Bumblebee Gobies

MOsborne05 · Post by **MOsborne05** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:01 am

Anyone have bumblebee gobies in with their puffers??? If so, are they interesting little guys, and have you had any problems with them as far as compatability???? I'm going to get a couple of figure 8's for my 26 gallon, and I would like to get a few bumblebee gobies, but don't know how many I could get without them fighting over caves and such. Any info on them would be great.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:23 am

I have less now then when I put them in w/my F8s.

MOsborne05 · Post by **MOsborne05** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 12:52 pm

lol, so I guess it just depends on the individual puffers. If I get the bb gobies first, do you think they'd do better since they can figure out all of the hiding places before the f8's get there? Also, how many bb gobies would you recommend with 2-3 f8's in a 26 gallon?

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 1:02 pm

I can't comment on the BBs, but I'd only put 2 figure 8s in your tank - I think a third in that size tank would up the changes for puffer to puffer aggression.

Eric

fatpuffer · Post by **fatpuffer** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:26 pm

go for a bigger tank...maybe a 40 gallon...10 gallon per puff and some for the gobies.

js

Post by **RTR** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:48 pm

But don't forget the visual complexity bit, and that footprint (length of the tank much more than height) counts.

sakana_janai · Post by **sakana_janai** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:45 am

I have 2 bumblebee gobies in with my puffers at the moment- and even the most aggressive puffer doesn't bother them! They eat the same krill that the puffers eat- which is quite convienant. Oh also, I have them in a 30 tall with about 5 puffers.

Hope that helps!

MOsborne05 · Post by **MOsborne05** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:03 pm

Ok, thanks. I've decided on two figure 8 puffers and haven't decided on how many bb gobies yet. Either 2 or 4, I don't want to get 3 in case 2 pair up, I don't want them to harass the other one. My tank isn't that wide though, is 2' wide enough for 4 bb gobies, or should I just stick with 2? The tank is about 2' wide and 20" high, don't know exactly since hubby took the measuring tape to work when he lost his

Steelgeek · Post by **Steelgeek** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:54 am

Got a 15 high (basically a 10g foot print thats 1.5x taller) with one F8 right now.
We hadn't planned on getting anything else in that tank, but what do you think about some BBGs? Having someone to pick up scraps from Percy?

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:39 am

Like I have mentioned before, I started out w/around 8 BBGs in my 29, w/3 F8s & I believe I now have 2 in there.

Steelgeek · Post by **Steelgeek** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:40 pm

So the typical puffer relationship, might work, might not. Gotcha, thanks.

MOsborne05 · Post by **MOsborne05** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:38 pm

I got my bumblebee gobies today, they are so cute! I was originally planning on getting six, then I decided on 8 because they were so tiny. They only had 9 in the tank so I got all nine of them because I didn't want to leave one all by itself. I just filled my tank and added the biospira. After the dust (from aragonite) settles, I will add my plants, decorations and then the gobies!

TheSmJ · Post by **TheSmJ** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:11 pm

I have 2 Fig8s in a 20G long. When I first set up my tank (after it was cycled) I added one Fig8 puff to the tank (the one in my sig, "Puffkins"). He was doing very well, and with all the extra hiding spots and caves abound (and a sale at Petco) I added two BBGs to the mix. Puffkins barely even looked at the BBGs let alone attack them (even while feeding!), and they all lived happily together for months.

Then I got Speckles. My second Fig8.

Spec was (and still is) larger than Puffkins by around a half inch, and is much more aggressive than Puffkins (although they get along with each other fine, and they've been known to sleep in the same cave together). After the first couple days Spec was added, I was only able to count one BBG during feeding time. At first I thought he was hiding somewhere, but as time went by I accepted the fact that he was a goner.

The other BBG became much more scarce in his own right. They used to always frolic with each other right out in the open before Spec was added, but it was getting to the point to where I would have to nearly turn the tank upside down to find the remaining BBG. Things continued this way for about another month or so.

Then one night while I was sitting at the computer, I heard a loud "crunch" come from the direction of the F8 tank. I turn to look, and see Spec with the last BBG in his mouth head first, shaking him around like a mad dog! Needless to say, I didn't give Spec his daily snail the next day.

So what I learned was that individual puffs really DO have different personalities, and that one individual could tare down an entire community pretty quickly.

MOsborne05 · Post by **MOsborne05** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:34 pm

Yeah, that's what I figured. I really like my bb gobies, they are so comical and active. They have lots of hiding places though, three pieces of driftwood, a big rock thing and live plants. Hopefully the puffers that I get won't be too aggressive. If any of the lfs ever get some in stock, I'm planning on going there and picking two out that look somewhat peaceful.

By the way, thanks for the snails. I put some cuttlebone in their tank and have been feeding them fish food and algae wafers. Haven't laid any eggs yet but they probably will soon.

Vixen · Post by **Vixen** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:50 am

We got 6 BBGs for Percy, my F8. When we first put them in the bag in the top of the tank, Percy would not stop attacking the bag.

Steel and I fed him and while he was distracted, popped the BBGs in a net and released them at the bottom of the tank.

Percy doesn't seem to mind them. If he sees one, he'll go after it until he realizes what it is and then leaves it alone.

So far, they are living in peace.

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