Bi-Color Blenny in 20L Nano?

[jburke30]

Hey All,

 

The 20L is doing great (much easier to control than my 1st 10g - I'd highly recommend that newbies start with at least a 20g), and I'm now starting to think about the critters I want in the tank. Here's my picks..

 

1.) Bi-Color Blenny

2.) Yellow Belly Damsel or a Royal Gramma

3.) 3 Cleaner Shrimp

4.) Variety of snails (I'm not getting any hermits this time)

 

I want to get 2 fish for the tank, and I really want to get a Bi-Color Blenny, but I can't seem to find much information on their care and requirements.

 

So, my question is does anyone out there have any experience with the Bi-Color Blenny in a nano tank? (the 20L has the same surface area as a normal 30, so there's a bunch of floor space in the tank to move around in). Do they do well (every book has rated them as very easy to keep), and what's the best way to feed them? Do they fall prey to bristleworms easily (my tank has a bunch of half pinkish/purple worms)? Any other major concerns?

 

As always references to online material are very welcome (I did a couple google searches but couldn't find anything - even searched here, but didn't find any solid references).

 

Thank for any thoughts and comments.

[cjm033]

he should be fine in the 20 i dont htink that ur telln the truth about searching cuz theres a ton of info on these fish. have you checked any places for books? i suggest look a little more,Chris

[jburke30]

Originally posted by cjm033

he should be fine in the 20 i dont htink that ur telln the truth about searching cuz theres a ton of info on these fish. have you checked any places for books? i suggest look a little more,Chris

 

Well I checked all the books I have (about 10-15 right now) and none of them had the detail I'm looking for. I currently have all marine aquarium books from the local library at my house, and all of those said that these fish were easy and interesting to keep. However, I usually like to check a number of sources for information before I make a decision (and possibly a mistake) on buying a new fish.

 

If you know of a source for this "ton" of info then I would be very appreciative if you would post the resources your are refering to.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[flaunt]

i have a bicolor in my 10g and there's plenty of room for him, so a 20L should definitely be enough. he has interesting behavior, but i don't like the fact that he normally hangs out in the rocks with just his head sticking out looking at me like i'm stupid. i have quite a few bristleworms and i've never seen any of them go after the blenny. he occasionally nips at patches of green algae, and i think he also eats some pods. i also feed him vitamin-enriched frozen brine daily. oh another thing i hate about him is that sometimes he feels the need to dig out a hole for himself in the sand under a rock and he'll just throw the sand wherever he pleases! honestly this was my first saltwater fish and i'm starting to think fish are functionally useless in a reef. they're pretty, but the bicolor is hardly ever seen with all his nice coloration cause he's usually in a hole.

[mattdog]

Royal Gramma's and the rest of the basslet family like to eat ornamental shrimp...be careful with the cleaners.

[jburke30]

Hey Flaunt and Mattdog. Thanks for the information.

 

Flaunt: I was wondering about the digging aspect of these guys. I have a fairly deep sandbed (2 to 3 inches), so I don't think that will be a problem for me.

 

I also have that agramax stuff in my tank, I wanted to get sand sized substrate, but this stuff is a lot finer than I expected. Do you use any critters to stir the sandbed (other than the blenny =)? Have you had any worries about hydrogen sulfide production? I think I'm overly worried about the stuff, but I thought I'd ask =).

 

Mattdog: Thanks for the tip. The shrimp are a must for the tank (they're just too cool =), so I'll go with the damsel instead.

[reefriot]

i too have a bi-color in my mini bow. while he does hide out in the rock quite a bit since moving the tank to a area with more traffic he comes out alot more and swims around the tank. i have never seen him dig though. i think there a great fish for a nano, he nips any algae that shows up and only a few times did i catch him perching on the toadstool making it close up. where did you get the info on brisstle worms bothering them? i'd like to read it as i have alot of them that swarm out when i feed, none more than a couple inches long though. heres a pic of him

[gobies]

Get Scott Michael's Marine Fishes (subtitled "500+ Essential-to-know Aquarium Species"):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books

 

It lists max. length, min. tank size, food, aquarium suitability, reef-safeness, and care notes for each species.

 

(Man, I'm recommending this book so often I oughta get a commission or something...I finally put the link info into a text file so I don't have to keep going to the web page every time.)

[flaunt]

Originally posted by jburke30

 

I also have that agramax stuff in my tank, I wanted to get sand sized substrate, but this stuff is a lot finer than I expected. Do you use any critters to stir the sandbed (other than the blenny =)? Have you had any worries about hydrogen sulfide production? I think I'm overly worried about the stuff, but I thought I'd ask =).

 

 

well i don't really like the blenny's "sand stirring" (more like "lifting and throwing") behavior, but i suppose the one useful thing it did was cover up a patch of cyano and smothered it with the dug up sand (gotta find a good in everything). i have a few hermit crabs and nassarius snails that also move some sand around, but other than that just the usual critters like bristleworms. i wouldn't worry about hydrogen sulifide production with such a shallow sand bed. denitrification will be minimal as well since the surface area is not all that great.

[jburke30]

Originally posted by reefriot

where did you get the info on brisstle worms bothering them? i'd like to read it as i have alot of them that swarm out when i feed, none more than a couple inches long though. heres a pic of him

 

I havn't found anything specific, but there's a reference to bristleworms and bottom dwelling critters in one of my aquarium books. They have a pic of some worms attacking a catalina goby, but I personally doubt that bristleworms would be able to attack any healthy fish. I think the goby pic was perhaps taken with a sick fish (Fenner writes that some catalina gobies are cold water species, and maybe the one in the pic was one of these and the environment was killing it. The worms were just taking advantage of the situation).

 

The worms are really the least of my worries =).

[flaunt]

yeah i'm not sure what the fuss ever was over bristleworms... i have dozens and some of them are getting fairly large but they're about the most gentle and timid creatures i've seen move about. they eat things they find on the bottom and would probably eat a dead fish, but attacking a live one? i can't see them doing that. i guess there are several somewhat rare species of bristleworms that DO behave in ways unsuited for a reef aquarium and it is those few species that gave the rest a bad name.

[jburke30]

Originally posted by gobies

Get Scott Michael's Marine Fishes  (subtitled "500+ Essential-to-know Aquarium Species"):  

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books

 

It lists max. length, min. tank size, food, aquarium suitability, reef-safeness, and care notes for each species.  

 

(Man, I'm recommending this book so often I oughta get a commission or something...I finally put the link info into a text file so I don't have to keep going to the web page every time.)

 

Thanks for the reference! I'll check it out.

 

Jason

[jburke30]

Originally posted by reefriot

i too have a bi-color in my mini bow. while he does hide out in the rock quite a bit since moving the tank to a area with more traffic he comes out alot more and swims around the tank. i have never seen him dig though. i think there a great fish for a nano, he nips any algae that shows up and only a few times did i catch him perching on the toadstool making it close up. heres a pic of him

 

By the way Reefriot, great looking tank. I like all the button polyps. I'm going to be starting with those in a few months, and they'll be my first coral (I'm also looking at some mushrooms, but I think that the current in my tank will be too much for them. I have a maxijet 1200 in my 20L and really pushes the water around.).

 

Thanks for the pic =).