Bumble bee goby help

[Toon.inc]

Does anyone know about breeding bumble bee gobys I have 6 of them that I would like to breed. Any info would be great.

Cheers

 

[Andy Sager]

Does anyone know about breeding bumble bee gobys I have 6 of them that I would like to breed. Any info would be great.

Cheers

I have to ask first, have you ever successfully bred any fish that small and reared the fry? These are not an easy fish for a beginner breeder to start with. The fry will demand very small food.

 

[Toon.inc]

I have recently had success with Bn catfish and cichlids

 

[Andy Sager]

I have recently had success with Bn catfish and cichlids

I have not personally bred these but I am quoting from a book series I used on breeding different fish back in the 1970s

Tank size: 5-10 gals is okay.
Substrate: fine sand Decor: Rocks preferred with some low light live plants
Water conditions: Extremely clean
PH: 7.0 preferred but slightly alkaline ok
Hardness: slightly hard preferred, no soft water. Include a teaspoon of sea salt/ 5 gals if using soft water (I believe you should use salt anyway as they are a slightly brackish fish and I have always had better luck keeping these fish in the pet shops when salt was present in their tanks.)

Temps. Gradual increase from 72 up to 80/83 degrees (increase 1 degree per day.) Breeding temp is above 80.

Breeding type: Cave breeders. Supply areas such as large snail shells , PVC connectors or piping, or other hollow areas that allow privacy but adaquet water circulation.

Lighting: Dimly lit aquaria.

Sexual differences: Males slightly smaller than females. Coloration of courting male changes, females get rounder in the abdominal area when gravid.

Foods: To properly condition these fish for spawning, live foods are recommended. Daphnia, tubifex worms or live brine shrimp are the foods of choice with live worms being the least favorite as they tend to burrow in the sand if uneaten.

Breeding: Start conditioning the fish at the lower temps with a constant supply of live food. Arrange multiple shells or spawning sites in different locations in the tank. As the temp approaches 80 degrees, noice males guarding spawning sites and attracting females to the sites. Once pairs have formed, daily 10% water changes are used to simulate the rainy season and upcoming spawning season. (The suggestion is to take water from the bottom level of the tank and replace with water that is 1-2 degrees warmer.) Continue until spawning has occured.

Once spawning is completed, the male will chase the female from the nest and guard the eggs and should be removed from the tank. Hatching time is approx. 100 hours. On the 7th day, the fry begin to leave the cave in search of food. Infusoria should be availble for constant feeding until the fry are large enough to take newly hatched brine shrimp. The male should be removed from the tank at this point. Daily 10% water changes will help the fry continue to grow more rapidly than leaving them in the water they were spawned in.

The author further suggests that once the genders of the fish have been detemined, keep the males and females in separate tanks post spawning. Repeat spawnings can be done "in a few months." He also suggests to start with 10-12 fish in the tank and once any pairs show spawning behavior, the other non paired fish should be removed. It's possible to have multiple spawning happening in the tank so you only want to remove the fish that have not paired off.

I hope this helps. Keep us posted on your progress