True Freshwater Bumblebee Goby (Brachygobius xanthomelas)
- In stock, ready to ship
- Backordered, shipping soon
* For the safety of our animals, we now ship live fish exclusively via UPS Next Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS Next Day Air as a shipping option during checkout *
The true Freshwater Bumblebee Goby (Brachygobius xanthomelas) is a very colorful, interesting oddball fish that is sometimes available in the aquarium hobby. It originates from Indonesia and inhabits swamps and estuaries in many of the countries in that area. There are several species similar to this fish that are all classified by the same common name, but this species is the only one that will consistently thrive in freshwater and is not believed to inhabit brackish areas. We have quarantined and kept our first specimens in freshwater for several months to ensure their long-term health in fully fresh water, and they have thrived exceptionally.
The Freshwater Bumblebee Goby is very small, but it certainly has a personality that can sometimes be very consistent with its “grumpy” facial appearance. It will swim around all levels of the entire aquarium, but it often will claim and guard a small territory, especially from its own kind. This fish is very small, but it needs adequate space to be compatible with a large variety of tankmates, and even more space when keeping several of the same species. It will often nip at long-finned fish, so slow-moving fish such as Bettas should not be kept with them. Small shrimp are possible prey, but larger shrimp can be compatible with enough space. If a group of gobies is desired, it should contain at least 6 specimens to ensure that any aggression is spread between the group rather than directed at one specimen.
Feeding the Freshwater Bumblebee Goby can be a bit more challenging than some other fish. It will typically not accept standard dry foods, but it will readily eat most meaty frozen and live foods. This fish is an ambush predator that moves slowly, so it is important to make sure that it gets its share of food when housed with more agile tankmates. It will not bother plants.
Though it requires some special care, the Freshwater Bumblebee Goby can be a very special, fun species for the aquarist who is looking for something unique and different.
- Generally peaceful and hardy addition to many nano aquariums
- Compatible with many invertebrates
- Beautiful black and gold striping
- Active with lots of personality
- Temperature: 72° - 84° F (22° - 28.9° C)
- pH: 7.0- 8.5
- KH: 6 -20 KH
- Minimum tank size: 10 gallons
- Diet: Carnivorous. Frozen or live foods such as bloodworms,Mysis, Cyclops, Daphnia, and Tubifex. Will not typically accept dry foods.
- Social behavior: Peaceful, sometimes territorial, especially with its own kind. May nip at long-finned or long-barbeled fish.
- Origin: Indonesia.
- Average adult size: 1-1.2 inches (2.5-3 cm)
- Average purchase size: 1/2 inch (1.3 cm)
For the safety of our animals, we only ship live fish, crabs, and select other inverts exclusively via UPS 1 Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS 1 Day Air as a shipping option during checkout. If other items are in your cart that can ship with 2 day or standard shipping options the only shipping method you can still select is UPS 1 Day Air.
UPS 1 Day is a description of the duration of time a shipment will spend in transit once it has been shipped. This does not guarantee the package will be shipped the same or next day from which the order was placed.
Shipping Schedule for this service
Current Handling Time:
1-9 business days
Here at Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We check the weather conditions here where they fly out of the Indianapolis UPS facility and the destination for each shipment. We start early each morning and go through a multi-step process to have the day's shipments prepared in time for the UPS pickup. The volume of orders in our system also affects the processing time. Therefore our stated handling time is 1-9 business days.
Shipping Rate
Pricing is by size of package needed to fill entire order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.