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Sleeper Banded Goby
Goby

Sleeper Banded Goby

Amblygobius phalaena

A torpedo-shaped sand goby — greenish-yellow with darker bands and iridescent blue flecks — that earns its keep aerating and cleaning the substrate, taking mouthfuls of sand and sifting them through its gills. It is peaceful and reef-safe, and a more forgiving eater than the Valenciennea sleepers, but it still wants a mature tank with a deep (3in+) live sand bed to work. A known jumper, so give it a tight lid; kept singly or as a bonded pair.

Temperament
Peaceful
Max size
5.9"
Min tank
30 gal
Reef-safe
Reef safe
Diet
Omnivore
Zone
Bottom, Sand bed
Keep one or a bonded pair.
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Tankmates

How Sleeper Banded Goby gets on with the rest of the reef, checked pair by pair by the same engine as the live pre-flight.

Best kept apart

A real clash — aggression, predation or a same-genus fight.

Purple TangPurple Tang (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Diamond GobyValenciennea vs Amblygobius sand-sifters compete for the same sandbed; diamond gobies turn territorial toward other bottom-dwelling gobies, so friction is likely in tanks without a large mature sandbed.Picasso TriggerfishPicasso Triggerfish (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Gold Head Sleeper GobyValenciennea vs Amblygobius — two sand-sifting sleeper gobies that both mine the sandbed for food and defend a feeding/burrow territory; they compete directly for the same substrate niche and should not share a small-to-medium sandbed.Volitans LionfishVolitans Lionfish has a big enough mouth to eat the much smaller Sleeper Banded Goby.Snowflake MoraySnowflake Moray has a big enough mouth to eat the much smaller Sleeper Banded Goby.Zebra MorayZebra Moray has a big enough mouth to eat the much smaller Sleeper Banded Goby.Chainlink MorayChainlink Moray has a big enough mouth to eat the much smaller Sleeper Banded Goby.Rectangle TriggerfishRectangle Triggerfish (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Clown TriggerfishClown Triggerfish (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Miniata GrouperMiniata Grouper (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Panther GrouperPanther Grouper (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Lunare WrasseLunare Wrasse (aggressive) is much larger than the peaceful Sleeper Banded Goby and may harass it.Spanish HogfishSpanish Hogfish has a big enough mouth to eat the much smaller Sleeper Banded Goby.