Blenny problems

[Zepp]

Hi there! Anyone having a bicolour Blenny can attest that they make a great addition to ones tank. They have such an amusing personality. Unfortunately, in the past year, I've lost two and I think I'm in the process of losing a third :-( The first two simply vanished. This one is now exibiting rapid gill movement and is very idle as compared to previous days. As of yesterday, he was also eating well. There are no visible signs that he may have a gill infection or some type of parasite. However, I did notice that he's become slightly lighter in color. My water parameters are fine as I tested this morning, except for the Salinity which is at 1.26 and temperature which is at 84. I'm trying to get it at 1.23 and 78 respectively. Anyone have any idea's on what may be causing the problem? I find it more than a coincidence that only Blennies seem to have a problem in my tank. Actually, that's not true. Tangs are another, but I now know why. Does anyone have any ideas why this may be happening? I may be answering my own question with the salinity and temperature issues, but why only the blenny? Are they that much more sensitive? In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help the little fella out before he becomes the 3rd casuality? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

[aquanut40]

Hello

The only thing that comes to mind is oxygen depletion. Both blennies and more so tangs requier complete oxygen saturation to do well. any thing less will cause stress. I know little about your set-up so this is only a shot in the dark. If your water temp is 84 ( As all my tanks are) you need to be sure that you have oxygen saturation because the waters ability to hold oxygen at that temp is far less then say 80 or even 82. As for your salinity, It is a tad low for my liking, but I don't see it being the root problem with these fish.

Stan

[Zepp]

Hi Stan,

Thanks for your comments. Are you saying the bicolor requires more than any of the other fish I have? If so, what are some of the things I can do to obtain more?

[Domer]

If you have more then one blenny they will attack each other and some times kill

each other!!

they seem to be very harty fish, mine seems to be a bulldog (tuff little bugger).

[Zepp]

No, I only have one. I had two others, but they were not together. I love this one because he's a little bigger and has put my Royal Gamma in his place. Gamma's can be such a bullies and still is with the Gobies. He's learned not to mess with Blenny. Unfortunately, he's getting worse. I tried catching him last night, but was unable to. I would like to see if he has Flukes by using hyposalinity(I think that's what it's called).

[addisgd]

I have a bicolout blenny and he's great!! I have him with a yellow tang and they're both 2 years old now. I have my salinity at 1.024 and temp at 77C. Maybe you should try and get those stats to help! It's true they need well oxygenated water to thrive.

[Zepp]

My blennie passed on to fish heaven this morning :-( I'll miss the little guy. It really bothers me that I have not been able to provide a good home for these fish. Until I figure what I may doing wrong, I will not add another. Could you please tell me how you've been able to keep one for so long? What do you feed it and how do you obtain those levels?

[Hark]

well here is my experience with my blenny....

So far the big guy has been through...
1) 4 day power outage 2 months ago, lost almost everything **But** him
2) Front wall of tank cracked, found the blenny under my chesterfield chair 30 minutes after discovering the crack.

He has been through quite a bit and I have had him for almost 3 years now. In that time, he has grown from around 1 1/2" when I got him to around 5" now..he is HUGE! He recently took over the 'tank' from my maroon clowns as he is now the boss.

anyway, my parameters are usually around 1.025 and 77-80 degree's. I use a EuroReef skimmer (maybe that helps with O2?), mangrove pods in the sump and Cheato Macro. In terms of feeding the blenny, he mostly now is too fat now to do anything but eat Nori from the veggie clip...

hope that helps in some way

[Domer]

I keep Ick problems in control by keeping my salintity low at about 0.18 or 0.19

Its safe to keep it that low , I've been doing it for 4 years now ,and it all A-OK.

Keeping you salintity .20 or higher is riskey, and I wouldent gamble with that
kind of investment. $$$$$$

Its the most effective way ,I think . Hope that helps!!


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[Zepp]

Thanks guys for your comments.

Hark, that's some story. I don't have either a sump or fuge, but I see where that can certainly help. I wonder if there's a way to see how much O2 there's in a tank?