Midas Blenny

[tonyg]

I ordered a midas blenny fom reefs2go.com that showed up today. He looks good! after acclimation he went behind the powerhead, and seems to move back and forth between them. When I fed the other fish this evening, i dropped a few pellets near his head and he ate 3 or 4.

He is a bit bigger than I wanted, but he should be able to find at least a few hiding spaces in the rock.

I had a bit of an accident getting him into my tank that led to most of his shipping water getting dumped in. I know that is bad, but how bad is it? I'm preparing water for changes, how much do I have to change? Anything else I should do?

Ill see if I can get a picture of him tomorrow. I have no nigh time photography skill and I don't wanna flash them.

 

[little_fish]

I wouldnt worry too much about the water that got in. You just want to avoid doing that because the water might be dirty or some LFS will put copper in their fish only tanks.

 

[SarahSmile]

Fun addition! Can't wait to see him.

 

[yote]

+1 Hannah
When fish are shipped,those shipping bags get loaded with ammonia pretty quick.We've had them smell as bad as sewage treatment plants when the bags were opened.
Then there is the copper issue.MOST LFS's do use copper along with other medications in their fish only tanks.Ours are dosed daily to control parasites and diseases.That's why when we know the customer has a reef tank,we make sure to bag the fish in water from one of our reefs.You can't count on an online store to do that.And it takes very little copper and even less of some of the other medications to wipe out a reef tank.

 

[tonyg]

Scary Yote, I sure hope that is not the case.

He has been hanging out at the top of the tank on the pump outlet or the power heads. So far he hasn't even looked around the rocks. He is WAY bigger that I expected, the website said just around an inch, but he is over 3 inches. That will cut down on the number of hiding places he can fit in.

This guy pays no attention to the flakes I give my little clowns, but he is eating pellets well.

Im really surprised at how much, how often and how fast his color changes.

Hopefully once he gets comfortable i'll get some better pictures.

 

[little_fish]

He looks like he is smiling in that pic :) very cute!

 

[tonyg]

And it takes very little copper and even less of some of the other medications to wipe out a reef tank.

I did contact reefs2go and the nice lady I spoke with informed me the shipping water does not contain any copper or other medications. Good, I can relax a bit there.

Midas Blenny is still being very shy, he curls himself around the pump discharge or props himself up on the powerhead mount. He wont swim far from that top corner of the tank, He is eating well, but I have to drop the pellets right by him, seems he wont leave that spot even to get food.

I hope he explores the tank a little more, the clowns I have dont seem to interested in the rocks either, I wonder if they are afraid one of the tiny crabs or shrimps might nip at them?

 

[little_fish]

no, they arent comfortable with the tank yet, but that will change, just give them time. the clowns might always stay in the corner, that is just what they do

 

[sen5241b]

I have a Midas Blenny. Make sure he has a good hiding place. I put a large barnacle shell in my tank and he lives in it. I can pick it out of the water turn it upside down and shake and he won't come out!

 

[tonyg]

no, they arent comfortable with the tank yet, but that will change, just give them time. the clowns might always stay in the corner, that is just what they do

The clowns are comfortable, They mainly stay in the corner, but they will go all around when feeding, or when I'm close to the tank and they want to be fed. The smaller male likes to hide in spongebob's house on occasion.

 

[tonyg]

I have a Midas Blenny. Make sure he has a good hiding place. I put a large barnacle shell in my tank and he lives in it. I can pick it out of the water turn it upside down and shake and he won't come out!

I rearranged my rocks a bit to make sure there were plenty of places for him to hide. He is much bigger than I expected but there are still a few good places for him to go. He likes to hide behind the pump outlet or power head, and only comes out to snatch a bite of food. He seems to be getting braver and braver as he gets used to the place, wandering farther from his spot to feed.

 

[little_fish]

sorry, that part of the comment was for the blenny :) my bad for not being clear

 

[yote]

I have a Midas Blenny. Make sure he has a good hiding place. I put a large barnacle shell in my tank and he lives in it. I can pick it out of the water turn it upside down and shake and he won't come out!

That's one of our tricks to make catching Midas Blennies easier.
Just pull the barnacle out of the tank and position it over the net and wait.After 30 seconds or so,they'll drop right in the net.

 

[tonyg]

Its been a few weeks and Midas Blenny is still very timid. He is alwayse perched on the powerhead in the corner, and will not move further than 6 - 8 inches away from his spot, even to feed. When he does come out, he grabs a bite then runs back in a panic, sometimes losing the food he was trying to eat.

I noticed that he keeps his mouth open a little all the time. And when he is eating, it looks like he is breathing hard. Is this normal?

He seems to get along great with the clowns, at night they will sleep next to him.

Even though he is a scardy fish, he is very cool, and very pretty.

 

[little_fish]

My blenny does the same thing, i wouldnt worry. And they have to keep their mouths open to get water to flow over their gills