with biodiversity in my old tank. But I have heard great things about TBS.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Possibly… I’m not too concerned with biodiversity in my old tank. But I have heard great things about TBS.

Leave it to the biologist to think that biodiversity is the lost important thing in a reef tank and always want more of it .

 

[Formulator]

Leave it to the biologist to think that biodiversity is the lost important thing in a reef tank and always want more of it .

Lol, I’m sure it couldn’t hurt! I definitely put it near the top of my list of importance to a healthy reef. But in 9 years of various rock and coral additions, fish death and decomposition (I’ve lost several fish in my reefing career that I did not recover from the tank), I think I have a relatively strong and diverse biome. That said, if I do decide to add sand, I think I will still take your suggestion and use the TBS stuff.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Lol, I’m sure it couldn’t hurt! I definitely put it near the top of my list of importance to a healthy reef. But in 9 years of various rock and coral additions, fish death and decomposition (I’ve lost several fish in my reefing career that I did not recover from the tank), I think I have a relatively strong and diverse biome. That said, if I do decide to add sand, I think I will still take your suggestion and use the TBS stuff.

I think populations ebb and flow in our closed systems particularly if you’ve ever used some form of carbon dosing etc. so I think about it from that perspective as well. Just a fun thought exercise and how that might impact overall tank health and performance. Some day I’ll go back to academia and study this and officially become a crazy fish lady.