My bumblebee goby

[lmm80]

I love him!! He's in my 16 gallon tall brackish tank with guppies. The tank is kept around .008sg. He's there for population control if you know what I mean :ezpi_wink1: lol

Every now and again a baby will survive, but for the most part, I am able to keep a well stocked, not overstocked, tank of beautiful guppies!

Here he is in all his glory!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/lmw4980/16%20gallon/NewPictures346.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/lmw4980/16%20gallon/NewPictures393.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/lmw4980/16%20gallon/NewPictures396.jpg

[TehTANK]

Very Nice! He is a cuttie Pie!

[cocoa_pleco]

Dam, hes nice. I wish i could find someone that sells brackish around here

[lmm80]

Dam, hes nice. I wish i could find someone that sells brackish around here

I am lucky to have a couple of very nice fish stores by me. Sometimes I have seen these in chain stores, and I have even seen them sold as FW fish :flipa:

They are neat fish. I have researched these guys and it seems that unless there's 5 or more of them, they need to be kept as the only bumblebee goby of the tank, any less and they get really territorial. He eats freeze dried brine shrimp, frozen foods, and he loves live bloodworms and brine shrimp.

[kimmers318]

What a cutie! My local Petsuppliesplus has gotten them in a couple of times, but I have stayed away from them since I don't have a brackish tank up and running. Now I have heard of several people keeping them in FW.....any ideas/suggestions on that topic? Do they do better in BW or is hard FW okay?

[lmm80]

brackish brackish brackish. They may survive in fw, but they won't be happy or at their top health.

[bettaboy691]

Brachygobius aggregatus is a species of bumble bee goby whihc i own. they are in full freshwater and living a healthy and long life. they are schooling so i have 4. they water is crystal clear and top water quality. i belive this species are freshwater, and do very well living with other fish such as gouramies, livebearers and most tetras. all mine are acting as they should, eating well and had no illness ever. i have had these ones over a year now, from another fish keeper who said he had them a while in freshwater.

[kimmers318]

Does anyone know if there are different subspecies maybe that one survives better in BW and the other does well in FW? I would love to have a couple because they are just sooooooo cute, but don't want to set up a BW tank right now. (Although I am considering it for a Fig8!) And there is some debate about Fig8's actually that their natural habitat is FW, but the water is very hard, which is why they survive better in BW because the salt gives the necessary minerals and such that may not be in tapwater.

[bettaboy691]

its a double edges sword kimmers about F8's. people have different views if they are brackish water or not. IMO, they are both, they need crystal clear, top kotch freshwater quality, or brackish water, both which are easy to have and maintain. lots of people have BBG and F8s together in brackish, and many BBG are brackish. ive heard Brachygobius aggregatus can survive in low end brackish water too.if you would like a freshwater BBG, look for Brachygobius aggregatus, they are freshwater. as for brackish, Brachygobius xanthozona i belive is brackish, they do need slighley akaline water and medium hard - hard hardness. you want to keep there water temperature about 25 to 30oC.

[kimmers318]

Well, I have nice hard water (maybe that is why I have so enjoyed my puffers.....they love my water!). The BBG's I find have been at Petsuppliesplus, which is horrible about scientific names, so I would be at a loss as to whether they are FW or BW species. Is there any marked difference in their appearance that would make it possible to differentiate between the 2?
Since my Mother's Day is screwed with a sick kid, I may just go pick up some FIG8's PSP got in this week that actually look GOOD for a change, and some of the BBG's they got in and spend the day setting up and cloning a new tank!!!! Sounds like a great alternative to me!thumbs2:

[bettaboy691]

i belive most, if not all the BBG sold in stores can tolorate both brackish and freshwater. if you are unsure, always go to the low end of brackish. as all species can handle that. im not too sure how to tell the difference, they are many species of BBG out there, some have orange and black stripes, other have a bright yellow bands and some mucky yellow. they are slight variations between the colors, but nothing too clear. i would take my chances and put them in low brackish water.

[Drumachine09]

If the SG of brackish is 1.008, what would be the low end, 1.005?

[bettaboy691]

i couldnt tell you as ive never had brackish water tank. just what i know its low end. but it sounds right from what ive heard.

[Drumachine09]

i couldnt tell you as ive never had brackish water tank. just what i know its low end. but it sounds right from what ive heard.

Anyone else know?

[sanddigger]

I started a BW (2mo now) with 6 bbg's and two kribs. My SG is at 1.010 (high) and 1.080 (low) All are doing fine. :1: I use a refractometer to test.

Hey Drum, 1.050 is a very low end of Bw.

One thing good about a BW tank is that you don't have to have your SG exact every time as you do for a marine tank. BW ( any river that has a flow in/out from oceans) has flexuations in SG, so BW fish actually thrive in the ups and downs of the SG.

One must be careful when starting a BW tank. You must take into consideration the tank size you have, for example: Scats commonly found in your lfs. Most people who purchase them do not know nor will the lfs tell you that Scats are BW or that they get to be "platter size".

All BW fish will survive in FW for a while, but will not have the long life life they should have. Some Puffers, BBG's to name a few have shorter lives because of this.

BW fish must have ocean salt and not aquarium salt. That seems to be the most misunderstood of those who take on a BW tank.