bumblebee gobies

[canis_lupus]

i just got back from the lfs and they had a whole bunch of bumblebee gobies! these little guys are really cute and i was wondering if i could get some info on these guys! they have to b kept in brakish water right? are they tough to take care of......how big do they get


i could do my own research.....and i will......i just wanted some first hand thoughts

 

[Nix]

yeah there brackish and pretty neat to i dont know a whole alot about them but GOOD LUCK

 

[Moe]

The best place to get info here is in the oddball forum. I had 4 bumblebee goby. Most are brackish. The ones I had were raised in freshwater. I had trouble feeding them. They would only eat live brine shrimp. I had a problem with the live brineshrimp, after feeding them 3 of my other fish died. I don't think this is a common problem but I was afraid to do the live food thing again. After 3 days of trying to find something else they would eat I gave up and brought them back to LFS. They were really cool though. Miss those little guys. Anyway, here is a link with info on them.

http/badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile59.html

 

[dixaisy930]

I'll be upfront with you...I LOVE MY BUMBLEBEE GOBIES! I've had them for about five months now, and they are thriving in my community tank. I've heard conflicting info about whether they are brackish or freshwater fish. The place where I got my BBG from had them in freshwater, so that's what they've been in. I've heard one theory about the dispute that makes sense...it depends on how many generations the BBG are from their brackish water ancestors. My advice would be to keep them in the type of water your lfs has them in.

As for feeding, they do have a reputation for being picky. Mine will eat any frozen or live shrimp or worms. I just make sure I use my net to place some near the bottom for them so they have a chance. The only thing they will spit out are flakes.

Size wise I believe they only get to 1-1.5 inches.

Temperment - more than one male may cause problems if there isn't enough territory for them to share, but all three of mine seem to very happy with each other. They are usually within a few inches of one another. They never bother any of my other fish, but they are assertive. They won't let other fish pick on them. Hope this helps.

 

[CFC]

There are two species of goby which are commonly known as bumblebee gobies, Brachygobius doriae which is a strictly brackish fish and Hypogymnogobius xanthozona which can be kept in both FW and brackish conditions.
Unfortunately they are almost identical in appearance, the only way to tell them apart is H.xanthozona has 4 to 6 solid dark bands and B.doriae has broken bands between the solid ones.
Like all gobies they may be reluctant to take anything but live foods and should be fed on brine shrimp and bloodworms, remember if you are keeping them in FW with other fish to rinse the brine shrimp to remove excess salt which may be bad for your other fish.
Bumblebee gobies reach a maximum size of around 1 3/4 inches and may be aggressive to tankmates if the tank isnt large enough for each gobie to take up a small territory.

 

[MAM]

as far as the brackish vs. freshwater goes, find out what kind of water the lfs keeps them in and do the same. one of my lfs keeps them strictly as brackish, and writes it in big letters on the tank. the other lfs i use sells them as freshwater. its the same with mollies, whatever the lfs keeps them in where you buy them, do the same. (bumblebee gobies are real cute by the way, dixaisy930 successfully talked me into dwarf puffers and is gradually convincing me i need some bumblebee gobies in my life too )

 

[dixaisy930]

I was right about the dwarf puffers, so you KNOW I'll be right about the BBG.
The BBG would be great with your mollies...mine BBG are in with my mollies and cories, and all live in harmony.

 

[MAM]

I was right about the dwarf puffers, so you KNOW I'll be right about the BBG.
The BBG would be great with your mollies...mine BBG are in with my mollies and cories, and all live in harmony.

i have some room.........
(youve jsut about talked me into it, will have to swing by the lfs that had them and see if they have any left this weekend...... )

 

[dixaisy930]

My next mission is to talk you into getting a rubber-lipped pleco and white-cheeked goby.

 

[MAM]

My next mission is to talk you into getting a rubber-lipped pleco and white-cheeked goby.

nope, my heart is set on either a clown plec, a zebra plec, or a leopard frog plec. (though not in the molly tank, too small for them...) don't know what a white cheeked goby looks like though.................

sorry canis, don't mean to send your post on a tangent. gonna get the gobies? let us know if you do,and how they do!!!!

 

[ketyana]

Im getting a new 30 at the end of the month so I will have a small (7-10g) tank free, Im considering a species tank of either 3 puffers or three gobies, but Im not sure about finding a small cheap heater for them

I would like to hear if anyone talking about getting them gets some before then