Does anybody know approximately what is the largest grain size substrate one can use with sand sifting gobies?
Chris
Chris
Dragon Goby Biotope Discussion
- Thread starter clsanchez77
- Start date
Heck my VG sifts crushed coral in his temporary tank...so I would say most anything considered "sand" would be fine. I would probably go with pool filter sand unless you're looking for a different color.
That is exactly it. I want a muddy brownish-greyish-black color. So I was thinking of mixing some Onyx and/or Flourite Black sand with the pool filter or similar sand and a little amount of aragonite.
Hi Chris.
Your tank set-up plan sounds great. I hope to see some pictures!
Regarding my VG, I house one VG in my 55-gallon. His tankmates include 2 figure-8 puffers, a few mollies and a few bumblebee gobies. I've had him for about almost 9 months and I will fill you in on a few of the nicks that I had run into with the VG.
First of all, he's VERY nocturnal. Absolutely much more active when the lights are out. He LOVES his cave. LOVES LOVES his cave. He will hide in there all day and occasionally I will look over and he will be playing around and kicking up a sandstorm!
The biggest problem I had run into was feeding. Due to the fact that I house him with 2 puffers makes feeding all the more difficult. First few days of keeping him, I fed the norm and he's not eating. I tried spot feeding, but he would get startled and run away, leaving the puffers to scream "OOOOH! FOOOOOOOD!" and greedily eat it all. So, he was getting really, really, really skinny. I eventually had to remove him from the tank and house him in my quarantine tank for a few weeks while he fattened up (he's nice and pleasantly plump now!). When he went back into the show tank, it just went right back into a not-eating, puffer gets all cycle again. I was getting really, really frustrated.......and then I decided to try something completely different. Because he's nocturnal, an hour before feeding, I turned the lights off. It almost seemed to "trick" him into thinking it's night time. And he was out and about and if I spot-fed him, he gobbled it all up without the puffers knowing (hehe!).
So, all in all, you might have to try a few different things in feeding the little guy. They're so shy and virtually blind that it seems like there's nothing you can do. I know a few people who feed the VG at night, rather than the rest of the tank. However, if you house them with little piggy puffers, you might run into that situation. If not, he might be more open to accepting food during the day.
I know it's a bit much, but just figured I'd share my story and maybe you can learn a little something from it. =D
Your tank set-up plan sounds great. I hope to see some pictures!
Regarding my VG, I house one VG in my 55-gallon. His tankmates include 2 figure-8 puffers, a few mollies and a few bumblebee gobies. I've had him for about almost 9 months and I will fill you in on a few of the nicks that I had run into with the VG.
First of all, he's VERY nocturnal. Absolutely much more active when the lights are out. He LOVES his cave. LOVES LOVES his cave. He will hide in there all day and occasionally I will look over and he will be playing around and kicking up a sandstorm!
The biggest problem I had run into was feeding. Due to the fact that I house him with 2 puffers makes feeding all the more difficult. First few days of keeping him, I fed the norm and he's not eating. I tried spot feeding, but he would get startled and run away, leaving the puffers to scream "OOOOH! FOOOOOOOD!" and greedily eat it all. So, he was getting really, really, really skinny. I eventually had to remove him from the tank and house him in my quarantine tank for a few weeks while he fattened up (he's nice and pleasantly plump now!). When he went back into the show tank, it just went right back into a not-eating, puffer gets all cycle again. I was getting really, really frustrated.......and then I decided to try something completely different. Because he's nocturnal, an hour before feeding, I turned the lights off. It almost seemed to "trick" him into thinking it's night time. And he was out and about and if I spot-fed him, he gobbled it all up without the puffers knowing (hehe!).
So, all in all, you might have to try a few different things in feeding the little guy. They're so shy and virtually blind that it seems like there's nothing you can do. I know a few people who feed the VG at night, rather than the rest of the tank. However, if you house them with little piggy puffers, you might run into that situation. If not, he might be more open to accepting food during the day.
I know it's a bit much, but just figured I'd share my story and maybe you can learn a little something from it. =D
Thanks.
I have no intention of keeping puffers, so that issue is solved. Mollies should not be a problem but I may reduce my planned numbers.
I will have metal halides on for a short duration during the day, but this will be for the plants and will mostly be on when I am not home anyway.
A few questions...
What are you feeding him and/or what does he seem to prefer?
What are using for the caves and how big are they?
Any pictures?
Thanks,
Chris
I have no intention of keeping puffers, so that issue is solved. Mollies should not be a problem but I may reduce my planned numbers.
I will have metal halides on for a short duration during the day, but this will be for the plants and will mostly be on when I am not home anyway.
A few questions...
What are you feeding him and/or what does he seem to prefer?
What are using for the caves and how big are they?
Any pictures?
Thanks,
Chris
Hey Chris -
I usually feed my VG frozen/thawed krill / bloodworms / mysis shrimp / etc. and occasionally a algae wafer for his veggies. He LOVES bloodworms and I mean LOVES. If I feed him a concoction of different foods, he will actually sniff out the bloodworms first and then go after the other stuff.
I have attached a link to my video of my tank. Hopefully that will give you an idea of what I've got going on! =D Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXSewCMNW5Y
Let me know if you have any other question! =D
Emily
I usually feed my VG frozen/thawed krill / bloodworms / mysis shrimp / etc. and occasionally a algae wafer for his veggies. He LOVES bloodworms and I mean LOVES. If I feed him a concoction of different foods, he will actually sniff out the bloodworms first and then go after the other stuff.
I have attached a link to my video of my tank. Hopefully that will give you an idea of what I've got going on! =D Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXSewCMNW5Y
Let me know if you have any other question! =D
Emily
Another suggestion regarding the caves for the VG - if you place a piece of rock (or whatever) against the rock, you can trick the VG into thinking it's in a cave, but in reality, you can see him from the glass. =D
I don't know about eco-complete in a brackish set-up, but it's a really deep brown/black. I mixed mine with silica sand in a 2/3 sand to 1/3 eco ratio (partially because I'm cheap and partially because I didn't want a really dark or really light substrate) and ended up with a pretty natural look (pics about halfway down this thread http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162727&highlight=silica+eco+complete&page=2). My tank is moderately planted and they are all thriving in this combo 
Emily -
Thanks.
justahannah -
Thanks, that was helpful. I am currently leaning toward a 50/50 mix with Pool Filter Sand and Seachem Flourite/Onyx Black Sand substrate. The pool filter sand has been highly recommended here for the dragon gobies. The Onyx Black Sand will provide some minimal buffering as I decided not to use any aragonite sand.
I am going for the same look as yours, just with a little more black.
Thanks
Thanks.
justahannah -
Thanks, that was helpful. I am currently leaning toward a 50/50 mix with Pool Filter Sand and Seachem Flourite/Onyx Black Sand substrate. The pool filter sand has been highly recommended here for the dragon gobies. The Onyx Black Sand will provide some minimal buffering as I decided not to use any aragonite sand.
I am going for the same look as yours, just with a little more black.
Thanks
