Feeding Sand Sifters

[DUIdiver]

Hi Lee,
I have been using a similar recipe as a couple posted. I (as you know) have not been using QT when adding fish (but I am going to start). My nutrition question is about sand sifting gobies. My yellow head goby sifts sand all day. What exactly is it trying to feed on? Detritus? My food will usually have a few small pieces that sink and sit on the bottom. Should the goby be attacking this food, or do they normally just eat it when they get to it. I guess this goes with presentation and such, but I just wanted to know if I needed to change my mix. I have been using Kevinpo's recipe. Thanks, Bryan
(btw there is just the goby and a maroon clown in that tank. I know maroons are the devil, but this one has been very tame... so far.)

 

[leebca]

I put your post into its own thread. The feeding of sand sifters is a good topic, in of itself.

It is the QT process where such fishes are taught to eat prepared foods. Most are easily trained, others have been stubborn. However, the majority, once they learn where the food comes from, they look for it and react like most other fish.

I have used a spot feeder (much like the coral hobbyists use) to feed these guys at first. I put bits of food in some salt water in a cup, then draw a few of those bits into the end of the tube (a few inches). I then lower the tube to being near the fish's head and slowly release the bits near the tank bottom. Most will immediately get the idea and a couple days later when I first put the tube into the water they come up to the end of the tube and try to get bits from it.

The more stubborn ones I use the same procedure, only I start off with newly hatched brines shrimp and that really holds their attention.

After the above, I just drop bits of food into the top of the aquarium and they might not come all the way near the surface, but they'll catch the food mid-way at least. It depends on the other fishes in the group. They are no competitive and like to hide from other fishes, so if in a group of fishes that are assertive during feeding, the hobbyist will have to continuously use the spot feeder or find ways to trick other fishes. For instance, I feed all the time in eactaly the same place in the tank. So all fish race to that place when they see me. As they are being fed I sneak bits of food over where the sand sifter is sitting and that fish gets use to grabbing it before any other fish realizes I've dropped food in another spot.

These fishes for the most part are eating what are known as benthic creatures. That's a fancy way of saying, 'marine life that lives in the substrate.' In the aquarium this substrate life is not varied nor is it plentiful. So these fishes must be trained to eat prepared foods. In the wild, benthic life is amazingly wide and varied, and plentiful.

Because of their diet (paragraph above) many of these fish only live in the aquarium for a year or even less. They starve to death, quite literally. They must be trained. Like most of our (non-carnivore) ornamental marine fishes, they eat throughout the day. But worth noting is their body structure. Most of the (non-carnivore) marine fishes we keep are called 'laterally compressed' fishes. That is another fancy way of saying they are flattened and thin. But sand sifters aren't of this design. By this I am trying to point out that -- they have a large body mass relating to their length. This also means, they eat a lot. They must be kept well fed.

Another aspect to keeping these fishes is using the right size of substrate particles. Hobbyists often just buy one without thinking about the size of the particles in their substrate and, if thee fish too small and/or the particles are too big, these fishes will sometimes choke. Substrate with very sharp edges to it can also pose a problem for these fishes. Substrate must be of the size to comfortably 'flow' through their mouth and out their gill plates.

Of course they are a marine fish, but they can be just as easily be grouped in with the clean-up crew, since they do in fact clean the top layer of the substrate, keep it stirred up, and just from their actions, help reduce the spread of 'red algae' and other algae that might spread across the substrate. Treated properly and kept healthy, they are also very entertaining!

 

[DUIdiver]

So they need to eventually be fed a nice omnivore mix? Is the formula one, seaveggies, krill, fresh shrimp or prawn tails a good variety? I am thinking of adding spirulina to my next batch.

 

[leebca]

Most prepared foods marked 'omnivore' favors the carnivores and is a good choice. Their diet is mostly carnivore oriented. The spirulina is a good choice for homemade miixes. You can hardly beat it for being the only veggie you use or need to use. These fishes will eat it, but they do best with meaty foods.

The shrimp and prawn tails are a fair choice. You want to avoid just meaty parts of marine life and provide them whole organisms, like krill (even if it is chopped fine), ocean plankton (also chopped), fish eggs, etc.

 

[DUIdiver]

Okie Dokie. Thanks again Lee!