Experience With Bumblebee Gobies

[danny101]

Im set on a tank with bumblee bee gobies and have done loads of research.

However i cant find anything concrete on the circulation, how strong should it be??

The tank is a trigon 190, will the supplied filter etc be ok??

Lastly !

ive found most info states sg of 1.010+, is that right?

Thanks in advance

 

[nmonks]

Hi there --

Bumblebee gobies, like most gobies, aren't particularly sensitive to dissolved metabolites. Choose filtration to suit the other fish. In a small tank, even a bubble-up box filter is fine. If the Trigon 190 is anything like the Rio 180 I have, then the filter should be fine. The issue with the Juwel aquaria is, in my opinion, not that they lack filter media capacity but that the supplied pumps turn the water over relatively slowly. The pumps are small and adequate rather than optimal. I would recommend adding a second external filter (I use a Fluval 104) if you're planning on keeping medium to high stocking densities.

A specific gravity of 1.010 for bumblebee gobies is far too high. Arguably, they can even be kept in fresh, though in my experience they do not do well (disease prone) in soft, acid water. A safe recommendation is to keep them at SG 1.003 to 1.005. This is a similar level to that enjoyed by things like livebearers, knight gobies, orange chromides, figure-8 puffers, and Florida flag-fish -- but rather less than scats, monos, green puffers, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[danny101]

Ive decided to use just bumblebee's on there own, from what ive found its the best way to keep them and feed the fussy blighters! maybe some amano shrimp to scavenge??

using another unit would be fine. would i place it on the opposite side of the tank or the same?

You have been quite a help nmonks and i feel happy to pursue your advice!!

needless to say that im sure i'll be pestering even more once i get them



Thanks again

 

[nmonks]

I can't take the credit for bumblebee expertise... I doff my cap to a scientist by the name of Naomi Delventhal (active, for example, on the yahoo goby group). She keeps and breeds all kinds of gobies, including these, and wrote the goby chapter for the up-coming TFH brackish book that I edited. If you go the Brackish FAQ I compiled (see sig file at end of this message) there's a section on bumblebee gobies that Naomi helped me with, and there's also a link to a very useful post she made on the goby group.

My own gobies were kept in soft acid and that's how I know they don't like it. The remaining one now lives in unsalted tap water, pH 7.5-ish, very high hardness. She seems fine.

My aquarium was put together to test out the idea that some brackish water fish aren't actually brackish water fish. While this turned out to be correct for halfbeaks and glassfish, I'm of the opinion that bumblebees at least need hard, alkaline water, if not slightly brackish. While they can survive at least 9 months in soft, acid, I wouldn't recommend it. There's pictures and words and video here:

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/myaquarium.html

I would't waste an entire 190 litre tank on these gobies though! They are essentially static, sticking to their own territories and not otherwise wandering very far. Lots of people keep and breed them at a rate of one goby per gallon! With 190 litres to play with, I'd definitely be looking at things like candy stripe gobies (salt-tolerant, but prefer fresh), knight gobies, maybe even violet gobies.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. I have the Fluval 104 sucking water in at the end with the built-in filter, but blowing the water out at the opposite end. This seems to work well. You're sort of limited by the way the tank is put together; there are some cut-outs in the side for pipes and whatnot, so you can only arrange things so that they fit these.

 

[danny101]

Your tank in that link is emaculate! very envious.

I read over some of the links on the yahoo group, and it gave me some encouraging news about keeping a violet goby.

I really like the look of the knight (fan dancer) but was warned that they may not get on so well with the smaller bumblebees. i understand they can grow to nearly 3 1/2 "?

I really would like a violet goby, and havent ruled it out completely.

I was just worried that feeding them might become too difficult with bigger species??

 

[nmonks]

Thanks for the kind words about my tank. It actually doesn't always look that good... periodically the plants die back (esp. the Vallisneria) and the 15 cm Panaque nigrolineatus can certainly do some serious earth-moving when she's minded to!

Violet gobies are very cool fish and highly entertaining. There are at least two species traded in the UK, one, Gobioides peruvianus, is a bit smaller than the one more commonly seen in the US. Anyway, despite their scary appearance, these fish are real pussycats and won't even eat bumblebee gobies, provided they're not starved almost to death. They much prefer plankton, algae, and wormy, shrimpy foods.

I have never kept fan/knight gobies, but yes, they are predators and can eat small fish. So will most of the medium sized gobies/sleepers (e.g. clay gobies, spotted sleepers, Butis butis). On the other hand, they're totally safe with deep-bodied things like glassfish, orange chromides, and mollies.

Violet gobies can be slotted into communities, but it does take care. I'd think about choosing fish that either feed from the surface (e.g. halfbeaks), from the substrate (e.g. Awous gobies), or at night (e.g. soles). That should give the violet goby some space and time to feed. But having said that, I don't get the impression that they are hard to feed, particularly once weaned onto pellet foods and algae wafers.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[danny101]

Yeah im definately warming to the idea of a VG,s although the smaller species.

Thanks again for the help. I'll let you know how i get on.