Valenciennia strigata

[The Kapenta Kid]

Here's my V. strigata. a sleeper/sandshifter goby.

 

[reefman23]

Very nice.. these guys are soo cool. Just keep an eye on him and make sure he is getting enough food. If this is in your 15g he may not get enough food from sifting the sand bed.

Nice fish!

Jesse

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Yep, I had heard that and was concerned, However, he gorges on any food that is put into the tank and even hunts live food like brine shrimp in open water, so I guess he is not dependent on sand-sifting. He still moves a ton of it though, I guess old habits die hard. :mrgreen:

 

[reefman23]

Yep, I had heard that and was concerned, However, he gorges on any food that is put into the tank and even hunts live food like brine shrimp in open water, so I guess he is not dependent on sand-sifting. He still moves a ton of it though, I guess old habits die hard. :mrgreen:

Oh that's good... I wasnt sure if these fish took prepared foods or not. Now I do! They are soo fun to watch. I love it when the dive in to the sand and take a big ol' scoop.

Jesse

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

This guy started demolishing frozen meaty food like Marine Mix as soon as it was offered. I was also pleased to see he rose to and pursued live food which I had read was a characteristic.

 

[Semo]

Yes, I have a diamond goby who will compete along with the others for about any food I drop in the tank....

 

[JDSmith]

Diamond Goby

My whole family enjoys the Diamond Goby. He is a character and he does actively seek out all food. He will swim up and eat before the food hits the bottom. I do have a problem with his keeping the sand stirred up all the time. It looks like it is snowing in the tank.

 

[Semo]

Thats my gripe with them as well.....dusty water at times, but sometimes he really moves lots of sand...bites when he burries a frag I have on the sandbed...

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Correction. The correct scientific name of this fish is Valenciennia puellaris, not Valenciennia strigata. It is indeed a diamond sleeper goby as we all knew, but the Valenciennia strigata is the blue-band or yellow-head sleeper. Once again, keep a pinch of your reef salt to take with any scientific name that you see or are told in a fish store.

 

[johnanddawn]

i almost bought one a couple weeks back - but better judgement prevailed. in my case, i really can't have a sleeper cuz i have many LPS's in my sand bed and they are prone to bury them. they are an awesome fish and wish i could have one but i don't want to be blowing the sand off my plates and brains everyday.

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

When I was checking out the true scientific name of this fish I read that the blue-band or strigata is a very heavy-duty sand shifter while the puellaris is not so bad. Whether this is true or not I do not know, but my puellaris doesn't seem seem to dig and displace much, just eat and jet it out his gill openings.