Borrowing fish in a DSB

ReefDave · 06-09-2003, 09:53 PM

Hey all,
I was wondering who has experience keeping burrowing type fish (such as gobbies) in a reeftank with a DSB. I have read that they will decimate the pod population even if they are fed and actively eat prepared foods. I have also heard that they can disrupt the sand bed.

My tank is a 60 gallon with a 36 by 18" foot print. I will have a fuge. My question is does anyone else keep burrowers in their tank? How is the diversity of life in your DSB. How much "mess" do these fellas make of the substrate after they have decided on a burrow?

If its just a matter of making adding a bigger fuge it might be worth it to me in order to be able to keep one of these.

Dave

cath · 06-09-2003, 11:01 PM

Dave- I can tell you that my tomato clown and wrasse have made a mess of my DSB. In fact, they have made a veritable cave under the LR. Course, that provides an nice place for my Serpant Sea Star, and a hidden ricordea.

Reefer Addict · 06-09-2003, 11:13 PM

One of my friends has an Engineer Goby and it makes a mess of his tank. He's had to restack his rock several times due to the Goby undermining the rockwork and toppling it.
I don't think burrowing critters and DSB's mix... the burrowers just move the sand around too much for an anoxic layer to develop.
If you do plan on keeping burrowing animals, make sure that the rockwork has a support structure that goes all the way down to the glass bottom.
You will also need a remote sandbed in a refugium, but you'll need quite a large 'fuge to have a large enough DSB to contribute to the denitrifying process... a 10-gallon 'fuge/sandbed just won't cut it on a 60 gallon tank.
HTH.

ReefDave · 06-10-2003, 12:00 AM

Well, I had planned on putting egg-crate under the rock to hold it up, but only towards the back of the tank. The front side of the tank would not have any eggcrate under it, allowing for burrowers if I ever decided to get one. The end result is that the rock work should be steady, but the front should still have a nice open sand bed.

Ok so an engineer goby is out, however I thought they were well known for destroying substrate. Are there any of these neat little home makers that builds a single burrow and lives there only? Im not dead set on having one, I just want to explore every option before giving up on one of my favorite animals. Since the primary purpose of my tank is keeping corals, not a single fish species if its a sure NO-NO then I will just forget the goby. If I have to go that route I will get a bi-color blenny instead.

Dave