Urgent help needed Sand sifter very thin.

PieterJNR

PieterJNR

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Hi all i just want to find out if someone can help me my sand sifter is very thin does not look like he is getting enough food anything i can do
 
My tank is about 3-4 months old here is a pic of the sand sifter when i got it

62184fb6c7dc1b2e1.jpg
 
Is it this one...? Blue Dot..you'r picture is a bit blurry...:blush: ...has it got blue dots on it's cheeks...?..If it is then you will definately need to supplement it's feeding...
The Sleeper Blue Dot Goby feeds off the bottom as it sifts through the sand eating mouthfuls of substrate and the food that lives within the sand. The diet should include a variety of live and frozen brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, live black worms, and prepared foods for carnivores, and it should be fed frequently.
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Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Sleeper Blue Dot Goby
 
Sand sifters need a very well established and large sand bed in order to survive, especially if they don't take prepared foods, you will need to try a variety of frozen foods like brine shrimp and mysis and hope the fish will take some of it.
 
get a shallow white or clear plastic bowl . Scoop a cup of sand out of tank and mix desired food into it. Eg brine shrimp or cyclops. Gently place in tank and let your goby sift it
 
You can also try hake pieces, my diamond back would fight my other fish over hake.
 
Feed rich, high calorie food until it gains weight. Fish roe and mysis are very attractive to fish (haven't had a sandsifter yet that wouldn't take one or the other) and should do the job. Just don't feed tooooo much fish roe because it's very high in phosphate and could give you algae problems long term.

Edit: Ocean Nutrition super shrimp is another good one. HUFA enriched brine shrimp...awesome for starved fish.
 
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nutrients in your sand are probably exausted, I would put him in a tank that does not have such a goby. He will sift the sand in that tank and in that way survive, it will also give your tank a chance to build up some nutrients. You should also try to get him on some kind of prepared food but that can be difficult, especially now. You don't have much time left. Get him into another tank ASAP, or get him some other sand.
 
monquer said:
nutrients in your sand are probably exausted, I would put him in a tank that does not have such a goby. He will sift the sand in that tank and in that way survive, it will also give your tank a chance to build up some nutrients. You should also try to get him on some kind of prepared food but that can be difficult, especially now. You don't have much time left. Get him into another tank ASAP, or get him some other sand.
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They don't get nutrients straight from the sand, they eat small invertebrates that live in it. Sand sifters easily wipe out entire populations of these organisms in a small tank, which is why you need to get them eating something else unless you have a huge established display sandbed and/or extensive remote DSB/refugium to keep the display sandbed stocked.
 
sad to say the guy didn`t make it was to late because i dont see him much because i have so much hiding space in my tank but thx alot for all the advise will remember when i get a nother one but will wait a wile before thet will happen and i thought it would be fine because i have the dsb in my tank so i have a deep bed of sand but its seems that that wasn`t enough. One`s again thx for all the help
 
all the sand sifting gobies often come with high infestation of parasitic worms in the wild they are able to feed both themselves and the worms due to the abundance of food in the ocean sand beds however this is not the case in the aquarium; all sandsifting gobies should be dewormed(praziquantel/biltricide 2-10 mg per litre ) in quarantine for them to stand a chance of living a full life in an aquarium which usually ranges between 3- 5 years max!
 
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