bumble bee goby and dwarf puffers

[Ritt]

I was wondering if any one keeps dwarf puffers with bumblebee gobies. I know that bumblebees are brackish but I have heard of some people keep them in fresh water. I have seen them in fresh water and brackish at different lfs. Also my lfs keeps there dwarf puffers in brackish water. Every one on hear says that they are fw. I would like to know who is right and if it is possible to keep them both in a fresh water tank.

 

[MAM]

bumblebee gobie can be either, however the lfs you buy them from keeps them is how you should keep them (as they will be used to either fw or bw). its not good to change on them. i'm considering some for my fw molly tank (thanks dixaisy930 ). as far as dwarf puffers go, please read the pinned articles in the oddball section, they will help a lot. puffers, even the dwarfs, are very aggro and will need a big tank with territory to be with another fish, and even then i don't know if i'd risk the puffer with the gobie (just my opinion though). i'm setting up a small tank for just one dwarf puffer, that iwll be freshwater. since someone else here had luck with otos and puffs, i plan to put in two otos to do maintanence on the algae. the oddball section has some great stuff, links and whatnot, so do a little searching and more research on them before you decide.

 

[dixaisy930]

I use to have my dwarf puffer with BBG, and they were fine...HOWEVER, I don't think I'd recommend it. I think it was just dumb luck (and a freakishly placid Dwarf Puffer) that let it work. Both fish tend to hold grudges, and neither will back down from a fight.

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi Ritt.

I have kept BBG's with my Dwarfs right from the beginning, they were the only ones that the Puffs didn't bother until I found the Ottos. If you get a strain that is more comfortanle in FW they make great tankmates for the Dwarfs, If you find a BW strain they do well with Fig 8's. They only eat live or frozen foods, so they do a good job of cleaning up what gets by the puffers, and they are like little water bulldogs. Whenever a Dwarf would come near to check them out the BBG's would spin around and stare them down. I have even witnessed one of my BBG's chase a puffer away from his favorite sunning rock, as soon as the puff was a couple inches away the goby settled down on the rock and stood guard

 

[Ritt]

Pufferpack

So it is possible to keep BBG in fW with DwarfPuffers. Do you recommend I find a BBG that is already kept in FW.

I am going to the fish store this weekend that is some distance a way but have a good selection of fish. They keep both there BBG and Dwarf puffers in brackish water. I have bought a few puffers from them in the past and slowly acclimated them to my tank water over the course of a day and really haven’t had any problems with them dying because of being in fw. Do you think I could do the same with a BBG and have it survive and be healthy for a long time?

One other question how long does a Dwarf puffer and a BBG typically live?

 

[Pufferpack]

I don't think the BW type of BBG does well when acclimated to FW. Most folks keep their BBG's in BW, but I believe there is a strain that has been bred in captivity that does better in FW (mine are thriving in FW). I think it would probably be better to try and find some of them. The biggest problem with the BW strain being kept in FW, from what I've read, is they have a tendency to do fine for about 6 months, then they suddenly die overnight with no appearent reason. As far as their expected lifespan, the Dwarf Puffers can live up to 15 years in FW (significantly less in BW) and I believe the BBG's live for about 4-5 years.