Bumble Bee Fish

[pixelpefekt]

Hi all. Just spotted this little guy at the LFS. Looks great but from what I can read online about it, it seems that although its small, it can be a bit of a fin nipper.

At the moment I have: Zebra Danios, Guppys, Amano shrimp, Neon Tetras

Do you think they will play nice?

There also seems to be some question over whither or not these fish need brackish water or not

 

[ALW]

The Bumblebee Goby, is best kept in a peaceful community tank. Do not keep with larger predatory fish due the Goby's size. They are known to nibble long fins, so only keep with short-finned fish. They also require some form of Brackish Conditions. They would be ok with the other fish in your tank, the prob really is that they require brackish conditions. Never had any so i carnt say that they would be ok in freshwater conditions, although they are kept and sold in freshwater conditions.

 

[kj23502]

Hi. NMonks told me that are best kept in slightly brackish water of sg 1.003-1.005. That was when I was asking about keeping south american puffers also. He also said that it's extremely hard for scientists to tell whether it's a fresh or brackish species of goby let alone a LFS. Both species will do well in lightly brackish and should live longer.

I don't know that your other fish will tolerate brackish.

 

[snoopyfrench87]

there are two types of bumble bee goby; one that needs brackish - is rarely seen in LFS and has broken black and yellow sections & the more common one that is clearly banded and quite popular; this one can survive quite happily in freshwater community tanks- but should be given plenty pf space to make its own mini territory- and should be well fed to avoid fin nipping. It is quite lazy so feeding can be difficult as it prefers to sit and wait for water to float by.

 

[Ace Of Spades]

Hi. NMonks told me that are best kept in slightly brackish water of sg 1.003-1.005. That was when I was asking about keeping south american puffers also. He also said that it's extremely hard for scientists to tell whether it's a fresh or brackish species of goby let alone a LFS. Both species will do well in lightly brackish and should live longer.

I don't know that your other fish will tolerate brackish.

Agreed

 

[kj23502]

there are two types of bumble bee goby; one that needs brackish - is rarely seen in LFS and has broken black and yellow sections & the more common one that is clearly banded and quite popular

NMonks said that they are a lot harder to tell the difference species apart than that. And that the scientists can even had trouble telling the difference. (In case you weren't familiar, he's the one that did a ton of research by himself and with other people and published a book about it) I suppose there could be slight color variations that can complicate your theory.

There's also a difference between "ideal" conditions and just existing in the tank.

 

[missigfunk]

I have 2 bumble bee gobys. I've had them for about 5 or so months now and they seem pretty happy.

I have them in a tank with gourami's, angel fish, mollies, platys and a ghost knife. I've never seen any of them have a problem with eachother. In fact, just the other day one of my bumble bees cornered one of my angels and you should have seen the angel back off and swim away like a scaredy cat...it was pretty funny.

I'll just have to watch out for when my ghost knife grows up because the bees will be small enough for him to eat

 

[andywg]

there are two types of bumble bee goby; one that needs brackish - is rarely seen in LFS and has broken black and yellow sections & the more common one that is clearly banded and quite popular; this one can survive quite happily in freshwater community tanks- but should be given plenty pf space to make its own mini territory- and should be well fed to avoid fin nipping. It is quite lazy so feeding can be difficult as it prefers to sit and wait for water to float by.

This is incorrect. Nmonks has better information (most probably from Naomi Deventhal, a gobiologist). Bumblebee gobies are almost impossible to tell to a species level without putting them under a microscope and counting rays and scales. It is believed that most BBG in the trade are Brachygobius doriae which in the wild is found in brackish and freshwater (including acidic streams). They seem to do best in harder water conditions, but brackish water is not partiularly necessary. I believe the reason that brackish conditions seem to do best is that those who keep them in brackish are more likely to have researched and thus offer the correct food as these can be a bit picky in what they eat.

As a side point, Ms Deventhal prefers to keep her BBG in FW as she likes them in planted settings.