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More questions following on from my question in the planted forum regarding setting up a brackish tank for bumblebee gobies...

The LFS that has the gobies in stock atm is keeping them in fresh water. I know that light brackish conditions are required with these fish for long term health (SG 1.005 - 1.008 from what I've read - please correct me if i am wrong on this). If I were to go ahead with the purchase I'd want to keep them in brackish rather than fresh water.

So the question is... How fast or slow should the transition to brackish be? a few hours? a few days? weeks?
My thinking atm is to set up a tank as FW, same as the LFS and wholesaler conditions, and once the tank is cycled and fish are in the tank use brackish water (at SG 1.005 / .006) to refill after routine PWCs until the tank water eventually reaches the correct SG.

By taking weeks to make the transition to their preferred level of brackishness would I be doing something good for the fish or would I be prolonging and worsening any damage that is being done to them while they are being kept in less than optimal conditions?

Thanks for your input

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Question is, what type of bumblebee goby is it? There are tons of different types, and some that do live in freshwaters only..

My apologies if I wasn't specific enough regarding the species. Quick answer is that I do not know for certain the species of the fish currently available at my LFS. Neither the store nor the wholesaler were able to provide me with this information.

The fish in question is approximately 1/2 inch long atm with black and yellow banding on a squat looking body and a disproportionately large mouth (this could describe any of the so-called bumblebee gobies huh?). I guess the closest pics I have been able to find are those of Brachygobius doriae or Brachygobius nunus but most of the fish commonly named bumblebee goby look alike to my untrained eye.

Not knowing which species for sure and after doing a bit of online research looking at pics and reading various articles and advice provided on some of the more reputable hobbyist sites I have made the assumption that the fish I wish to keep would do best kept in a low-range brackish setup. The majority of sites do seem to note a preference for brackish water. Perhaps I have assumed incorrectly, or not researched widely enough, in which case I am sure you will let me know.

Just out of interest - The only exclusively FW 'bumblebee gobies' that I stumbled upon in my quick perusal of fishbase listings were Brachygobius xanthomelas]http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=25069&genusname=Brachygobius&speciesname=xanthomelas[/link] and [link=Brachygobius mekongensis neither of which bear a strong resemblance to my intended tank specimens.

Do you know if the two freshwater species are regularly available to the aquarium trade? or the brackish species for that matter? The fish I am looking at are only a couple of dollars each so I highly doubt that they would be a species that is not already in wide circulation throughout the hobby.

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.