Bumblebee Gobies

[Doby_the_Dojo]

I need ne info on bumble bee gobies, I just bought three, all I know is they like to hide in caves, live in brackish water, and they eat live food. I don't know how much salt to add. Is a 10 gallon enough for the 3?? and mayb some compatible tankmates. THANX!!

 

[dixaisy930]

Congrats on the BBG! I love mine...you'll really enjoy them.

There is quite a bit of debate around these guys those...first is, whether they really are brackish or freshwater. I think there are actually two kinds of BBG...one fresh one brackish. I think awhile back on this oddball forum it was suggested that the freshwater have solid lines, while the brackish have broken ones. The best way to do it (IMO) is to keep them in whatever water the fish store had them in. I've had BBG in freshwater for over a year, and they have been healthy and happy.

Another thing you need to know is that they will only eat live or frozen food. Some people even have trouble getting them to eat frozen. Try bloodworms...a favorite of my guys.

They only get about 1 -1.5 inches long. A ten gallon should be plenty for three (I have three in a ten gallon), depending on what sex they are. I think males tend to be more territorial. But you should be fine.

As for tank mates, it would depend on the type of water. I've had great luck keeping them with a dwarf puffer, but again, they are in freshwater. I'd probably try community type fish. I know BBG have gotten a reputation of being semi-aggressive, but mine are nothing but polite! And just mind their own business

Hope this was somewhat helpful.

 

[Doby_the_Dojo]

thanx lots! I've been feeding them frozen blood worms and they go CRAZY for them! I also hatched brine shrimp for them. Are they nocturnal or diurnal, it wuld help with feeding them... I added aquarium salt and they r doing fine so wut ever i'm doing i gess its got to be somewhat right! They have soooo much personality I love them!! about the dwarf puffers, I don't think the lps has them, they have the "leopard puffers" which I think get rather big, they are already like 1.5 inches at the store, and I don't know if they'd like the brackish water, I've heard that dwarf puffers are fw, hmmm... maybe mollies?? they like some salt altho it isnt rock salt

 

[MAM]

since yours are the brackish variety, and its a ten gal, that will limit you on tankmates, but for three, yes, ten in plenty. are you sure they were being kept as bw at the lfs or as fw?
here's some brackish links:
http/www.badmanstropicalfish.com/brackis...h/brackish.html
http/www.aquariacentral.com/faqs/brackish/
http/www.petinfocenter.com/category_summ...cls=16&cat=1944 (has article on bbg)
http/www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/...brackish_p2.htm
http/www.aquaworldaquarium.com/general_c...ckish_water.htm
http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/brackish.html

if you can find mollies or glass fish that are being kept as brackish, a couple of those would be good. but be sure they are being kept as bw and not fw, they may have difficulty adjusting to the salt. not sure of your fish keeping experience, but you might be able to have a figure 8 puffer (or two???) in there (http/www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/8puffer.shtml ) or one or two other smaller (read 2 inchers) bw puffers (http/www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/species/pufferfish/types/index.htm). my bbg's are fw and live with my dwarf puffers (they are NOT bw so unless you have the fw variety of gobies, theyre out as a possibility). the gobies love live brine shrimp, ignored the frozen bloodworms, but went for the frozen brine shrimp. i just have weird fish
best of luck!

 

[Doby_the_Dojo]

I've read the sites and i dont know if I actually made the water brackish or not ( I added aquarium salt) 2 of the sites kind of disagreed, I probably shouldn't have made the water brackish if I did because I could almost guarantee that they weren't at the lfs (oops! note 2 self- NEVER buy without knowledge) I did know they were brackish so i got the Dr. Wellfish Aquarium Salt, well if I have done something REALLY wrong, still not sure if I have, by adding the salt, should I slowly add fw? like during water changes, I know that triggers breeding (I'm not planning on trying it considering they aren't even full grown yet) Thanx (again for the info) B)

 

[MAM]

well, i'd keep an eye on them then, they may adjust to the bw even though they were fw, but then again, they may not. yes, some of thos sites do have some conflicting info, i did my research and decided to stick with fw for now, its just easier and not so limiting, but maybe in the future i'll try it again. as for the water, well, if they were fw and you don't want to lose them, then do water changes yes, shouldn't take long to be back to normal. the salt won't hurt them per se, if you do water changes, but they may have trouble adjusting to it be fine for a few months and then up and die on you if you continue to keep them in it. salt is used to treat certain illnesses, so if you didn't end up making the water completely brackish, i shouldn't think you'd have anything to worry about. did any of that make sense?

 

[BlueDSM]

Mine are kept in mid-brackish levels, around 1.010 specific gravity, they eat like pigs and seem very healthy and happy. They have solid lines, and were kept in brackish water at the pet store.

When making a tank brackish, you need to use sea salt, I like Instant Ocean, but any marine salt will do. "Aquarium salt" is for freshwater fish when you want to kill parasites or help with ailments (as was said), so no, you probably didnt make your tank at all brackish by adding a few tablespoons....it takes a LOT more salt then 2 tbsp/ gallon or whatever, its more like half a cup every 5 gallons I think....

Anyways, for a 10 gallon tank, you need one "5 gallon" box of Instant Ocean (its pre-measured), which will bring your 10 gallon to around 1.011 SG - mid-brackish.

As for your BBG's, just go back to the pet store and have them read the specific gravity for you, if its brackish, then add a bit of salt water gradually untill it gets to the same level as the pet store....but from what Ive read and heard, BBG's are almost always brackish, I could be wrong though.

Mine love bloodworms (frozen), and "people" shrimp.....they eat peices of shrimp that are bigger than their heads

 

[Jht]

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