Bumblebee Goby Questions

[StripySnailGirl04]

Hello!
I have some questions about bumblebee gobies since I am considering about getting some in the far future...
1. What are the minimum tank requirements?
2. What type of substrate do they need( sand, gravel etc.) and will this be compatible with nerite snails?
3. What food is good for them?
4. How much ppt(parts per thousand) salt do they need?
5. Any other tiny gobies or nano brackish fish that you would recommend me?
6. Any more tips for Bumblebee Gobies?
Thanks.

 

[threecharacters]

I currently have a species of Bumblebee goby. It was sold to me as Brachygobius xanthomelas, but it probably isn't that. I keep mine in a 5 gallon (the tank is a UNS 45S). The species I have is very tiny, smaller than Dario dario.

There are many different species that are called "bumblebee gobies", though they do have similar requirements. Depending on the species you get you can keep them in quite small quarters. I found one account of someone keeping a group of Brachygobius xanthomelas in a 12x8x8in aquarium, and getting them to breed. These quarters are probably a little too small for a larger species Brachygobius nunus. A 10 gallon is a very safe size. You could go smaller depending on the species.

Substrate is irrelevant, they don't interact with the substrate at all as far as I can tell.

My bumblebee gobies are by far the pickiest eating fish I've owned. They take live baby brine shrimp or blood worms if I wiggle them around in front of their nose with some tweezers. I have been completely unsuccessful at feeding them dry food. This is the most difficult thing about them in my opinion.

While all previously believed to be a brackish exclusive species, we now know that bumblebee gobies come from blackwater freshwater environments as well. You don't need to keep them in a brackish tank, and they can be perfectly comfortable in soft freshwater. I would ask the person supplying the bumblebee gobies what water they were kept in (brackish or fresh), and I would keep them in that water initially. Then you could try weening them onto different water (e.g. if they were kept in brackish, I would start them in brackish and slowly reduce the salt content in the water over the course of a month). I would also try to ID them. Their species is quite important to how to keep them.

I'm currently keeping mine with Dario dario and they seem to be getting along. Bumblebee gobies are territorial with eachother and they will squabble. I would recommend getting a group of Bumblebee gobies and let them set up territories. I would return any that fail to set up a territory as they will certainly get bullied to death

Personally, I think these little guys look great in a tank with lots of leaf litter.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

You don't need to keep them in a brackish tank,

I will probably keep them in a brackish tank anyways because I will attempt to breed nerites.

But thanks for the advice!

 

[Colin_T]

2ft tank with an air operated sponge filter
sand or gravel, doesn't matter as long as the gravel is smooth
frozen or live food
no idea about the salinity, I just used to chuck a handful of salt in there
heaps of brackish water gobies, halfbeaks (livebearer), Pseudomugil rainbowfish, with a big enough tank you can go for mollies

 

[threecharacters]

I will probably keep them in a brackish tank anyways because I will attempt to breed nerites.

But thanks for the advice!

You could still add leaf litter and wood. Real brackish environments are just as likely to have these things as freshwater habitats. Could make for an interesting look, and it's a bit of a different take on what a brackish tank could look like.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

You could still add leaf litter and wood. Real brackish environments are just as likely to have these things as freshwater habitats. Could make for an interesting look, and it's a bit of a different take on what a brackish tank could look like.

Yes I would definitely add wood, maybe coconut halves and possibly almond leaves.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

@threecharacters Alot of tanks say that they are Freshwater only. Can I still use them for brackish purposes?

 

[threecharacters]

I might depend on the species. I was sold Brachygobius xanthomelas, which is supposed to be a true freshwater bumblebee gobies. Other common species are B. nunus, B. doriae, B. sabanus, and B. xanthozonus, all of which should be OK in brackish water (at least as far as I know). I would look for fish that are kept in brackish water by the store. That way, they will have less acclimation shock when you add them to your tank.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

@threecharacters Can I keep 2 males and 5 females? Would that be a good ratio?

 

[threecharacters]

What size tank? That ratio could work. They just need space to set up territories (the females will set up their own territories too).

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

What size tank? That ratio could work. They just need space to set up territories (the females will set up their own territories too).

I don't mind. What would be an ideal minimum?

 

[threecharacters]

I don't mind. What would be an ideal minimum?

10 gallon, depends on the exact species, are they going to be alone?

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

10 gallon, depends on the exact species, are they going to be alone?

I am not planning to get them but enjoy learning requirements for them. Yes, this would be a species tank only, if any tank, but a few nerites would be fine.

 

[Boundava]

Little late to the thread...what did you wind up doing?

I have a 33 gallon brackish tank with 9 bumble bee gobies, 7 leaf goblin fish aka butterfly goby (variety of scorpion fish; neovespicula depressifrons), and just added 10 P. signifer (rainbowfish). I have a couple nerite snails and blue footed hermit crabs as well. They all are doing very well, the rainbowfish are much more active than they were in the freshwater aquarium at the pet store. They all get along very well and mostly eat blackworms (live). The don't especially like frozen bloodworms but I recently tried the Can O' Cyclops and it seemed to be a hit with everyone in the tank.
I have the tank filtered with a Tidal 55 and an Azoo 150 that I filled with some Chaetomorpha algae that I was lucky to find for a nice price at a PetCo.

 

[Colin_T]

I have a 33 gallon brackish tank with 9 bumble bee gobies, 7 leaf goblin fish aka butterfly goby (variety of scorpion fish; neovespicula depressifrons), and just added 10 P. signifer (rainbowfish).

They are an interesting looking Pseudomugil signifer. Any idea what river system they came from?

You need a picture on the back to make the fish contrast more. Dark blue would show them up well.