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tankmates for bumblebee gobies?


kelseylynn
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I've got a new 10g cycling right now and I haven't decided what to put in it. I saw some bumblebee gobies at Riverfront the other day and thought they were adorable. Is a 10 gallon large enough for 2 or 3 of them? And are there any other small brackish fish I could keep with them? It seems like most brackish fish require a larger tank, but it would be nice to have something swimming around while the gobies hang out at the bottom.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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A lot of livebearers can adapt to Brackish and even Saltwater. I think mollies or swordtails might be a tad big for a 10 gallon, but guppies or endlers might work. If the fish are kept in freshwater, you'll have to slowly raise the salinity to the desired SG of the gobies, to make it ready for them.

I have heard that these gobies can be bullies though, so wait until someone with more experience comes along. I have only ever owned a knight goby, it wasn't exactly friendly to it's tank mates.

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I have had Bumblebee Gobies for a couple of years now. They are in a 55 gal brackish set up. One of the ideal companions for them is a Dragon Gobi, as have same dietary requirements and the movement of the Dragon helps to get the pieces of food into the water column where the Bumblebee can snatch it from. Unfortunately, the Dragon need a larger tank. Most fish will be too much competition for feeding. I have some guppies also in with mine, the males are less competition, eat more from the surface. My female guppies are voracious eater and learn the best food is at the bottom of the tank.

Here is a pretty good site. I am only rating it as pretty good because I think he has over simplified determining species. There are at least 6 species that look similar and the experts are still working on how to tell them apart. The rest of the information looks good!

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...bee_Gobies.html

Bumblebees are a great fish to keep! I love watching their squabbling!

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well i owned them aswell yes they are a brackish water but have kept them for over two years in freshwater but as the other person stated all your live bearers fish mollies and swords,guppys can live in brackish water and a tank that size you could have two of ether of those with them because they are bottom feeder fish mostly and sit ar bottom mostly i had a figur 8 puffer with them at well but was in a 126 gallon tank the bubblebee goby only gets to about 2 inch on average if lucky so small fish the figure 8 puffer does not get that big ether about 3 inches if you give him live snails to each which i did by going to the local pond every spring then letting the snails live in a pale 5 gallon with fresh clean water to clean them out for a month and of coarse changing that water with clean stuff atleast once a week you could add those to the tank for him to eat and he would most likly leave the bumbblebees alone but of coarse you would have to clean the shells out of tank after he eats them there would be a build up of shells but that small of a tank thats about all you have

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  • 1 month later...

How come pisces keeps their bumble bee gobies in FW? Is brackish absolutely necessary for them? Some species of mollies can handle brackish, but others can be harmed by salt.....have to go back and see which types but most of the ones found at the LFS can handle brackish water.

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Nevermind, I know why they were and it's because they were the species Brachygobius xanthozona which can live in Fresh water as well, but the Brachygobius nunus will not tolerate fw and can only survive in brackish.

You could keep zebra snails with these gobies as well, unless you are keeping a puffer lol.

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