Orange spotted Blenny care tips

[44santababy]

I just got a DD orange spotted Blenny. He has been in the tank now 4 full days. I know he is a herbivore but I havent seen him eat anything. When I feed my tank he shows zero interest in anything. I have nori sheets on a clip 24/7 and feed all types of mixed foods. Any one have this fish before? Any tricks to feeding it? Thanks...

 

[Gabe]

I had a similar problem with an anthias. The only thing that worked was cyclop-eeze soft gel from instant ocean. Give it a try.

 

[marklugo23]

try these flakes, my starry blenny wasnt eating anything until i fed him these flakes, and then he was going for pellets, mysis, brine, and nori

http://www.acquariomania.net/online...D=816&osCsid=90b86de0740cf06b8aa350ba9bedfc89

Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes

 

[44santababy]

thanks for the responses, i will try those suggestions. I just put some fresh boiled spinach on a clip to try. I notice he is still very much occupied chasing his reflection and maybe until he realizes its not another blenny he might start eating. He did find a hole today in the live rock which is good...

 

[44santababy]

14 days since this original post and my blenny finally got over his REFLECTION and decided he should eat. Sometimes its so obvious that these fish have never seen a day in a tank before. I watched him stare and chase his reflection to the point where i thought he had no chance for survival. He ignored everything except his reflection. His stomach starting to shrivel and i was like...wtf this blows. Then i fed the tank and he just darts and eats pretty well, some swallowed some not, but at least he noticed food floating by him. Now when i feed, especially flakes, he eats and keeps it down. Looks like he might just do OK! Another thing i noticed is that he is afraid of nothing in the tank, actually more than holds his own, which is good. Its a really cool fish that found this perfect little hole in the live rock directly in view, where you can see his head just sticking out...pics to come

 

[Reef Fixations]

They're great fish & have lots of personality. Whether their vibrant or bland in color, they still offer a lot to a tank because of the little characters that they are.

A lot of times they don't take to eating prepared foods right away. They'll usually try picking at everything in the tank and either starve or get with the program. I'm surprised that a fish from DD took so long to eat especially being that he has been holding his own. I've heard from a few people that LA doesn't QT all of their fish for 4 weeks like they say. Him not eating for about 2 weeks without anyone picking on him kinda offers some validity to the alledged rumor. I could see if he was actually getting picked on that hey night not eat. Glad he's doing okay tho and best of luck with him.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

red/orange spotted blenny is one of my all time favorite. yes it may be a bit tricky in the beginning to get it to eat but once it does, it'll eat pretty much anything.
i lost mine in the crash and am on a look out for a pair.

so sonny....have you ever seen a pair avail. on your list?

 

[Cibo]

Love that fish I had a red one until it thought it would like to carpet surf better then hang in the tank!!!

where did you get it!! Or does and LFS have them?? How much are they going for??

 

[44santababy]

thanks for sharing those pics...yea that's mine! He now eats with vigor, it was his reflection holding him back. He took it very seriously. I'm also surprised that he swims quite a lot. I thought he would be like my goby who doesn't move from behind his rock. He is quite active and funny as hell, no doubt. I'll get good pics down the road. I paid 39.99 (adult) from DD for him/her. Thanks all...

 

[Reef Fixations]

red/orange spotted blenny is one of my all time favorite. yes it may be a bit tricky in the beginning to get it to eat but once it does, it'll eat pretty much anything.
i lost mine in the crash and am on a look out for a pair.

so sonny....have you ever seen a pair avail. on your list?''

Definitely haven't. Best I could try to do is bring in as tiny of a specimen and as large of a specimen as possible and see what happens. It's rare that pairs of any type of blenny is offered.

However; challenge accepted!!!
:thrash:

 

[Cibo]

They're great fish & have lots of personality. Whether their vibrant or bland in color, they still offer a lot to a tank because of the little characters that they are.

A lot of times they don't take to eating prepared foods right away. They'll usually try picking at everything in the tank and either starve or get with the program. I'm surprised that a fish from DD took so long to eat especially being that he has been holding his own. I've heard from a few people that LA doesn't QT all of their fish for 4 weeks like they say. Him not eating for about 2 weeks without anyone picking on him kinda offers some validity to the alledged rumor. I could see if he was actually getting picked on that hey night not eat. Glad he's doing okay tho and best of luck with him.

what and where is dd?

 

[44santababy]

im sorry, DD = Divers Den, liveaquaria.com

 

[Reefmaster76]

14 days since this original post and my blenny finally got over his REFLECTION and decided he should eat. Sometimes its so obvious that these fish have never seen a day in a tank before. I watched him stare and chase his reflection to the point where i thought he had no chance for survival. He ignored everything except his reflection. His stomach starting to shrivel and i was like...wtf this blows. Then i fed the tank and he just darts and eats pretty well, some swallowed some not, but at least he noticed food floating by him. Now when i feed, especially flakes, he eats and keeps it down. Looks like he might just do OK! Another thing i noticed is that he is afraid of nothing in the tank, actually more than holds his own, which is good. Its a really cool fish that found this perfect little hole in the live rock directly in view, where you can see his head just sticking out...pics to come

This is common with these fish I think as what you described with your blenny was exactly the behaviour that worried me. It is actually the behaviour of these fish that makes them so interesting. Mine just sat on the bottom with a concave empty belly not eating for a week or so. It now eats algae of the glass like a flymo lawn mover. It is a strange fish in that it isn't keen on any food I put in the tank that is prepared foods that the other fish like. I believe these are not bred in captivity due to how long they take to settle. I have also kept a Midas blenny which was an amazing fish to keep also