Care Level: Moderate

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

General Description: The Buan’s Sleeper Goby are found in the Western Pacific Ocean, including the southern Philippines, Java, Indonesia and Paulau in Micronesia. Historically, wild caught specimens have not done well in the aquarium trade, which is why it is so awesome that aquacultured specimens are now available and our first choice here at Aquatic’s Unlimited. Closely related and similar to the common Dragon Goby (A. phalaena), however the Buan’s sleeper goby has a much smaller adult size at approximately 3″. Like other gobies in this genus, its body is torpedo shaped with an overall pearly-white coloration and dark lines. As a Buan’s sleeper goby matures, its dark patterning will gain a reddish and bluish iridescence to them. A relatively peaceful fish, the Buan’s sleeper goby is very popular for aerating and keeping the substrate clean, including managing nuisance cyanobacteria. It does this by taking mouthfuls of substrate and passing it through the gill plates, extracting microorganisms and other food. In turn, your aquarium’s sand bed will appear squeaky clean but at a cost. Small mounds of substrate throughout the aquarium will be noticeable where the Buan’s sleeper goby has been. It is not uncommon for your Buan’s sleeper goby to also create a “hole” to retreat to suddenly if felt threatened and this is usually surrounded by a large mound of substrate. Note: By purchasing aquacultured fish, you support the captive breeding of marine aquarium livestock and help to make our hobby more sustainable!

Diet Requirements: Buan’s sleeper gobies are primarily carnivorous, feeding on small organisms and other material from the substrate. A diet largely consisting of high quality frozen preparations is necessary to maintain optimal health, coloration, and immune function. Such foods can include, but are not limited to, brine shrimp, calanus, mysis shrimp and other carnivore mixes. We highly encourage soaking frozen foods in vitamin and fatty acid supplements. Multiple, small feedings per day rather than one large feeding will also create more of a natural environment for the Buan’s sleeper goby as it would feed naturally. Buan’s sleeper gobies may accept high quality flake and sinking pellet foods. Live foods, such as brine shrimp or blackworms, are an engaging treat from time to time.

Care Requirements: An established minimum 30 gallon aquarium is ideal to house a small to medium sized Buan’s sleeper goby. A tight fitting lid is needed because these gobies are known to jump out of aquariums. A Buan’s sleeper goby will be indifferent to the amount of live rock in an aquarium, as an open sandbed is more important in order for it to sift and feed. This fish should not be put into a biologically unstable aquarium, as it is sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, and it would likely also perish from a lack of food as a result of an unestablished sandbed. Do not house a Buan’s sleeper goby with overly aggressive and pugnacious tank mates. Only one Buan’s sleeper goby is recommended per aquarium unless they’re a confirmed male-female pair [which is difficult to discern] or in a large enough aquarium to accomodate more than one individual [75 gallons or more]; the compatability of a Buan’s sleeper goby with members of the other genus of sand sifting gobies, Valenciennea, is unknown. Buan’s sleeper gobies will almost entirely ignore tank mates, but may show territoriality in smaller aquariums to similarily shaped fish that hang out near the bottom (i.e., firefish, blennies, other gobies). A Buan’s sleeper goby will feel most at home in a reef aquarium, posing no threat to corals or invertebrates. Recommended water conditions, 72-78° F, KH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 1.020-1.025.

Purchase Size: Small: 2” to 2-1/4”, Medium: 2-1/2” to 2-3/4”

Note: Your item may not look identical to the image provided due to variation within species. Purchase sizes are approximate.