Food for Bumblebee Fish?

[aquaSynthesis]

Hi guys,
i'm keen in getting a few bumblebee fishes but i need to find out about their diet and water parameters first. Any advices? Thanks in advanced.

[Quixotic]

Bumblebee fish are actually small gobies, generally referring to the fishes from the genus Brachygobius.

Depending on species, some are freshwater species (that can tolerate brackish water), some are brackish species, and some inhabit both fresh and brackish water. pH should preferably be 7.0 and above.

It is very unlikely that they will take dried food, so they have to be fed with frozen (e.g. frozen bloodworm) or live food. They are also slow eaters and will easily be outcompeted by fast fish, so you need to ensure that they get their share of food. A trick is to drop food just in front of their mouth.

Some information specifically on bumblebee gobies from the Brackish water FAQ of Dr. Neale Monks,
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/FAQ/6b.html

Also, do a search in the forum, there are more previous discussions relating to the fish. Have fun.

[aquaSynthesis]

Quixotic..

thank you sir for your kind reply. i'll find out about this fish.

[beetlejuice403]

Hi guys,
i'm keen in getting a few bumblebee fishes but i need to find out about their diet and water parameters first. Any advices? Thanks in advanced.

Hi Bro,

bumblebee gobies are cute little fishes... However, guess they are rather picky in their diet... Bought 2 pieces from NKS @ Kovan back then & kept it with my Cherries, Ottos, an a pair of guppies in my 1-feet cube... Ignored all my attempts to feed them with the tiny flaky food meant for Tetras - they'd rather stay hungry!! In the end, I gave up, went to buy frozen blood worm to feed them then they started eating... However, they are rather timid & slower compared to other schooling fishes - the guppies ate all the bloodworms I intended for the gobies... So had to use tweezers to place the bloodworms near to the gobies then they can managed to get their food...

Sad to say, maybe I did not take good care of them.. they died after being with me for a month or so... But still worth getting as very nice to see them stick onto the glass surfaces using their sucker-like fins...

Cheers!!

[aquaSynthesis]

I intend to have a gobies-only tank...

flora would be narrow java, bolbitis...

can i actually mix them with Malayan shrimps?

[Quixotic]

Malayan shrimp or shrimplet may be eaten if it fits the mouth. But bumblebee gobies are slow eaters, so the shrimps may just be a little too fast for them. Your mileage may vary.

[skratikans]

do any of you guys keep yours in freshwater

[gemo82]

I had 2 bumblebees for almost 3 months now, in slightly acidic freshwater. Seldom see them as they like to hide. Confirm they do not eat dried food. Tubifex also seldom they eat. See them eat most when I fed them BBS.

[Quixotic]

do any of you guys keep yours in freshwater

I did, some didn't do too well, while some did. Those that did well were with me for 2 to 3 years.

However, for those that didn't do well, keeping in freshwater cannot be simply concluded as the reason, as there are other variables. Among others, feeding can sometimes be a pain, and competition for food.

If you can identify the exact species, hence understanding the water requirements, then they are likely to do better. But there seems to be a few species in the trade and identifying them isn't easy at all.

So, in my opinion, you may need to undertake some element of chance or risk.

[randchai]

My bumblebees were doing well on frozen brine shrimp, foren blood worms and micro pellets.. they saw my other fish taking them and decided they wanted to eat them too..

[freshfish]

hey guys are bumblebee fish the ones that look like small puffers ?

[Shi Xuan]

Hi,

bumblebee fish doesn't look like a small pufferfish in any ways. They are not related either. They belong to the family of Gobiidae, which the mudskipper and the marine neon goby belong to. Get the idea?

Source: http://www.brettb.com/TropicalFish_BumbleBeeGoby.asp



Shi Xuan

[TBoss]

My bumblebees take dry ordinary fish food. They love to swim up to the surface to fight with other surface dwellers over the food. They also like to take sinking pellets. So I guess is all up to their characteristics or how they were brought up from?

[Quixotic]

They are unlikely to do well in the long run. How long have you been keeping them?

[TBoss]

the couple had been with me for 3 years

[freshfish]

My bumblebees take dry ordinary fish food. They love to swim up to the surface to fight with other surface dwellers over the food. They also like to take sinking pellets. So I guess is all up to their characteristics or how they were brought up from?

dont they bite other fishes ?

[Quixotic]

the couple had been with me for 3 years

Really? You must be extremely extremely lucky. Any idea what species are those that you have?

dont they bite other fishes ?

What gave you the idea that they will bite other fishes? Because they look grumpy?

Actually, I would consider them rather mild. Although territorial, they will try to nip and/or chase away other fishes that comes near their own territory, which at most would probably result in torn fins but never serious damages. Most fishes are actually faster swimmers than the bumblebee gobies.

[foxngn]

i kept 2 of the bumblebee goby also, unfortunately one of it died, another one still swimming in my tank. Btw, i didn't feed it with any live food, all i gave was just those normal pellet & wafer, it tooks it.. i kept it for half years already.

[avant]

Bumblebee gobies are known more for their "bark" than their "bite"

[TBoss]

Im sorry i dont know what species are mine. But I've seen them being nasty, sneaking behind my galaxy hoping to get a snap off their tails. And I suspect they are the ones who had been snacking on my cherries as the population starts to decrease whenever I drop some in, although I do not rule out the galaxys who may also find cherries to be tasty. But I had seen it with my own eyes when my bumblebees attacked a shrimp when it was moulding. The whole procedure ended with the shrimp eaten as the other fishes started a feeding frenzy on the injured shrimp.