Diamond watch gobie not sifting

I recently purchased my 4th Diamond gobie (first 3 death by suicidal jumping). I have since had my cover just about 100% covered.

This new Diamond gobie does not appear to be cleaning my sand (going on 1 week), but just moving it out of his way, depending on the corner it's in. Is there anything that I can do to encourage it to sift, or should I just wait for it to get hungry enough to do it?

It is my only substrate cleaner.

 

When he moves the sand, does it pass through its gills?

Many people think the Goby is cleaning the sand of detritus when he is actually eating the beneficial microfauna in your sandbed.

 

+1 to ^^^

And when the infauna population has been depleted, the goby starves.

 

It's just grabbing sand with its mouth and spitting it out somewhere else.

 

That's what they do. He's digging for food. Once he depletes that area he'll move to another.

 

You have a 20 gallon tank right? He has probably already depleted all the food. These guys should honestly just be left in the ocean or in absolutely ginormous tanks.

Some have success by hiding food in the sand bed though.

 

Try target feeding Mysis or shaved table shrimp and newly hatched brine shrimp... once he gets used to that food he may rise in the water column to take freeze dried krill as well.. mine does...thus leaving the pods and other "goodies" for my mandarin...

 

You will need to get him on to food or he will starve. He will wipe out the fauna in the sand bed though which is why I wouldn't recomend them for small tanks (if any tanks at all).

 

I do have a 20G tank, but this gobie is located in my 75G. Thanks all for the great tips.