bumblebee gobies

[kaley822]

woah i accidentally clicked on the brakish button today and realized that bumblebee gobies are brackish? Uh oh....
I have had some for 5 months now in a freshwater tank. The fish store man told me they were fw. Is it possible that since these particular fish came from a fw tank in the store and were maybe even born in a fw tank that they have become like resistant and can now tolerate freshwater? They seem fine. Another weird thing is that they eat flake food (quite voraciously i might add) when i read on another post that they only eat frozen or live food.
Is it possible for a fish to change its natural diet and salinity preference just from having been raised in a different type of environment? They are the cutest little fish, no wonder people buy them without knowing what theyre doing

Bad me for not knowing more about my own fish. embarassing, huh?

 

[Teelie]

I just ran across a post about another species, Brachygobius aggregatus that is freshwater and not brackish so it's probable this is the one you've got. Check the "Are Bumblebee Gobies Aggressive?" thread to compare the two pictures of them.

 

[egoz]

Here's what i know about bumblebee gobies...

There are some great articles out there on the little beasts. Although some can get quite techy, there is often info within the piece that makes all the scientific-terms worth trudging through:

(arranged in order of preference)
http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...lebee_Goby.html
http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...lebee_Goby.html
http/badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile59.html

What i do remember reading, somewhere (it might not be in the above items), is that although there is a freshwater-only bumble bee, that most bumble bee gobies enjoy a life-cycle that is made up of both freshwater and brackish water, from the years of younger to older.

Here's how i understand the idea...
When a gobie is born it's usualy inland within an esturine environment, where the saltwater rarely reaches during the high tides. As the gobies mature they then swim farther and farther towards the mouth of the esturia, closer to the sea, and are exposed to a greater daily salinity mixture within the freshwater outflow. So, as a gobie matures, his physiology is probably more accustomed to higher levels of salinity (that is a brackish level (1.004 gravity)). For this reason, many LFS will easily sell bumble bee gobies within freshwater (the same environment they were probably raised in as fries), but as the fish matures its life is shortened by the increasingly lack of salinity in its water to which its physiology has adapted.

Anyways, just my thoughts and the resources i found useful.

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[Bling]

That's really interesting! I was just thinking a similar idea, that part of the year they might go closer to the ocean, because it might help control disease, get rid of little fungus, whatever, but that they went inland to spawn. I was thinking in a yearly cycle, rather than life span. Thanks for the links, too.

 

[kaley822]

wow thanks for all the info. I think you're probably right about how lfs can get away with selling them fw, because thats all i've ever seen them sold as. I guess i can't just add salt to my tank cause it would probably kill the non-brakish fish, right?

Teelie, i looked at the pics, mine is definately the brakish one That kind of sucks that mine aren't going to live as long. They are such cute little buggers too, i bet a lot of people buy them without knowing about their brakish requirements.

 

[Teelie]

As I discovered in doing some research myself, it's possible that the ones mentioned were reversed so you might have the ones which are more adapatable.

 

[egoz]

...I was just thinking a similar idea, that part of the year they might go closer to the ocean ... but that they went inland to spawn. I was thinking in a yearly cycle, rather than life span.

Well, one thing i realised in my online research of bumble bee gobies is that science still has a lot in terms of theory and very little the way of observation. Personally, i like your theory better. I makes better, logical, sense.

Read on if you're interested knowing more about my experiences with these cool critters...
--
I'm one of those consumers that loved the behavior of the Bumble Bee Gobies at first sight; They seemed to have such attitude! So, being a type-a personality myself, i quickly purchased them, raced home, did a bit of research online with my boyfriend, and BANG: i suddenly realised i had brackish beasts in the floating fish bag. My first question was: "Isn't brackish water dirty water?"

I quickly found out exactly what brackish water was, and what (fish and plants) are suitable to the water-type.

Fortunately, we had some extra room in another freshwater tank. So, i just moved the current residents from the intended bumble bee's tank (10 gallons) to the larger freshwater tank (30 gallons) which had tons of extra liebenstraum. Once done, i released the bumble bees into the recently vacated 10 gallon freshwater tank. In retrospect, i think this was wiser than immediately transforming the 10 gallon freshwater to brackish, for two reasons, which many of you probably already know (but i didn't!):

(1) Stressing The Fish: My 6 bumble bee gobies, like most, were sold in freshwater. I'm just guessing, but: If i had immediately plopped them into a brackish environment, then it might have shocked their systems doing my new friends physiological harm.

(2) The Biological Filter: Over several weeks i slowly increased the water's salinty to a brackish level -- which gave the tank's biological filter time to re-incarnate itself from freshwater into a fully operational brackish colony.

Over time i also introduced a number of local seashells (i live near the Atlantic ocean) to raise the PH, pulled out the dying plants (i was praying they were the korrect type, obviously to the wrong god), and gathered a bunch of smallish (5cm - 20cm) rounded sea stones with which to make caves; They love caves. I mean, they really, really love caves, swooping in and out, from one to another, etc. Presently, they each have their own respective caves with which to retreat during fights or breeding.

What i have now is a tank with some java fern and a fairly complex system of sometimes connected moveable caves. And, to my joy (and to my competitive boyfriend's total dismay) several males are now sporting their breeding colors, which is almost total pale yellow. In a few days i should see little gobies hoping about, unless they're consumed prior to my notice.

Questions i have:
(a) I'm guessing i shouldn't be disturbing (read: uprooting and re-organising to clean) their caves, lest i disturb the whole egg-laying-system they might have going on.

(B) Once i do have little mini-bumbles flying about, i'm figuring to move them into my freshwater daphnia colony tank (10 gallons), which has an airstone (that produces large bubbles) but no filtration. Or, maybe i should buy one of those in-tank mesh cages to protect them from parental cannibalisation ?

Any Thoughts ?

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[Bling]

Some questions: how much salt are you using?
Is it fresher than usual to get them to spawn? If the fry hatch in a brackish water, wouldn't it be tough on them to be put into freshwater, even if it's nice and "green"?
I'm looking forward to having my little crew spawn; one thing I'm worried about is the possibility they're two different species. Three are about an inch, and two are BARELY an inch, if that. They haven't grown in three months.

 

[egoz]

Some questions: how much salt are you using?
Is it fresher than usual to get them to spawn? If the fry hatch in a brackish water, wouldn't it be tough on them to be put into freshwater, even if it's nice and "green"?
I'm looking forward to having my little crew spawn; one thing I'm worried about is the possibility they're two different species. Three are about an inch, and two are BARELY an inch, if that. They haven't grown in three months.

My $12.00 analog hydrometer says my water's gravity is just above the 1.004 mark, so maybe 1.005-1.006? It's definitely not 1.008. I've also got a ton of buffering objects (shells, a hunk of coral, and stones as mentioned) in terms of what influences the water chemistry. After cleaning the tank's gravel and sides (every two weeks) i usually pile these up in a the middle of the tank and plop the java moss back on top. I also use a TetraTec PF 150 (definitely overkill for my 10 gallon tank, but it does keep it clean) and a simple small halogen 20 watt reading light over over the tank's glass top, which is actually quite bright.

I also tend to agree that if the fry are born in an environment, then they would probably do best in that same climate as well. I'll probably purchase one of those inside-the-tank fry enclosures. But, again be warned, this is merely a reasoned guess upon my part. I have not been able to find anything definitive on this yet on the web. Anyone else ???

Now, unfortunately, i did have a few fry running about the tank a week or so ago. But, due to a funeral in the family, didn't notice them until too late -- i only counted four, and when i returned they, too, had probably been consumed by their larger "friends." Good thing is, so far, my males sport their spawning colors about every 2 weeks i'm finding, usually about a week into having cleaned the tank.

Regarding SIZE vs. ILK of bumble bee gobies...
I don't think this says anything regarding the type(s) you have. From what i've read the distinguishing characteristic is how the stripes form under the belly (does it form a complete ring, or separates on their under-side?) and the quantity of spines on the fin (i'll try to hunt this number down). And, of course, males usually have a pronounced yellow band around where their forehead might be (if they were humanoid ;-).

I also read that bumble bees grow EXTREMELY slow. So, don't think you're starving them of proper nutrition or lack of livingspace. I have two that are much smaller than the rest (but certainly hold more than their own in terms of goby-to-goby battles in the tank). And, i definitely havn't noticed them growing like, for example, my tetras by leaps and bounds. I think it takes something like a year or more for them to grow to full-size. Interestingly, organisisms that take longer to grow tend to be the more complex types on our planet, as a general rule of nature. This might say something as to the bumble bee's overall character and feistiness.

ANNECDOTE: A few weeks ago i was at the Boston Aquarium Society's annual "fish auction", which was fantastic. That's where i got my daphnia culture, for example. Anyway, someone had a few bumblebee gobies up for sale. They were TINY, like around 2-3cm at best. I overheard the seller say that they were about 3-4 months old. That might give you an idea of how long they take to mature.

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