ID and an interesting question about bugs

[Dutchymomo]

Hey everybody it’s been a minutes since I’ve been on the forum but I have some questions. My mom (I’m 14) wants to spray the house for bugs and such because of spiders and a few roaches and they are kinda gross, not the spiders but definitely the roaches. Could we do that with my reef tank?

 

also could anyone ID this fish? It was at Petco sold as a dragonet. I knew it wasn’t so I decided to buy it assuming it wouldn’t get to big and it has done really well, is eating and is very active. 

[Tired]

Can you spray the house? Yes, very carefully. I wouldn't spray in the room with the tank, and you'll need to cover the tank for awhile. Do NOT use bug bombs! I'm also not a fan of bug sprays in general, since you're poisoning everything that might happen by them, but do your research (google "bug spray reef tank" or similar) and you should be okay. 

Can you spray the reef tank for cockroaches? No, and if you have cockroaches in your reef tank, I have many questions and several concerns.

 

I'm not sure what that fish is, and wouldn't guarantee that it won't get large. Some fish start out absolutely tiny compared to the adults- mola molas are the largest bony fish in the world, and their babies start out plankton-size! How does it move? Does it hop like a goby, or swim? How big is it currently? Does it just eat what you feed it, or pick at algae?

[Dutchymomo]

It moves kind of like a goby, Benny, or hawkfish because it moves around in the bottom column of the tank, is pretty fast when it wants to be, but it also perches on the rocks. It also dug two medium sized burrows while I was at school and eats anything I put in the tank(Prime reef flakes, Frozen mysis)

thx for the help on the bugs

[Tired]

Very interesting. Update with whatever it does. Probably a goby or blenny, so hopefully it won't get large, but I don't recognize it right off. Do you have any other creatures for any idea if it's aggressive or not? 

[Dutchymomo]

I don't have any other fish at the moment, but it seems to be an aggressive eater and will even go after flakes in the top of the water column. thx for the help

[Ratvan]

Hmmm looks similar to my Trimma Cana as per the PM. I dont know enough to say one way or the other as I have no idea of sex (of either fish) could be, could not?

 

How big is it? Mine is fully grown at 1"

[Natereef]

If it was me I wouldnt spray with bug spray. I dont even spray perfume near my tank.

The fish Looks like a Wheelers Goby.

[Clown79]

If you need to spray, completely cover the tank. I'd tape it up completely with a tarp.

 

I'd also open windows, possibly run a fan too.

 

I wouldn't spray near the tank.

 

There are cockroach traps and even special treatments that are not sprays and far more effective than bug spray(regular Raid kills them but doesn't get to the route of the problem) , these are placed where roaches are mostly attracted to: in food cupboards, kitchen drawers, behind stove/fridge, in bathrooms, under sinks.

[Tired]

Wheelers goby is pretty close in pattern, but those have the characteristic shrimpgoby 'frown' and blunt head, this has a pointed snout. 

 

Cockroaches are bad this time of year because they're trying to get to the moisture inside. The upside of that is that they can be easily trapped. Just don't use the sticky traps- those will trap beneficial animals like geckos and kill them slowly. Go with traps that can only get roaches, or bait that's meant specifically for them. Spray will only kill the ones in your house, and then more will come in from outside.

[yoshii]

Definitely cover the tank completely, as others have said. And be ready to run a ton of carbon too

 

The fish looks like a Redspotted Sandperch. (Parapercis schauinslandi). Eats inverts or whatever fits in its mouth. But it gets a bit big, 6 inches

[Snow_Phoenix]

On 9/18/2019 at 5:41 AM, Dutchymomo said:

Hey everybody it’s been a minutes since I’ve been on the forum but I have some questions. My mom (I’m 14) wants to spray the house for bugs and such because of spiders and a few roaches and they are kinda gross, not the spiders but definitely the roaches. Could we do that with my reef tank?

 

also could anyone ID this fish? It was at Petco sold as a dragonet. I knew it wasn’t so I decided to buy it assuming it wouldn’t get to big and it has done really well, is eating and is very active. 

It's a Lizard blenny (Parapercis spp.) and primarily carnivorous. Not sure how it'll fare against inverts as it grows bigger, and it can get up to 6".

[Dutchymomo]

Thanks for all the help with the bugs and ID. It's definentaly a red spotted sand perch(lizard blenny) so that's good to know and even if it does get big i should be able to keep it for while. 

[Tired]

How big is your tank? 6 inches isn't huge, that's well within what you could keep in a relatively small tank. Or I'm sure you could find someone who'd like him, I don't know that most places generally sell those.