goby community question
 

Can I keep bumblebee gobies with a dragon goby, or do you think they will get eaten. How about bumblee gobies and crabs - will the crabs go after the little fish?

Thanks!

Jonathan

Not sure about the crabs, but I've read that bumblebees and dragon gobies make great tankmates. Despite the larger size (and larger mouths) of the dragons, they have small throats so won't eat something the size of a bumblebee goby.

I've read exactly the same. Never tried it myself, but it's on the agenda some day.

Hi,

this is Heiko Bleher and sw this threat, and I can only say:
bumblebees and dragon gobies is a bIG NO.

One is from America one from Asia, and it has nothing to do with each other and no one of the two will be happy, it is like placing an Elephant and dog together (Africa and Australia). Keep it natural, and if you want look at some of my nature biotopes, easy to do and the fishes always loved it...
Bleher's Biotopes on my website.

All the best and THINK FISH please,

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com
Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology

Due respect, Heiko, but while I appreciate that fish are more comfortable in their native biotope, no aquarium, not even one of your really huge and gorgeous ones, is the same as leaving the fish in the river (or lake or pond or ocean) from whence it came. So a certain level of unnatural condition is a baseline. While I would agree with you wholeheartedly insofar as it is a bad idea to put together fish from diverse habitats with divergent water profiles, I see no reason beyond a certain aesthetic not to include fish from multiple regions in a single aquarium, so long as they prefer substantially similar water quality and won't aggressively go after each other.

In the case of Violet and Bumblebee gobies, the only concern would be the size of the violet goby's mouth. However, as it is a sand sifter with a small throat, there is a significant body of advice to be found that suggests that they would be compatible tank mates, even thriving together.

I've got bumblebee gobies with fiddler crabs and it's no problem. The crabs don't appear to be fish aggressive at all- with the guppies, flounder and other guys in the tank. The only time they get into scraps is when a mudskipper decides to kick them out of their spot on land, but no actual injuries, just a lot of claw waving.

The only important thing to remember is with the dragon goby and the crabs, you'll want a very tight fitting lid. Also, make sure the crabs have places to surface and dry out.

Well, I added a dragon this week - he and the bees are doing fine so far ... I might add a few more of the latter...

where can you get gobies.none around here on long island

Gobies are not as mean as they look. I had two of them in a large community tank, and they did not bother anyone.