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Fri night I bought 3 bumblebee gobies for my 30 gal tank. I was browsing on line today for information on them and I found a lot of conflicting details. Some "facts" saying they need to be alone, some saying they do great in multiples, "facts" saying they are brackish water fish only and others saying they are great fresh water fish... also information saying they will only eat live food and other info saying they will eat frozen shrimp.

I have a well populated 30 gal tank (platies, tetras, guppies, loaches...) and feed flakes and frozen brine shrimp. They don't seem to be having any problems although I have not actually seen them eat anything yet. Should I be worried about the bumblebee gobies' survival?

The bumblebee gobys you got from me
are tank raised locally.
They were raised with 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of water.
The breeder did not mention the pH, but I would recommend a pH of at least 7.2, if not 7.6 or even 8.2.
The salt level shouldn't matter (I've beeen keeping them with NO salt, ph 7.5, temperature 76 degrees F.).
They should eat almost anything, prefering small meaty foods like your frozen brine shrimp. You could also try frozen Cyclop Eeze or frozen Mysis shrimp. They might eat flake, but I'm not sure.
They go best with small peaceful fish, livebearers for instance.
Try putting some food in with the light off.

Ok, so it sounds like I am all set. The pH of the tap water (and hence the aquarium water) is 8.0 so they should be loving it! I don't want to mess with adding nearly 2 cups of salt to my tank so if you have been keeping them in all fresh water I'll leave that alone. Like I said, I haven't "seen" them eat anything but I haven't kept vigil either. I'll try adding a little frozen shrimp when the lights turn off tonight and watch to see if they go after it.

Hi Ned,

I added some Bumblebee Gobies to my tank, and suddenly the Guppies are starting to appear with chunks taken out of their fins. Are Bumblebees known as fin nippers?

-Tony

They are gobys...although they are tiny.
All gobys are predatory, so it's possible they nipped guppys.
But I've never noticed a problem at the store.

I have 3 bumblebee gobys in my 30 gal tank with 6 guppies and a number of other peaceful fish. I haven't seen any problems with them getting along... they usually stay to the bottom or stick to the sides. The bumblebees seem to be pretty clumsy at getting around so I would be surprised if they could chase down a guppy...

By the way, with regards to my earlier posts on this topic I have seen the bumblebee gobys eat chunks of frozen brine shrimp with great gusto! Provided I put enough in so that some gets to the bottom of the tank before the other fish eat it up. Seems like they are perfectly happy.