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Blenny Blunder? (Moving a Blenny Into A Nano Tank) My Lawnmower Blenny was doing very well in my 125 g until I "rescued" a black-tipped grouper from a LFS that was going out of business. After about a week of what seemed to be peaceful co-habitation between the current tank occupants, the blenny was obviously worse for the wear (no damage, but was so exhausted that I scooped him out of the corner of the tank without a fight). <Good move!> By the way, the tank parameters are: 1.021; amm=0; nitrate=0; nitrite=0; phos=undetectable; calcium=380; pH=8.2; temp=79-81; it's an All-Glass 125 FOWLR with 122# of LR and 150# of LS; lighting is 2 X 10,000 96W and 2 X 420 Actinic 96W. <Sounds good!> Anyway, I removed the blenny to my HOB refugium where he is eating and recovering nicely. Now the question (usually that's the reason for these notes, eh?)....I'm considering relocating the blenny from the refuge to my 12g nano...parameters the same as above with the noticeable exception of lighting and 1.023 salinity. The nano has 13# of LR and houses Xenia, Yellow Star Polyps, a couple of small colonies of Zoos, and 3 small hermits. The only occupant, fish-wise is a Yellow-head Jawfish, who has built a considerable underground village under the LR which is supported by pvc. As the blenny is not the world's smallest (about 3.5"), I wonder would he be comfortable, for about 5 months, in the nano considering the current, happily running environment. I'm adding a reef tank after Christmas of 90 gallon size to which he would later re-locate. I don't want the blenny or jaw (or corals for that matter) to suffer during this time period. I'd rather give the blenny to another hobbyist if we can anticipate problems in the nano. <Well, the main problem might be that the two inhabit similar "niches" (i.e.; towards the bottom). You also don't want to push the bioload to far in such a small tank. Fish, with their greedy appetites and copious metabolic waste products can tax water quality quickly. I'd say go for it, but be prepared to move someone if things get out of hand.> Thanks and sorry for the length of the note. Grunfeld in Detroit <No problem on the length. Your accurate descriptions help us do a better job of helping you! Good luck! Regards, Scott F> The corals don't like the Blenny Hi, <Hi Lisa!> I got a rock with a few orange/purple Ricordea and another with green star polyps about 1 1/2 weeks ago. They were doing great until I got a Sailfin blenny. He climbs all over the rocks and occasionally the corals. He knocked the Ricordea rock over 2 times! <Hee Hee! Very normal Blenny behavior. They don't seem to care much what they "climb" over or perch on, and in fact, mine will forcibly throw objects off of his favorite perch!> The first time he just tapped it and they seemed fine, 2nd time it was flipped and sitting on one of the shrooms. I finally got some glue but when I picked up the rock I realized the Ric was only partially attached to the rock. It also has a small chunk missing, the purple looks grayish and the mouth does too. <Gluing or otherwise attaching corals is a wise choice to prevent such falls.> Is it dead or injured? Anything I can do to save it? <It sounds like it is a bit bleached. It should recover quickly and completely if you prevent further insults.> As if that's not enough trouble from the blenny, he's also upset the GSP. They were 1/2 closed up after the first day w/the blenny, now they've been closed solid for 2 days. Are they OK? Will they get used to him? <It is normal for GSP's to periodically close for a while. If you are sure it is the Blenny, they may adapt, but it is probably best to move the GSP's out of his territory. Thanks, Lisa Spencer <best regards! Adam> Potters Angel <Lawnmower Blenny and Catalina Gobies> in
Possible Danger Related to Lack of Research. Howdy! <Hey
there!> I'm not sure where to start, so
I'll start from the top and be very verbose (my apologies)....
<No apologies my friend.> 2 months ago I
set up a brand new "NanoCube 24" by JBJ (24 gal) with about
30 pounds of live rock, and 2 bags of live sand. The rock
came from a friends 75gal, which he had for 6 years. There
is about 16 gal of water in the tank (at a guess) and it has been doing
fantastic. <OK.> I let it cycle for about 3 weeks,
then inserted my test pilot, a small Yellow Tail Damsel, who also did
great. <Not the most ideal means of cycling a
tank. Please read here for future
reference: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/estbiofiltmar.htm >
The following week, the insanity overtook me, and I had a trio of
Catalina Gobies, 5 different button corals, and few very pretty
mushrooms delivered. <Mmm, yes, insanity and
impatience. My, this is not a good mix. Catalina
Gobies (Lythrypnus dali) are a cool water species, preferring water
temps between 64-71 F. Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/lythrypnus.htm
Your corals are found in tropical waters. An appropriate
temperature would be around 78-79 F.> The mushrooms were
in baaaad shape, most having detached from their strata and curled into
spit wads. <Is that the technical term?> Currently, 1
is doing great, 2 are doing ok, and the other 2 are losses.
<See temperature suggestion above and below.> The button corals
have their days where they are wide open, and their days where they are
partially open.... <See temperature reference above and below.>
At this point, all of the fish were doing
great. Some hermit crabs and snails were added to help with
some algae, eventually swelling to 16 crabs (tiny blue legs, zebra,
Scarlets, and some normal Mexican red legs), and about 12 snails of
various kinds (the Turbo snails will be exiting the tank in a day or 2,
due to their constant tossing of my corals). <A lot of crabs and too
many snails for such a small system. High likelihood of
starvation for the snails.> 2 weeks
ago I inherited a Lawnmower Blenny from a friend, and he too is doing
well, though I have never seen a blenny swim freely so
much... <He's probably hungry.> He seems to eat
well, and everyone gets along. <The minimum recommended tank size is
55 gallons for a Lawnmower Blenny (Salarias fasciatus). The
Blenny may starve in systems that are not well established or have
insufficient algae growth. Your system is too small and too
new to be an appropriate home for this fish. I would try to
find a more appropriate home for this fish.> A small peppermint
shrimp also came with the blenny. <OK.>
4 days ago, my girlfriend heard me say
"That is a beautiful fish. I wouldn't mind getting
one at some point, like when I have a 75..." at which
point she wandered off to look at the puppies. When I got
home from work the following evening, she surprised me with that
beautiful Potters Angel acclimating in his bag in my 24! I
was delighted, yet also totally freaked out. I called the
pet store, and they wouldn't take him back. Now, they
had him for 2 months, and he has done better than any other Angel (save
a little Eblii they had). I took about 2 hours to acclimate
him, and during the transfer from bag to tank, my dog barked, which
surprised both me and the fish. He became tangled in the net
due to that gill spike, and it took me about 2 minutes to extricate him
with very small scissors snipping the net. <Aye!>
Since then, he has been very active in
the tank, and was nipping at the glass, rocks, and strands of algae the
very next morning. I've recently done a profusion of
reading, and I am in fear that he won't last in my little
24. So far, he seems very happy, but only eats off of the
rocks, and occasionally nibbles at the dried seaweed I clip
in. No one chases anyone around, and it is a very peaceful
tank with everyone mingling and swimming about, including the
Potters. I change out about 2-3 gallons every 3 days, using
RedSea for my salts. and the daily temperature beings at 72*F in the
morning, at is usually at 75.5*F in the evening when I turn off the
light. <This water temperature and its fluctuation is
less than ideal for your system, best to keep temps stable and warmer,
78-79 F.> I've been able to keep "perfect" water
quality, with almost nonexistent Nitrite and Nitrate, and the KH is at
the optimum level. My question is... what
can I do to keep this fish happy and alive? <Actually
the Potter's Angel (Centropyge potteri) is the most appropriate
fish you currently have in your tank. I would try offering
some well-rinsed frozen foods soaked in Selcon several times a
day. The problems lie with the Blenny and Gobies. Your
system is not an appropriate home for either. The gobies do
not belong in your system. They require a cool water
setup. The gobies need to be relocated to an appropriate
cool water home. The blenny should be kept in a larger more
established tank.> I've called a few stores in the
area, and the only one willing to take him off of my hands will only
take him for free. I'd hate to break my wonderfully
misguided gals heart by giving her gift away, and I do like the Potters
so.... Any advice or help would be GREATLY
appreciated. <Your girl seems to have done more homework regarding
appropriate choices for you system than you have my
friend. She is not as misguided as you may
think. Her selection is more appropriate than your selection
of a Lawnmower Blenny and Catalina Gobies. Your water
temperature should be higher and more consistent. You have
too many snails and quite a few hermits which will compete with the
angel for algae. Please do more research before making
purchases. The lives of these amazing creatures are solely
in your hands. You may want to consider a book by Robert M.
Fenner titled "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" to help you
on your journey. I think you will find it most
helpful. It is a book I continuously
reference. It is money well
spent. Thank you,
Darby <Welcome. -Mich> |
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