The core file for a bumblebee goby
A bumblebee goby file usually begins with the purchase receipt, the date the fish entered your care, and a count of how many gobies share the tank. Photographs need to be close and sharp, because the alternating yellow and black bands are the main way to tell individuals apart at this size. The insurer will ask about tank dimensions, hiding places, and whether the goby is kept alone, in a small group, or alongside other brackish species. Feeding history matters as well, since many bumblebee gobies refuse dry food at first and rely on small live or frozen items.
Why brackish water records carry extra weight here
A bumblebee goby naturally lives where fresh and salt water meet, so a salinity log is not a decorative extra in its paperwork. Record the specific gravity range you maintain, how you mix replacement water, and whether the level drifts after water changes, because unstable salinity can stress this fish quietly over weeks. Note the temperature and the arrangement of shells, rockwork, and caves, since each goby defends a small perch and constant disputes can explain injuries or weight loss. If the fish came from a freshwater shop setup, write down how it was acclimated, as that transition belongs in its early health history.
Assembling proof for a very small, territorial fish
Assemble the goby file by taking macro-style photos through clean glass while the fish sits on its favourite perch, then repeating the shot after any banding change. Save the receipt, the shop's note on whether the fish was held in fresh or brackish water, and your own log of salinity, water changes, and accepted foods. Keep a note of tankmates added or removed, because a new bottom dweller can change a goby's behaviour overnight. If an aquatic veterinarian has advised on this fish, file that note with the photos so the timeline reads in order.
Refreshing a goby file as the group settles
A bumblebee goby group sorts its territories during its first weeks, so update the file once that order settles and again after any rockwork change. Note which cave or shell each fish claims, whether any goby is excluded from feeding, and how eagerly the group takes frozen food at the front of the tank. Record salinity after every larger water change, not only at setup, because evaporation in a small brackish tank concentrates salt quietly between top-ups. If a goby is added later from a different shop, file its acclimation separately, since its freshwater or brackish background changes the risk its first month carries and an insurer will read that entry closely.
Where goby applications tend to fall short
A goby application falls short when the photos are too distant to show banding, when salinity is described only as brackish with no readings, or when the group count changes with no explanation. Those gaps matter because a missing fish, a faded fish, and a newly added fish can look identical in a vague record. Watch for a goby that stops defending its perch, refuses its usual frozen food, or shows clamped fins, and seek aquatic veterinary advice early for this small species. Gathering the goby's receipt, perch photos, salinity readings, and feeding history inside KinsLe Pet Passport keeps that brackish record complete in one place.