Are bumblebee gobies brackish? It is cute, I would like one in ny community tank but I thought they were brackish..
I think for the most part, yes they are. And most would stand firmly by that but instead say that ALL are. But I think that all depends and it's not so black & white, more like a grey area in between. There is still a camp that argues and says that there are two very similarly BB goby species that are distinguishable with the way their yellow & black bands meet in the underbelly (or something like that). Whereas one really needs brackish while the other can be in a lower specific gravity of brackish to fully freshwater (and vice versa). Perhaps one species lives higher up the estuaries in nature while the other is closer to the sea? The most commonly seen BBG
Brachygobius doriae is a fully BW fish that needs an SG of around 1.005 to survive and thrive. However
Hypogymnogobius xanthozona is a less commonly seen BBG that can live in FW or BW.Telling the difference between the two is not easy.
B. doriae has black bands that do not join on the belly giving a gold line along the belly whereas
H. xanthozona has full black stripes. From the pic of my BBG on the glass, you can clearly see that it has the joining black bands.
When I bought the little guy from a LFS (a mom and pops joint), they had them in FW and said that he can live and thrive for 75-90% of their natural lifespan in FW but longer in BW. I spoke to a breeder online and he verified my findings. However, this topic would open a whole can of worms because most here will refuse the validity of that statement.
Also, I think keeping BBG in brackish strengthens the fish (even a very low SG would do wonders). Keeping them in FW can be done but it might lower their strength a bit so optimal water conditions would be key to compensate for that. I believe most people fail to keep BBGs successfully not because of salinity issues but because of feeding: their gobies simply starve to death. It's pretty tricky to feed mine because he only eats bloodworms (frozen or live... not freeze dried). He won't even touch the flakes or micro pellets my other fish love to eat. I have to literally make the bloodworms float by his face before he bites for them. Couple that with the fact that they are very slow eaters, you might have problems with other fish who compete for food at the bottom (and who eat faster).
This is my first BB goby, so I'll see how long he lives. So far it's been several months. For the most part, he seems very calm, eats his blood worms (like a good boy) all the time, and swims around a lot. His colors are vibrant and he doesn't exhibit any signs of stress... So in a way I'm testing the theory myself (in a non-scientific approach of course).