Gobies

[matt_vasko]

I wrote a thread already asking for someone to suggest a goby that wont jump. No one responded hahha.

Well I figured I'd try again, but narrow it down a little first.

Which one of these gobies would I have the best luck with if:
I want it to not jump out of my tank and
I want the goby not to be a picky eater i.e. no special food

Diamond Watchman Goby (Valencienna puellaris)
Engineer Goby (Pholidichthys leucotaenia)
Orangemarked Goby (Amblygobius decussatus)
Sleeper Banded Goby (Amblygobius phalaena)
Sleeper Blue Dot Goby (Valenciennea sexguttata)
Sleeper Railway Glider Goby (Valenciennea helsdingeni)
Sleeper Striped Goby (Valenciennea longipinnis)
Tiger Watchman Goby (Valencienna wardii)
Two Spot Goby (Signigobius biocellatus)

lastly I have 95% of the top covered, but i just had my 2nd Diamond goby JUMP. I think he was chased by a damsel, so that might need to be considered too

Thank you

[Loverotties]

I don't think there is a goby that is garuntee not to jump out.

[matt_vasko]

In your opinion do you think I'll continue to have this problem because of my one damsel that seems to like to chase the gobies?

[protege]

Most likely the damsel is the cause. I have a diamond watchman goby that has not jumped out of my 125 fowlr, but a few years ago I had one that kept jumping into the overflows.
Do you have a deep substrate and something it can burrow under? Mine has made a cave under a large piece of live rock, and when my clown trigger chases him, he shoots into the cave instead of jumping.

[Steve's Reef 90g]

if you take their threat away "the damsel" you may not have as big of a problem, but there is still no controlling whether they jump or not. Try to patch up the 5% and let him bonce off the lid.

[matt_vasko]

Yea i have a 3 inch sand bed so i thought he's be ok burrowing, but he must like to fly. I am going to give in and cover the whole top. How well does the tiger goby sift the sand?

[Loverotties]

My fav . is a dart gobbie.

[Bennihanna]

Why not go for a Watchman Goby instead. Much less likely to jump IME.

[matt_vasko]

The yellow watchman goby? Do they sift sand though?

[Bennihanna]

Definitely sift sand.

[LadyReefNeck]

We have several Engineer gobies. Our experience is .. if you get them small they are more apt to jump, but once they've grown to 6+ inches they don't seem to even consider the option anymore. They will undermine/move the sand from beneath your rocks, so you have to make sure your rock work is very stable and right on the bottom of your tank (unless you have rock lifts), otherwise you'll have rockslides which can be disasterous.

We've never had any of our Watchman or Barred/Dragon gobies try to jump either. The dragons are great sandsifters.

We've had a couple of what look like the Tiger Gobies you listed (goldheaded Sleeper gobies). They were all great sandsifters however they made a mess of the tank ... it always looked like it had snowed all over the rockwork and corals. Both of these fish ended up committing carpet surfing suicide.

[matt_vasko]

Thank you very much for the info
It's good to hear advice from people who have personal experience.
Thanks again
Matt

[Robwsup]

Dragon gobies are a good choice. AS far as gobies go, they aren't prone to jumping. They also almost always accept other foods, so they don't starve as they sift themselves to death.

[matt_vasko]

Rob,
Do you have some in your shop if so how much are they? I still have not been there and I think this would be a great chance.

Matt