# nice looking blenny



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

anyone know of a NJ lfs that has nice looking blennies, like this one?


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

you can find those all over BUT you really shouldnt get one unless you have a well established tank with more pods then you could ever imagine because thats just about all a mandrine goby will eat (they arent blennies) very rarely can anyone get them to eat frozen or dry food. most of them are already starved at the LFS..

there are plenty of very interesting easier to care for fish, even some of the ifh that dont appear to be so obviously atractive have amazimg patterns and colors. my buddy had a lawnmower blenny tha had some crazy blues and green around its spots.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

nismo driver said:


> you can find those all over BUT you really shouldnt get one unless you have a well established tank with more pods then you could ever imagine because thats just about all a mandrine goby will eat (they arent blennies) very rarely can anyone get them to eat frozen or dry food. most of them are already starved at the LFS..


100% nail on the head. Unless you have a refuge for growing pods, that fish will slowly die.


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

thanks a lot guys nismo ur like my guardian lol always correcting my mistakes. My tank is new so no pods, I have 2 clownfish that are LOVING it and I want to bring the population up with easy to care for fish and make my way up to the nicer harder ones. I was told blenny's were really easy to care for and I though the one my lfs had was pretty ugly so I wanted one that looked like the above. Ill look around for some lawnmower blenny's. any tips on what fish I should get with him (my two clownfish)? I was thinking of dwarf and large angelfish, blennies, cardinalfish, damselfish, gobies,hawkfish, pseudochromis, puffers, and tangs. I really need to read up on this I have been strictly a piranha keeper but I had a extra 55 gallon tank and thought it would be nice to expand to saltwater....little did I know that I had so much to learn.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

kilicar said:


> thanks a lot guys nismo ur like my guardian lol always correcting my mistakes. My tank is new so no pods, I have 2 clownfish that are LOVING it and I want to bring the population up with easy to care for fish and make my way up to the nicer harder ones. I was told blenny's were really easy to care for and I though the one my lfs had was pretty ugly so I wanted one that looked like the above. Ill look around for some lawnmower blenny's. any tips on what fish I should get with him (my two clownfish)? I was thinking of dwarf and large angelfish, blennies, cardinalfish, damselfish, gobies,hawkfish, pseudochromis, puffers, and tangs. I really need to read up on this I have been strictly a piranha keeper but I had a extra 55 gallon tank and thought it would be nice to expand to saltwater....little did I know that I had so much to learn.


If you go with a Lawnmower Blenny (e.g. Jeweled Blenny), make sure your tank has some algae growing or you are ready to supplement his diet with seaweed sheets. If not, he will starve to death.

If you go with angelfish, then definitely stick with the dwarf (e.g. flame, bi-color, coral beauty, etc.). A 55g tank is not large enough for the other angels. Blennies, Cardinal's, gobies, hawkfish, pseudochromis will all work in a 55g tank. Just remember to stock slowly, and lightly. Damselfish are great for being hardy, cheap, active fish, but as they grow they will become aggressive so keep that in mind. I have seen several tangs kept in 55g tanks before, but I think the min tank size is a 75g pack with LR to feeding off of. If you do get some, make sure you feed him vegs, seaweed, etc. daily. IMO all puffers grow to large for that tank. Of course, you can get on google and do some research to find some "mini-puffers" that might work.


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

Thanks alot for the tips coldfire ill take all your advice !


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

No worries. There is so much information to learn about SW, take your time, read & ask questions. We are all learning here, so feel free post a question. You might be asking something that is benefical for us to look up or learn ourselves.


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

i learned that when i first joined here about freshwater and piranhas. this forum has been very helpful. I was questioning if I wanted a reef tank or a fish tank and hearing about all the supplements and care info for reefs i dont know if i am up for that just yet so I think I will be going to a fish tank, and fill it up with fish that are ok to be with my 2 clowns that started it all. If i wanted a fish tank with the two clown you think i could still go for the ones listed about and just feed them veg/seaweed/algee patties? or should i look into a different set all together. i really have no preference on what fish I want, this is just purely a tank i want to have nice colorful fish in, like I said I started with clownfish which I was told are very forgiving and they have been, so I would like to get one fish now and then and take the next step up, varying in color and difficultly. I find looking at my piranhas very relaxing and I love them and their scales and colors are amazing but nothing is as colorful as saltwater fish.

Basically I want to pick a set of fish that I want to have in this tank when I am all done with it and stick to that list and add them a little at a time, this way I wont get 3 fish then want 3 others that do not get a long. So anyone else that wants to suggest a list of fish that are bright in color and fun to watch and get a long with my 2 clown please do share.









THANKS GUYS!!!!


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

there are some cool coris wrasse an flasher wrasse that would be good with your clowns that sty small but it would be best to hold off a bit for the tank to become more established and im not sure f you mentioned what type of substraight you have or how deep but you do need to have a sand bed atleast two - three inchs for some types of wrasse because they sleep in the sand its actually prettycool they are like a cat looking for a comfortable spot to sleep as they circle around the sand bed then picka spot and dart right for the bottom and wiggle under then you dont see them again till the next day.

you can also look for "shrimp" gobies, there are several species, they are most known for the symbiotic retaltionship they form with pistol shrimp, but are just as cool on there own. a paired shrimp and goby usualy runs 70 - 100 bu you can getteh goby alone for 30 - 50 depending on species and they are pretty cool.


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

sorry, right now I have sand about 2-3 inches. I am going to wait about a month before I actually start adding the fish (Except for the clownfish which i had no choice but to move due to my god sisters coming over and giving "nemo" some coolaid.....i just ran over with my net grabbed them (which are hard to freakin catch in a 10 gallon tank), washed them off with some of the saltwater I had in the 55 gallon and just thru them in hoping for the best.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

ugh kids are so stupid

how much coolaid?

i wouldnt worry too much, if anything it will increase your chaces or time before your next bout with algae, the early stages of saltwater tanks is just one form of algae after another..


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

it was a 10 gallon tank and i found them in my room with a pitcher on my desk and a empty cup in their hand and the tank almost over flowing, it was mostly red. so prob 2 cups cus they had a cup each. i took them out in about 5 seconds after seeing them, lucky they hid in a little cave i have for them and it wasnt too red at the bottom where they were.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

that's the kind of time that you hope/wish for a huge rhom...and ask the little sh*t kids to hand feed it.

i did that to one dumbass kid of one of my parent's friends a few years ago. i walk downstairs and hear knocking on my tank...go down and the kid is hammering on the tank. so i told him he should reach his hand in and pet the fishies...which were 5 red bellies.lol. unfortunately the kid's mom came down as he was reaching into the tank.hahaha

on the topic of mandarinfish...i LOVE those fish...but they require a lot of work to keep healthy. as nismo and coldfire have said they need copious amounts of pods to survive. you see a lot of ppl with mandarins...but they poor fish are starving and their belly is concave. a healthy mandarin should be rotund and comical


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## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

well i do have 5 P's lol 3 reds 1 caribe and 1 piraya (they actually grew so they are about an inch + from what my sig says) let them go for a swim in my P tank lol.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

You should have definitely let them hand fed that tank.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

u can ask the lfs if they can try and feed the mandarin or dragonet for you, I know it seems unlikely, but my lfs has been getting a sugar load of shrimp and flake food eating mandarins, plus my lfs sells pods, so even if u get a picky eater u could potentially fulfill his diet. I would say LR in a 6-12 month old tank could support a single mandarin in a 55 + otherwise make 100% sure it will accept frozen and other foods... I learned this whenI quarentined my mandarin... I that surely he would die from starvation, but he likes mysis shrimp, but since they are slow eaters be prepared to feed a lil at a time near him..


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Your LFS sells pods? Now, that would be cool to add to your pod population, or add pods to a new refuge.

How much do they sell them for?


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

Coldfire said:


> Your LFS sells pods? Now, that would be cool to add to your pod population, or add pods to a new refuge.
> 
> How much do they sell them for?


nothing man, they are way less than chaetomorpha alage I think a bag of em, like brine shrimp amount is 5 bux.. I never had to buy for my main tank, but I used them to quarentine the mandarin and dumped the rest into my fuge! but they also sell pods via frige http://www.reefnutrition.com/tiggerpods/index.htm (they are the pricer ones)


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Humm, $5 for a bag of pod. What a deal!!


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

bag of copepods for every one who is looking at the last post without reading threw, not a bag of ipods or pod. aka heroin! haha yeah man its a groovy deal, but hey if u want I will send u an old sump/fuge prefilter sponge it will have a million...


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

5$!!!!!

holy crap! some places online are selling a cup of them for 25+!!!

im going to a good reef store near me later tonight. ive never asked them if they have pods or not.lol.


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