blue cheek goby, keeping requirements

Hi magman, they generally enjoy brineshrimp and whatever else is floating in the current. A good variety is essential.
 
..yip..:)
Like other members of the Valenciennea species, they feed by taking up mouthfuls of sand and pass it through their gill covers to extract small crustaceans, worms and algae. It is important that they have a sufficient amount of "live" sand for them to sift through.
A typical goby, they eat small crustaceans and other small marine organisms. Live brine and a high protein krill are ideal for the aquarium. This fish thrives on nearly all marine frozen foods, live and flake foods once feeding.
Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, Pennant Glider, Valenciennea strigata

Very interesting Poll...
blue cheek gobies - UltimateReef.com
 
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i wouldnt even think of adding one

in my personal experience and fellow reefers, the become pests and are impossible to remove without stripping your entire tank

they lift sand, swim to the top and release, with an end result of constant sandstorms and lotsa unhappy corals. if u really want a goby (sandsifter) go for the diamondback, very well behaved and does a brilliant job at keeping your sand clean
 
i wouldnt even think of adding one

in my personal experience and fellow reefers, the become pests and are impossible to remove without stripping your entire tank

they lift sand, swim to the top and release, with an end result of constant sandstorms and lotsa unhappy corals. if u really want a goby (sandsifter) go for the diamondback, very well behaved and does a brilliant job at keeping your sand clean

eish, thanks for the warning, I am in two minds now
 
Larger gobies often spend most of their time scooping up mouthfuls of coral sand, sieving it for small particles of food, the passing it out through the gills. Frustratingly, this sand may be expelled over sessile invertebrates, causing them some distress. Probably the most common culprit for this behaviour is the Blue-Cheek Goby (Valenciennea strigata) and once again the hobbyist should be aware of this possible disruption before attempting to introduce this particular species of fish.
All Tropical Fish - Saltwater Gobies - Go For A Goby


Some more options for you...:blush:
Aquarium Fish: A Look at the Gobies — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.aquacon.com/blennies_saltwaterfish.html
Sand Sifting Goby Profiles - Facts and Information about Sand Sifting Gobies
 
Just be careful with these guys. They tend to drop sand on your corals...

Better options for sand sifting is the Blue Dot goby and Diamond goby. Both of which i saw recently at Petstop.

I have the diamond goby, and my sand is sparkling clean. Bit of a sandstorm the first two weeks, but then it clears up.
 
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I have had two of these and once you get them to eat I personally think they are great. Both of mine have been well behaved and have not dumped too much on my corals - come check it out Magman:) but its all about your fishes "personality"
 
ok Valencienna strigata( called by various names golden headed or blue cheeked Goby) like to swim into the water column while sifting sand and therefore can deposit sand on corals, while still keeping the sand bed nice and clean they tend to carry lots of internal worms so they need deworming and they need an established sandbed full of life to thrive .

Valencienna Sexgutta(ladder or blue spotted cheek goby) and puellaris(pretty prawn/orange spotted goby) dont lift the sand into the water column they also do a very good job of cleaning the sand but all are excavators so they can cause rocks to fall if they not secured again deworming with piperazine found in sterazin or praziquantel is recommended in Quarantine.

average lifespan is 2-4 years max depending one the age you get them at.

I have kept all for their full life span and they all do well if dewormed and the tank has a good live sand bed, Strigata can be nuisance with sand though on corals but is beautiful fish they do well in pairs and will spawn in the aquarium , during which time the male and female excavate a burrow and then the male will seal the female in the burrow with the eggs for a few days during which time you will think she has died but she will appear latter, i have spawned and seen the young in my tank they have distinctive blue line on their cheeks but i could not raise them due to effort involved .
 
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The yellow watchman goby prefers a "deep" substrate bed containing sand and rubble as it likes to dig. If they are kept with pistol shrimps the shrimps might dig out a burrow in the sand for the goby and the shrimp to live in, but providing them (goby and shrimp) with finished burrows made out of PVC pipes is usually a better option in an aquarium. Yellow watchman gobies get very stressed if they are not provided with enough hiding places.
This goby species does very well in reef aquariums and is considered reef safe. Like many other gobies they are good jumpers and the tank should be well covered to prevent them from jumping to their deaths.
Yellow Watchman Goby
You going to pair him with a Pistol Shrimp...:)
 
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Yellow watchman is nice but not a big time sandsifter like the others mentioned
 
A lot of guys have focused on the mess they create by kicking up substrate, which is correct. I would like to highlight that they need fine substrate in a large, well matured tank. They are sand sifters and remove food from the substrate by sifting the sand and keeping all the pods and goggas they catch. Yes some do take to frozen or prepared food but this is not the rule, and a lot of them starve to death because the substrate is too coarse, the tank is too small so it cant hold enough food for the animal and lastly the tank is immature and not enough microfauna have developed in the substrate to sustain the animal
 
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