Crazy Bumblebees!!!

[WhtsThFrequency]

I was always under the impression that bumblebee gobies were shy and secretive....but mine are always exploring and swimming all over the place, even during daylight! They're so active, even more than the puffer.....the water stats are all fine (cycled tank) - have I just been misinformed or are they just very happy gobies?

[Boxermom]

You've been misinformed. Mine and all the others I've seen are very active.

[WhtsThFrequency]

Not to mention they are spoiled food wise - all live enriched brine shrimp and black/bloodworms....that probably makes em happy. Have been trying to get them onto frozen but no success yet.

I have a 29 g that I have been keeping, contemplating upgrading the whole tank in six months or so...however the current 3 are in a 15 gallon and I am also surprised that there have been no territory disputes or fighting - in fact they hang out together a lot...is that normal as well?

[Boxermom]

I got some finely chopped mussels yesterday (didn't realize they were finely chopped til I opened the package) and man, I've never seen my bumblebees scarf anything down like that. They normally get live blackworms and slurp those down but holey moley, they went after the mussels like they'd been starving for a month.

No idea how they are territory-wise. Mine were in a 29 and are now in a 38 and have never had any issues that I'm aware of.

[crazy loaches]

I was worried I didnt have enough caves in my tank... but I havent ever even seen em use the caves now. They are usually out and about. But I wonder if that'l change when I put the figure 8's in there. I sure hope I dont run into problems.

So far I have only really fed mine frozen brine shrimp. Never ventured into live foods yet with anything, other than crickets from the backyard for the african butterfly.

[Boxermom]

Brine shrimp really isn't a good staple for any fish unless its vitamin fortified. They're like potato chips, not much nutrition to them.

[WhtsThFrequency]

OT but boxermom, I assume that is your boxer in your picture? What a handsome boy/pretty girl! (boy or girl ? ) I am a vet student and have a terrible soft spot for the so-called "bully breeds"

[TheSmJ]

Mine were really outgoing... until I bought Speckles. I thought I had lost them for months until one just happened to show up a few days before he got snagged.

[Boxermom]

OT but boxermom, I assume that is your boxer in your picture? What a handsome boy/pretty girl! (boy or girl ? ) I am a vet student and have a terrible soft spot for the so-called "bully breeds"

Yup, that's my baby boy, Rooney. That's from a few years ago, he's much more gray now but still my baby. If you're interested, check out http://www.fightingbreeds.com (don't let the name fool you, we're interested in protecting fighting breeds and do NOT support dog fighting).

[Hachi]

My bumblebee's actually beg for food just as much as my puffer!! So cute! When they're not begging, they are all over the place. I was under the same impression when I was contemplating getting some b/c some sites had said they were doormant during the day and didn't move around much but they are so happy and content exploring every inch of our tank. So much fun to watch =D

[crazy loaches]

Brine shrimp really isn't a good staple for any fish unless its vitamin fortified. They're like potato chips, not much nutrition to them.

What does everyone else feed em? The brine shrimp I buy has spirulina but thats just regular stuff, not sure if anywhere else has vitamin fortified brine shrimp? So far all the live foods I have seen are far too big for these guys, or do you chop em up into pieces? I would have fed em bloodworms to but I have heard they can get stuck in the intestines of small fish so I have only fed em to my freshwater tank with much bigger fish.

[nmonks]

When I've kept BBGs, I've found tiny pieces of prawn and mussel to be the easiest food. They also enjoy lobster eggs (from marine aquarium suppliers) and if you have access to unshelled shrimp, shrimp eggs are DEVOURED. Over here, Atlantic shrimp have eggs in late spring for a couple of months, so I buy a bunch of them, scrape the eggs onto tin foil, and the freeze the stuff for use throughout the year. Pufferfish, glassfish, and practically everything else go wild for them.

Cheers, Neale

[Boxermom]

I feed mine mostly live blackworms and have never had a problem with them. They slurp one up like a piece of spaghetti. But they went absolutely bonkers over the frozen finely chopped mussels I got from the LFS so I'll probably feed them that more often now.

[Hachi]

Mine go crazy for bloodworms and occasionally when I drop a snail in for my f8, they attack it =o

[crazy loaches]

I have seen blackworms come up quite a bit on the forums, but never seen them yet. Not that I have really been thorough looking through all the lfs's but I havent noticed any blackworms before. They must be pretty small then? Earthworms, mealworms, waxworms, I have seen but they are all huge. I'll try some frozen muscle though next time I pick up food. Forzen stuff there is plenty avaiable, mostly larger things, guess you just have to cut it into tiny peices right? How about krill? DIdnt mean to hijack the thread with feeding questions, sorry! Just had my little bees for a bit over a month now and want to feed em right!