Questions About Bumble Bee Gobies

[RipSlider]

Hi,

I think I'm being lead astray by my LFS.

They have some realy amazing looking BBG's which have been bred in freshwater. The LFS has said that as long as the water is very hard and akaline, then they will be fine, which mine is.

I'd really like one, but have read mixed oppinions on them.

Could I ask a few questions?

1) Could I keep them in a F/W community tank with small fish?
2) Could ONE go in a 10l tank with a single dwarf puffer?
3) What would their life expectancy be in F/W based on them having been bred in it?
4) Can anyone provide any links for me to read?

Many thanks

Steve

 

[nmonks]

Hello Steve --

I think I'm being lead astray by my LFS.

Not unlikely.

They have some realy amazing looking BBG's which have been bred in freshwater. The LFS has said that as long as the water is very hard and akaline, then they will be fine, which mine is.

Correct. Bumblebees are perhaps easier to breed in brackish, but they do fine in hard/alkaline. Soft, acid water isn't so good. They'll survive in it, but they're disease prone. Odd really, since in the wild they are sometimes found in soft, acid water.

1) Could I keep them in a F/W community tank with small fish?
2) Could ONE go in a 10l tank with a single dwarf puffer?
3) What would their life expectancy be in F/W based on them having been bred in it?
4) Can anyone provide any links for me to read?

Bumblebees make excellent community fish. Just respect their size (big fish can eat them) and the fact they are slow feeders (no aggressive cichlids or catfish). Beyond that, they're easy.

A 10 litre tank is tiny, a bucket really. While the combination might work, I'd seriously consider upgrading to, say, a 30 litre tank and having a pair of dwarf puffers with 3-4 bumblebees. Bumblebees are fun in groups because they constantly bicker and chase each other around. Single specimens are rather lethargic.

They should live anything up to 4 years.

There's some stuff on these gobies in the Brackish FAQ, as well as a link to an excellent in-depth study at the Yahoo goby group.

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/bra...6.html#gobiidae

Cheers,

Neale

 

[RipSlider]

Wow. This is totally different to what I thought. The LFS said that the bumblebee they had was a monster.

Can I ask a few more question then.

1) My comminity tank is as follows. 120 l.
6xWcmm
5xglowlights
4xendlers
4xcorys
2xkribs (non agressive, apart from the female to the male )
shrimps

Would this be OK to take a single BBG? There is only one in the LFS and he has been there weeks

Importantly, would the BBG cause problems? The LFS is reccommending species only, which is why it's not been sold. They also said that they are incredibly fragile. Is it practical to keep in a community tank, as if it does get ill, I would worry about dosing an entire tank to treat one fish.

I think i'm talking myself out of the idea.

2) I made a typo with the second tank. It is 30l, not 10 litre. I had been planning to put a single Dp in there as that was all that I was told that it could take. Do you think it could take more?

3) Which of the two tanks would it be better to place the BBG into.

Are they difficult to get feeding? I see that it states that Livefood is preferred, which is a little difficult for me. I can do Live bloodowrm, and frozen lots of other things. However, no LFS;s in my area sell lobster eggs ( I looked already for my soon to be purchased puffer )

Thanks indeed

Steve

 

[nmonks]

The only fish in your community that might molest the goby would be the kribs, depending on how aggressive they are. If they're peaceful, should be fine. I have a bumblebee in my soft water community tank along with a rather aggressive male ram, and there are no problems. At least, not from the other fishes. While the goby has been in the tank around a year, I don't recommend keeping them in soft water.

The idea bumblebees are nippy towards other fish is a myth. They are not in the least fragile, but in the wrong water conditions (e.g. soft water) they clearly don't do as well. I bought 4, and have 1 left. I'm not 100% sure it was the water conditions... I also had some white-cheeked gobies and one of them may have brought in a goby-specific bacterium that worked through most of those gobies and the bumblebee. Symptoms a lot like dropsy.

30 litres sounds fine for a dwarf puffer and a group of bumblebees. Dwarf puffers will be fine in hard and alkaline water. I have a 33 litre tank with a pair of red-tailed, red-eyed puffers and 3 Otocinclus. No obvious problems so far.

My bumblebee goby eat bloodworms, lobster eggs, and tiny pieces of frozen prawn (from the supermarket) so they aren't in the least difficult to feed. Recently, the goby has learned to "stick" to the glass at the front, near the surface, when it's feeding time, and he takes food directly from some forceps (long tweezers), so I suppose you could say he's "hand tame".

Keep looking for lobster eggs. This time of year, if you go to a supermarket or fishmongers that sell North Atlantic prawns with their shells still on, they seem to have eggs under the tails. Scoop off those eggs and put them on some tin foil. Freeze, and use a bit at a time for your fishes. Gobies love them, but so does everything else. These eggs are amazingly rich, and will fatten up fishes that have been half-starved at the retailer very effectively.

Cheers,

Neale