Gold Headed Sleeper Goby FOTM-November 09'

Alright, here's my first attempt at a FOTM so bear with me.

Gold Headed Sleeper Goby





Common Name: Gold Headed Sleeper Goby
Scientific Name: Valenciennea strigata
Origin: Indo-Pacific
Max Size: ~7in.
Reef Safe: Yes. They won’t bother any of your corals but be mindful of their habit of moving sand and rock. If your rockwork isn’t secured, then their digging could result in a rockslide potentially crushing valuable corals. They also like to pick up sand and spit it out everywhere, covering some corals.
Attitude: Very active and peaceful but may become aggressive towards similar species. Mine spends all day sifting through the sand and being pals with my clownfish. Mine is currently about 2” in length and gets along with everything in my tank. I have even seen it sharing its den and sleeping with my coral banded shrimp. They have been known to jump but I’ve never had a problem with it even thinking about it.
Diet: Meaty foods. It will sift the sand looking for food. Mine also goes crazy for frozen mysis and swims all the way to the surface looking for more. It even tries to go for flake food as well but usually ends up spitting it back out.
Breeding: I have heard of people breeding these in captivities but nowhere near the success rate as say an ocellaris clown. I personally have no experience in this matter.
Personal Opinions: Great addition to my tank. I love how clean it keeps the sand. It is also very comical to watch it eat a mouthful of sand and then spit it out its gills. At times they can be a nuisance just because it throws sand everywhere. Be prepared to have lots of “floaties” in your water column for awhile after you get one. As it sifts the sand, all of the little particulates become suspended and can gunk up your filter fast. All in all, it’s an awesome fish that I’m glad I have.


*If you have any pics, please feel free to post them here. Pack, I know you have some good ones.

 

nice write up and a cool fish !

 

I do!





I would only caution to observe them feeding prior to purchase. I could not get mine on any prepared food, and sadly, even my tank was not enough to sustain one just on micro fauna alone. I found mine dead about 2 days ago But, it was a great fish. Good article too!

 

Neato! Real nice article, pretty fish too!

 

Great article!! What a beautiful fish, that also sounds like a lot of fun. I had never seen/heard of them. So thank you!!

 

Just some new behavior I wanted to add that mine has started doing. Since I got my duncans, I have been spot feeding them with some narrow airline tubing and a syringe. Now, when the goby sees the tubing go into the water, he knows food is going to come out of it, so he tries to swallow the end of the tube and just waits for the food to enter his mouth. It's hilarious to watch. Almost like feeding a baby bird.

 

My wife picked up one of these guys for our 125 and I love it. The sand has never looked cleaner or more naturally placed. It will undercut all of your rocks eventually and everything within about 4 or 5 inches of the sand if subject to having sand drooled on them.

These really are very cool fish but a bit shy in my tank.

 

My diamond goby does the same thing with a turkey baster. I think he does it for 2 reasons...one for the food, but I also think he is trying to attack the turkey baster - same color and shape as he is......

 

Here's a video of mine sifting: Sleeper Goby Sifting Sand - YouTube

 

Really cool fish. 7" sounds a bit larger than it appears in those pictures.