Ang&Vicky Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hi there.. I have recently purchased some bumblebee gobies and unfortunately being a beginner I wasn't told at the pet store that they should really be in a brackish tank... so here I am with these cool guys stuck in freshwater. I have another tank that's smaller that I will be setting up as brackish for them but at the moment we have to do a huge shuffle on fish to make that tank available. So.. my questions are: 1. Can I make the freshwater tank they are in a little brackish to help the wee guys? 2. I have 2 bristlenoses, 2 whiptails, 3 gourami's, neons, a siamese fighter and a chinese algae eater in there with them and if I can have it a little brackish will it harm them? 3. We live around the Mangawhai coast area and I am wondering if I can use sea water at all or do I have to get the marine salt which I haven't been able to find in anything smaller than 2kg boxes. 4. Can someone advise at what rate one should convert the tank (if I can) to slightly brackish please? I realize we can't just rush this. 5. I am feeding them bloodworm and have been reading up on what they can have. Vinegar worms seems to pop up a lot, can we get them in NZ? any other suggestions on what to feed? I think that's it. I do appreciate your input and apologize if I appear a bit 'fishy challenged' , I'm the first to admit I am a learner and will mess up and sound like an idiot a lot lol. Thanks in advance. Ang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 hi aquavicky don't panic we are all learners natural salt water is ok to use i have seen gobies in freshwater for a long time some others will provide you with better info :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Ang&Vicky, LA put your glasses on! Hi and welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ang&Vicky Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 AquaVicky... haha... I like it. So natural salt water is ok? any idea how much I can add to the tank and at what rate? ie: a teaspoon a week sort of thing. Thanks for the welcome too , much appreciated. Vicky is a fishy person and I'm the learner lol..she has taught me heaps but these wee cuties are new to us both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 glasses i only need one aah thats better i can see now 8) my apologies to you both :oops: a teaspoon a week may be a little light a litre of natural salt water will help in the 620 not too sure but they maybe alright for awhile without it best would be to work at setting up the smaller tank sorry i work by how salty the water tastes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ang&Vicky Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 ops I probably should have added that my tank is 120 litres. We have to find a piece of glass for the spare big tank outside to transfer the turtle to that, which in turn will free up the big big tank for the guys that are in the small tank, that in turn will free up the small tank. Going to be a few weeks sorting that lot out unfortunately. ummm this bit "a litre of natural salt water will help in the 620" ... excuse my 'dur moment' but what do you mean there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 a mesh lid would be best for turt outside they can cook in a tank outside with a glass lid slowly pouring a litre of salt water wil not alter the salinity too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ang&Vicky Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 we havepersistant cats... the turtle won't be outside , the tank has to be tested and brought inside as even our frog got stolen from his enclosure last month (sad ay). mind you if we can secure the mesh tight enough..hmm... thanks for the idea, will have a play around with it. Thanks for the salt water advice, I really do appreciate it. From what I have read these wee chaps can survive in fresh water but that's all they do "survive".. I want them to thrive and be really happy while awaiting their new home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 you will need to add more saltwater at each water change as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ang&Vicky Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 funny I was just thinking about that bit, thanks for answering the silent question that you must have just know was coming next lol. Just to clarify...for my 120 litre tank , 1 litre of natural saltwater is ok... slowly pour into tank (correct?)..all in one day or spread it over a few days? Re feeding these guys, is bloodworm enough? I read mosquito lava was good too (that could be fun lol). I am curious about these vinegar worms I keep reading about though, any ideas on them? Thanks again Ang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 You can feed them all the bloodworm in the world, and they still might not eat it. They're trickly little grumpy men, and often will only eat live food. The trick with them is to feed them a variety, and try things like live brine shrimp (even frozen if you don't want to go through the fiasco of hatching them), bloodworm, mosquito larvae (leave a 50l tub outside with a couple of lettuce leaves in it, you'll have them in no time - or go to some secluded rockpools, there are lots in there), baby shrimp from the ocean, white worms etc - mine loved microworms. Watch them eating to figure out what they like, but make sure you keep a variety up. Ideally, you'd want to get hold of a refractometer (hydrometers aren't very accurate), because you could end up overdosing on the salt over time. I'd start with LA's suggestion, add a liter a week (just add it when you do a water change), and every 2 or 3rd week, increase the amount of salt you're using, until you're up to about SG 1.08 (the ocean is 1.26ish - so you're not looking for too much salt). IMO, everything will probably be okay at that SG (except maybe the whiptails and gourami's) but you'll really enjoy making a brackish species tank of them - they're amazing fish and have great personalities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 thanks imsmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 its probably best to buy a hydrometer they are quite cheap and are used to measure the salinity of water bummble bee gobies dont need a lot of salt anywhere between 1.002 and 1.008 is fine (1.000 being freshwater and 1.024 being sea water) at these levels of salt other fish would survive but its not ideal for them. the hardest part of keeping bumble bee gobies is feeding them they are fussy eaters and like live food ive had some sucess with krill or plankton(freeze dried) but its not a good idea to rely on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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