Bumblebee goby

[Tipton34]

I was wondering if bumblebee gobies will sift any sand? And how aggressive are they?

 

[Cichildlife]

Im not to fermiluar but i dont think tgey are agressive nd i think they would sift sand to look for food

 

[Morgie]

Never seen mine sift sand. They can be territorial with each other but aren't overtly aggressive

 

[jetajockey]

We just got a bunch in today, they are so cute. I'm definitely setting up a bumblebee nano tank in the near future. As to whether they sift sand, not totally sure, but once my tank is set up it will have sand so I will have some info.

 

[siva]

Nope, no sand sifting. I haven't kept them with other fish, only fiddler crabs, but they are not aggressive towards the crabs at all. They do have little spats with eachother, but no damage is done. They do well in a nicely planted tank where they can easily hide from one another when things get intense.

 

[Morgie]

bumblebee goby nano tanks are pretty much the best haha. I watch mine hop around all the time. And I'm pretty sure they do not sift sand. Mine get a good hold on a leaf with their suction fins and catch food as it drifts by. I've heard they can be a bit stubborn to start eating but I didn't have any problems with mine.

 

[siva]

Morgie, do yours eat flake?

 

[Morgie]

They've eaten flake food probably once the entire time I've had them. They eat mainly NLS, bloodworms, and brine shrimp. The brine shrimp is by far their favorite food and sometimes they won't even eat NLS. My shrimp love it though haha.

 

[siva]

Oh I haven't even tried a pellet with them, that's a good idea. Agreed on the brine shrimp. Mine are crazy about mysis shrimp too.

 

[miles]

Just searched and found this thread. I'm hoping to get some bumblebees in the near future, and I've been trying to find what their "favorite" specific gravity is. Brackish is defined as anywhere between 0.002 and 0.020, but is there any certain range where they will be happiest?

I've also read that with bumblebee gobies as well as many other brackish species it's actually good to let the salinity vary slightly from time to time. Is there any reason that wouldn't be a good idea?

Also, being completely new to brackish systems, is it any harder to maintain favorable and stable water params in a cycled brackish tank than it is a cycled fw?

Edit:
And one more thing: Will converting a fw tank to brackish mess up the cycle at all? Might by a silly question but I want to make sure. Thanks!

 

[jetajockey]

To answer your last questions, personally in brackish setups that I've done I'm not a stickler on the salinity, it varies from time to time and I don't do exact #s. I use a basic pet store hydrometer since the exact numbers aren't crucial. Converting over to brackish is typically a very slow gradual process, often spanning months, so even if there was a different strain of bacteria involved in processing nitrogenous waste, it'd have plenty of time to colonize.

 

[miles]

Thanks. That should make it a little easier to do PWCs anyway - knowing that as long as I'm in the ballpark with the salinity they're not going to mind. I might turn this into another thread in a little while, closer to when I'll be getting them. I've only found one source talking about the proper salinity range for them, and I'd like to hear what others have to say.

As far as maintaining pH, kH and gH and such.. my inclination is that it would actually be much easier with brackish because of the kH and gH that will be added by the marine salt.

 

[siva]

I keep my BBG's at 1.008. There is a wide range of salinity levels I've seen recommend from different sources, but ultimately this is what I decided to go with and it seems to work out well for them.

 

[miles]

Thanks. Low end brackish (between 0.005 and 0.008 sg) seems to be what I'm finding. I'll just have to pay attention and see what they like the most.