dragon goby tank size for just 1

simster571

ok so I was just given a dragon goby from a friend who didnt want it because he bought it not realizing that it was a brackish fish. So i got an extra tank (a 10 gallon) that I had and created a brackish setup for him. basicly what the tank is now is gravel, a 10 gallon filter, a heater and a hiding place. Im still working on getting a lid for it.

So my question is, will it be OK to keep him in that 10 gallon tank for a while or does he require something bigger? Im not really that concerned with him growing alot or anything but I was wondering will he stay healthy/be happy in a 10 gallon tank? Right now it is only him but I was thinking id go get a bumblebee goby or 2 to accompany him if it wont crowd it to much.

okiemavis

Well, it really depends on what size he is. If he is only a couple of inches he will be fine for a while, but once he grows a bit he will need an upgrade. Also, watch out for just popping him into the brackish tank, as he's probably not used to salt from being kept in a freshwater at the store. You'll want to put him in almost completely/entirely freshwater and gradually raise the salinity.

You'll also want to switch the substrate from gravel to sand. Those guys have a tendency to eat gravel and make themselves very sick.

I'd say that unless he's extremely tiny, the bumblebee gobies will overcrowd him.

simster571

hes is probly about 5 inches long. ive heard that fish wont grow unless they have a tank big enough to allow them to. is that true for gobies?

you think that just 1 or 2 bumblebees will be to much?

Lupin

No. That is just stunting the poor fish. Proper tank size should be put into consideration when keeping large fish. If I were you, get a 40g minimum otherwise give it to someone who can house it in a large brackish water tank.

Bumblebee gobies are freshwater fish. Hard and alkaline water is all you need although most species can do equally well in brackish but you need marine salt to achieve brackish, not "aquarium" salt (funny how this fancy name came into being when you could have table salt for most purposes).