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Bumble Bee Gobies
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
General message area: Bumble Bee Gobies
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Cody
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 11:41 pm
I plan on dedicating a tank specifically for Bumble Bee
Gobies. I know they need a good amount of salt, real warm
temperature (80-86 F or 28-30 C) and alot of caves
in which to stake territories.
I was wondering two things:
what do you suggest for the substrate and if their should
be oxygen rich water with alot of movement or very little
oxygen and water movement (i've heard they come
from slow-flowing estuaries). Thanks!
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Sierra
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 04:56 am
I have five Bumbles in a 15 gallon with livebearers, krib
and gourami. I have the temp. on 25*C like I do for
my other tanks and I have 1 TEASPOON of salt per gallon.
I think that 25*C is the lower limit for Bumbles, but
I didn't want to make it too high for the other fish.
27-28*C would probably be fine for you, and because
you just have a tank dedicated to them I would recommend
1TABLESPOON of salt per gallon. I only use one teaspoon
because the other fish in the tank might not like higher
salt levels, so I had to find a happy medium for all the
fish. It's a great idea that you've decided to devote
a tank entirely to them - its probably the best way to keep
them. Do you know about feeding them? - they can be a bit
tricky.
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Sierra
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 05:00 am
Sorry, forgot to say that you probably shouldn't make
the current too strong, I have an Aquaclear Mini on my tank
and I think they have a bit of trouble dealing with the
direct current, but its not really causing any problems
(they tend to stay in the more sheltered parts of the
tank). A little bit of current is good for swirling
bits of food around - which encourages them to eat. I'm
not sure about oxygen levels, but with the higher temp.
It wouldn't hurt to have a airstone in there.
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joycedonley
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 06:50 am
People that I know on the web kept theirs in sand. I really
don't think it matters much. Gravel is a bit easier,
since it's pretty hard to find sand with larger granuals.
The particle size of the sand determines whether it will
compact easily or not. I have read countless posts on my
yahoo groups from people keeping Africans in sand. Also
I have my 75 gallon in play sand. I wish LFS stores would
stock some kind of non-marine sand to make life easier.
Anyways if you use fine grained sand such as play sand don't
make the layer very thick, so you can stir it occassionally
to prevent compaction. If you can find some sandblasting
type sand with larger granuales make sure it has no chemicals
added that will endanger your fish.
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Cody
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 11:11 am
Thanks alot for the info Sierra and Joyce. So I guess i'll
use play sand for my substrate (I wish they sold it
at LFS too...oh well to Home Depot it is then ;)).
I did know that BB gobies are hard to feed but that shouldn't
be a problem since I raise live brine shrimp for my other
fish ;).
Sierra, I never would have thought that an Aquaclear Mini
could be so powerful. What would you suggest for a filter
then? Maybe a sponge filter?
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Sierra
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 04:39 pm
Well, the AC Mini doesn't exactly create a tornado or
anything, but when the gobies try to catch food on the current
they get swept along as well. But its not as if they can't
swim around normally. I don't think the AC Mini is too
much for my tank. How big is your tank? If its less than
15 gallons then you could get away with a large sponge filter
or box filter (or maybe several smaller ones). But
an AC mini would be fine if you have a 15-20 gallon.
Gobies can be a bit fussy about their food and seem to prefer
live food, but you shouldn't have any problems since
you have live brine shrimp. I give mine frozen brine and
bloodworms and they eat them. They might also try little
bits of flake that float past. But they prefer live or frozen.
Don't be surprised if they don't want to eat for
a few days after you get them.
Joyce, I used coarse gardener's sand in one of my tanks
- it have lots of diferent grain sizes all mixed together
so it doesn't compact as much but I still have to siphon
it regularly to stop it form going black and smelly underneath.
I had to wash it really well, too, before I used it. It
wasn't the cleanest sand you've ever seen but I
guess people who actually want to use it on their gardens
wouldn't care!
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Cody
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 07:26 pm
Yeah, I didn't think the AC Mini caused tidal waves
or anything (lol) its just I thought that it didn't
have as much force as what you described.
Anyway, the tank I plan to use is a 10 gallon.
I think I have found the perfect filter:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=3954
It is specially designed to prevent fry from being trapped
or disturbed and since BB's are so small I figure it
would work nice. It would also give the tank a good oxygen
supply down there (especially with a temp of 82-86 F).
Being as BB's dont produce that much waste and with
me changing a good deal of the water weekly, I should have
crystal clear water. What do ya' think?
As for the Gardening sand, I keep hearing alot of recommendations
from people for this goby tank. All I know is to not buy
it with fertilizer in it (duh!). Where can I find
it and how much should I use in a 10 gal.? Thanks...;)
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joycedonley
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 07:45 am
Sierra I used a really thin layer of play sand and hardly
had to wash it at all. It just looks really "plain"
so I mixed it with some Coral shell for my African Rift
Lake tank. I have a lip on the bottom of the tank, so you
can't tell that I only have about an inch of the sand
in some places. My fish seem to be digging it up a bit also,
I'm finding tunnels under some of my rocks, so I think
they are helping to keep it from compacting.
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joycedonley
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 07:47 am
Your gardening or sandblasting sand might work better for
the BB... I don't know if they are diggers so the various
grains sizes will probably solve the compaction problem.
You can stir things a bit, just be careful not to get too
carried away or the sand will fly everywhere and clog up
your filters.
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