I heard a few different opinions regarding this so I was wondering if someone could clarify. Some say that gobies are bad for a DSB because they will eat all the beneficial critters that are necessary while others believe that they are necessary for population control. The reason for the question was because I was considering the gobies to stir up the DSB, otherise I guess I could get some snails to stir up the bed. Thanks for the advise.
Gobies and DSB
- Thread starter syngent
- Start date
Boogiechillin
It's ok, I confuse my students too.
Completely depends on the species of goby in question. The vast majority of gobies are totally oblivious of the substrate. The only ones that you have to watch out for are the "sleeper/sifter" gobies, Valenciennea spp. These guys can devastate a sandbed. Another one that you want to avoid, although it isn't a true goby, is the "Engineer goby" (aka convict blenny, eel goby, etc etc) Pholidichthys leucotaenia.
Neon, watchman, clown, and a number of other goby types are all fine for tanks w/ sandbeds.
Neon, watchman, clown, and a number of other goby types are all fine for tanks w/ sandbeds.
Boogiechillin
It's ok, I confuse my students too.
The issue with mandarins isn't that they will destroy the sandbed; it's that there isn't enough food in a typical sandbed/LR setup to support them in the first place. Mandarins are very difficult to wean onto prepared foods, and the vast majority starve in captivity. A good rule of thumb is that you need at least 125 lbs of live rock to support a single mandarin indefinitely. (The rock harbors the copepods and amphipods that mandarins prey on, and this quantity of rock usually provides a large enough population that it is self-sustaining despite the mandarin's predation).