Bbg Meets Gsp?

[MoMa]

This may be one of those questions best unasked, but...

Would it be a bad move to add a Bumblebee Goby to my Brackish GSP tank?

The tank is a 55g hex. It currently contains 2 juvenile Green Spotted Puffers (who are actually doing well together -- I have a friend who will take one off my hands if this isn't the case anymore) and 2 mollies. The tank has bogwood, large and small stones, wall to wall fake plants, and some live plants. There are so many hiding places, that if someone were to die, I'd need to take a day or two off from work to locate them. The substrate is small river stone. The tank is over-filtrated.
pH - 8, ammonia and nitrates in good shape, temp. kept at about 78-82F.


Does anyone (read: monks) have any experience keeping these species together? Any horror stories?

Am I getting ahead of myself here?

I understand the BBG needs mildly brackish, while the GSP gets strong brackish -- is there a happy medium?

 

[nmonks]

Yes, around 1.010 will be tolerated by both. BBGs have been adapted to full seawater, incidentally. They don't live in the sea in the wild, though, so how healthy this is over the long term I cannot say. But BBGs prefer lower salinities (arguably even freshwater) compared with GSPs, so the combination isn't ideal, and a GSP probably needs around 1.012 for perfect health, and as you know some people keep them in seawater once adult.

I have no personal experience of GSPs so prefer not to comment on their behaviour. They are generally thought of as a bit less aggressive than Ceylon puffers, but regardless, I have always preferred puffers that more easily mix with tankmates.

Perhaps give it a go and see what happens. I suspect the mollies will get attention from the pufferfish eventually, so if you see any nipping there, then get both the mollies and the gobies out.

Cheers,

Neale

I understand the BBG needs mildly brackish, while the GSP gets strong brackish -- is there a happy medium?

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I have never kept the GSP with BBG's but the fact that you mention that they will have tons of hiding space should help. My GSP never bothered the mollies when I had them, but all can be of differing levels of aggression, you have mentioned that you have 2 in there together is a good sign because they are notorious for being the roughest on members of their own kind.

Like nmonks I'd say give it a try and have a spot set aside for relocation if things get violent. This one's really your call.

SLC

 

[MoMa]

OK, I'm currently "dripping" into a bucket w/ the Bumble Bee Goby. We'll see what happens when he gets in the tank.

As for the GSP's, there's actually a third, who is still in a 10g. Originally all three were in the 10g together while the new hex tank cycled. While together they were very civil to each other. The GSPs <i>are</i> however juveniles, so it will be some time before the typical aggression trait surfaces, hopefully they'll stay cool with each other.

Neale & SLC thanks for the input. I'll post results soon...

cheers!
MoMa

 

[MoMa]

Okay, we're about 5 hours in...

The Bumblebee Goby was immediately checked out, then ignored by both GSP's and both Mollies. About 1 hr. later, the 3rd GSP was added. Unfortuneately, he doesn't seem too thrilled, and will probably end up back in his own tank.
The BBG has been out and about almost the entire time, and if anyone gets too close he seems to be pretty quick.
Here's the kicker, though. Both mollies have gone into hiding. Turning all the lights off and using flashlights, we were able to locate them, but they're not coming out. Originally they were the bullies of the tank (1 is approx. 1 3/4", the other 2 1/4" - compared to 1 1/2" GSPs and barely 1" BBG). Could they be afraid of one of the new additions?
I literally have not seen them in a few hours.

 

[MoMa]

Okay, it's morning now. The 3rd GSP has been removed, the mollies are back out and about, and everyone seems happy. ...for now.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Sounds like you certainly have it under controll. Just keep a close eye on things.

SLC

 

[MoMa]

just for comfort sake, the other GSP has been removed, so we're at 1 GSP, 1 BBG, and the two mollies.
The mollies have begun to breed, and the GSP and BBG are keeping the fry population under control.
Anything wrong with either of these two eating fry?

 

[Sp3nc3r]

no, umm mollies are livebearers and i pretty sure its supposed to be a 1m to every 2-3 females

i used to have guppies and that was the ratio, maybe its diffrent with mollies

but its because the males are always trying to give the female sperm and the females can get really stressed out, so its good to have 2-3 so he doesnt just bother 1


good luck, everything sounds good

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

just for comfort sake, the other GSP has been removed, so we're at 1 GSP, 1 BBG, and the two mollies.
The mollies have begun to breed, and the GSP and BBG are keeping the fry population under control.
Anything wrong with either of these two eating fry?

Nope, they can eat the fry if you're O.K. with that happening. Congratulations you're obviously on top of things here!

SLC

 

[MoMa]

mollies ... supposed to be a 1m to every 2-3 females

I'm pretty sure it's 2 females in the tank, and from what I understand, females can store sperm for a while.

 

[MoMa]

figured I'd offer a visual update....

wish I could get a pic of the GSP, but he's too darn fast...


GOT 'EM!!!!!!!

 

[MoMa]

The day after those pics were taken, one of the female mollies was moved to a friend's tank. We didn't want to have another set of fry on our hands. Lo and Behold, what do we find in the tank this morning? More fry (and one awfully fat Bumblebee Goby!!)!!!!!

Any idea how many times one female molly can have babies on stored sperm?

everybody else is doing fine, including one molly from the first batch of fry (the survivor!) who's at about 1" now.

 

[nmonks]

Any idea how many times one female molly can have babies on stored sperm?

They can't store sperm. They arrest the development of certain embryos, so that embryos mature in batches. The most this can be done is (if I recall correctly) in the dwarf mosquitofish, where the female can have embryos at 5 different stages of development. I'd guess for mollies you'd get perhaps 3 batches at most from a single insemination, but I have no emprical data to support that.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[MoMa]

The most this can be done is (if I recall correctly) in the dwarf mosquitofish

I had read something like this about the mosquitofish. I've been reading up on these guys as a result of your article in TFH. Keep up the good work !!! If you keep writing articles on brackish fish, I'm gonna have to get a bigger house!