Bumble Bee Goby Feeding Suggestions

[ac106]

Setup: 10gallon tank, PH >8, hard water, crushed coral substrate, Bio-wheel, heated to 79F. Lots of hiding places like rock caves, broken pots etc

Inside are 10 BBGs of at least 2 species. They all have their territories which they defend

I have been feeding them live blackworms, frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, recently tried live Brine Shrimp

At first they all ate the live blackworms, now some seem pretty disinterested. one or 2 will eat the frozen bloodworms or Brine but usually its ignored.

I tried live Brine with mixed results.

Some are big and fat others not so much and i am concerned that the smaller ones are not eating.

I cannot find frozen lobster eggs, and they havent been that partial to regular shrimp from the supermarket.

Any other ideas? what other live food would they eat?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

BBG's are picky eaters, but unless you are planning a diet of 100% livefoods Id suggest trying to wean them on prepared foods asap. I havent heard of BBG's not taking certain types of livefoods, I guess youve got very picky ones. Id say any live food would work, but obviously yours wont take them. Maybe live daphnia, tubifex, or ghost shrimp fry.

As for them not accepting the supermarket shrimp, Im not surprised. Once any fish is on all livefood diet it takes some time and patience to get them to eat frozen and other prepared foods. Start adding larger and larger amounts of prepared foods in place of live and theyll eventually learn to take them. A good tip is placing the prepared foods in the filter outlet, so they are carried by a current. Most BBG's wont take any prepared food unless its moving.

 

[SirMinion]

Ours eat:

• Live or frozen bloodworm
• live small earthworms
• freshly chopped earthworm
• Live brine shrimp
• chopped, cooked prawn
• Malaysian trumpet snails in the shell

 

[nmonks]

My bumblebees happily eat small chunks of frozen prawn and frozen lobster eggs (which you can buy from aquarium shops, they're used to feed marine invertebrates). They sometimes eat frozen bloodworm, but always eat live bloodworms and live Daphnia.

None of my fish -- from gobies to halfbeaks to puffers -- has shown any interest in frozen brine shrimp. I have no idea what fish eat them, I've never seen any of my fish eat even one.

Frozen lobster eggs are, incidientally, an excellent food for tempting difficult fish. Virtually all aquarium fish will eat fish eggs in the wild, even quite large fish, since they're full of fat and protein. Frozen lobster eggs make an excellent substitute. Since eggs don't move even when they're alive, the fact these are frozen doesn't make them any less attractive as prey.

The "fat" and "skinny" gobies are more than likely females and males, respectively. The females swell up with eggs, even if they don't get around to breeding in your tank.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[andywg]

Every fish I own from Bumblebee Gobies through Dwarf Puffers to Chalceus, African butterfly fish and snakeheads, all eat frozen brine shrimp. Might be the brand they don't like...

Best thing I can recommend to get them eating would be live bloodworm. It seems to do the trick for most fish.

 

[nmonks]

Wow. In 20 years of keeping fish, I've never found a use for frozen brine shrimps. Frozen mysis, yes (seahorses). Frozen krill, yes (South American puffers). Frozen bloodworms and lobster eggs (halfbeaks and glassfish), frozen prawns and frozen peas (spiny eels and plecs). But not frozen brine shrimp.

Bizarre, isn't it. Perhaps we're using different brands? Maybe I'm thawing them out the wrong way? Maybe my fish are just spoiled?

Cheers,

Neale

Every fish I own from Bumblebee Gobies through Dwarf Puffers to Chalceus, African butterfly fish and snakeheads, all eat frozen brine shrimp. Might be the brand they don't like...

 

[Bling]

I have the dubious advantage of a constant supply of mosquito larvae. (It's kind of what started me with little fish---I enjoy watching them eat mosquitoes!) Never had a fish reject any. "Grow" them in the saucers under potted plants. If they get too big, just toss everything and start again. I strain out the water.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

my pickier fish seem to only like a certain brand of brine shrimp and krill. For some reason my oscar wont accept hikari krill, but will eat san francisco bay krill (both freeze dried). He wont take san francisco bay brine shrimp, but hell certainly take hikari brine shrimp (again both FD). I guess its more certain brands when it comes to the fish's taste.

 

[SirMinion]

Frozen brine shrimp send my three violet gobies into a feeding frenzy! it seems to be their favourite food and seem to prefer it over live!

Like you though, nmonks, my BBGs aren't very interested in frozen artemia at all. They like their food to move!

I shall have to try the lobster eggs though, I'll bet the violets will love them as they happily gulp down the eggs you can sometimes find attatched to frozen prawns.

 

[Fella]

Mine turns his nose up at anything that doesn't wriggle. He eats whiteworms, tubifex, bloodworm and frozen bloodworm.

 

[nmonks]

I don't know why you can't buy frozen prawn eggs. What I've noticed is the prawns (from Waitrose here in Berko anyway) only have them in spring. So I scrape them off, lay them out on foil, and freeze them for the next few months. As you noticed, fish go mental for them. Lobster eggs are smaller, and so a bit more tricky for the fish to find and eat, but they seem to manage. Even my puffer likes them. Watching the glassfish snap at them one at a time recalls those feeding frenzies you see on TV where all the fish eating other animal's spawn over coral reefs.

The only thing I worry about is that eggs have a lot of fat and protein, so I'd consider them a supplement rather than a staple. My fish get them 2-3 times a week.

Cheers,

Neale

I shall have to try the lobster eggs though, I'll bet the violets will love them as they happily gulp down the eggs you can sometimes find attatched to frozen prawns.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

would any fish eggs work?

 

[nmonks]

I would assume so, but I've never tried them. Certainly worth a shot. Obviously cooked roe or caviar probably isn't a good idea, but raw cod's roe or something should be accepted. A few fish have toxic eggs (e.g. garpike) but I think it's safe to assume anything sold for human consumption should be safe!

Cheers,

Neale

would any fish eggs work?

 

[Nethius]

Blood worms and shrimp

 

[myenigmaself]

Mine live primarily on a diet of frozen bloodworm, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen tubifix worms (although while they eat them, they don't seem nearly as fond of them), and frozen krill. They especially love the krill eyeballs, so long as it floats in front of them. My best trick has been to feed them every other day. That way I can put enough food in the tank that some is bound to float in front of them before getting devoured by their voracious tank-mates. The key for me has been getting the food in front of them. Beyond that, mine haven't been too picky.