watchman goby

Stay away from the pink spot watchman though. They told me he was a sand sifter, and everything I've read says he is, but he hasn't in my tank. And he's a verrrryyyy aggressive eater. He actually took a nip at my Yellow Tang just for being too close to his food. Might be a trip to the LFS soon if that keeps up.
 
reefnoob said:
Is any sand size ok? Because I think my sand grains might be on the bigger size. On average they are ranging from maybe 1mm-3mm, with some grains that are bigger, around 5mm. Do you think this grain size is ok? I don't want the goby hurting itself, because I think it takes the sand in its mouth and it comes out of his gills.
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You'll want smaller grains, I don't really know the preffered size for them. They mainly feed off of the micro fauna and pods in the sand, by filtering it through their gills. The bigger sand grains when they try to filter it can cut and injure their gills. Just be ause you feed them other foods, doesn't mean they won't do what is natural to them.
 
I have a pink spotted watchman who sifts sand all the time! He's quite the character and very active in the tank. He owns the entire bottom of the tank and has recently been venturing up into the rocks. He has a few caves and I've seen him chase others out of his caves if he's near them, mouth wide open!
 
reefnoob said:
Is any sand size ok? Because I think my sand grains might be on the bigger size. On average they are ranging from maybe 1mm-3mm, with some grains that are bigger, around 5mm. Do you think this grain size is ok? I don't want the goby hurting itself, because I think it takes the sand in its mouth and it comes out of his gills.
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Most of the general rules I have found over the years is ~.25mm-2mm grain size. I'm not saying you can't get away with a little bigger only making you aware.
 
BL1 said:
You'll want smaller grains, I don't really know the preffered size for them. They mainly feed off of the micro fauna and pods in the sand, by filtering it through their gills. The bigger sand grains when they try to filter it can cut and injure their gills. Just be ause you feed them other foods, doesn't mean they won't do what is natural to them.
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Yeah that was what I was worried about. I didn't want it to get injured.
 
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