My first fish

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dogstar

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Guys,

Went and got my water tested. All in the clear, so i bought a midas blenny.

Took the guy home, and when i took the bag out the packet, i noticed he had dark brown patches and wasnt looking healthy. Called LFS and they reckon he is just stressing. Is that correct?

I have had him in his bag in my tank for 45 minutes now, going to start dripping him in a few.

Any suggestions?

Is he just stressing, is this normal?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
this is what he looks like.

45 minutes in the bag in the tank, and now about 30 minutes of being dripped

29112008423.jpg
 
Hi dogstar - awesome little fish man! Great buy! Nah - don't worry about it. Your LFS is correct (this time ;))

Try and acclimatize for another 45 minutes or so - just ensure that you replace enough water (you can take some bag water out - but DONT put it in your tank) if the bag get's to full......
Also - just ensure that the water in the bag has ENOUGH oxygen - as a fish, especially a stressed fish, uses up a LOT of oxygen - VERY quickly!

Good luck, and may the mb bring you a LOT of joy!
 
cool, will acclimitise him for an extra 45 mins - no harm done then.

His colour is already normalising, so thats good to see.
 
he is out the bag. Has found himself a hiding spot, but is also moving out more and more, and exploring.

His colour is coming back too. Good to see.
 
Update on the blenny.

He is still quite scared, as soon as i go near the tank he goes back to his hiding place.

His colour has come back, so those dark brown patches have gone away. Seems to indicate he is much happier.

He also seems to be swimming but keeping his head at the surface of the water, dont know if this is something to be concerned about. And he doesnt venture very far from his hiding place. He hasnt explored a quarter of the tank yet.
 
Still worried about this guy. I tried to feed today. Popped in some pellets, and because he is so scared to come out his hiding place, the food eventually sinks.

So i put in some flakes i had, those stayed up on the surface for a while. He comes up to get them, make a grab, but takes nothing, and again quickly goes to his hiding place.

How do i get this guy to eat?
 
Midasblenny's have got very small mouths, unless the pellets are extremely tiny he will not be able to eat them, best is to use flake food, but not large flakes, try and crush up some flakes so that he has got some small pieces to eat. If he is not eating then try a different type of flake flood or else make up some of your own food from things like hake, shrimp, mussels etc. Blend it all together in a blender so it is finely chopped up and feed small amounts of that.

Also switch all your pumps off when feeding and move away from the tank.
 
looks like the little fella is doing nicely:) great to hear he is heading for the top and grabinga mouthful:) try crush it a little like viper says and hold it below the surface for a few moments, that breaks the surface tension and allows it to sink. If he is your only fish only feed him a little at a time:)

i am sure he will calm down and explore more over time, dont worry too much about that, especially when he gets some new friends:)
 
I concur what Crispin said. MOST marine fish does not like taking food from the water's surface. You should always try and place the food under the water surface.... let the water go down into the water column......

The fish will start eating when it's ready..... Just be patient....
 
well hes alone now and will get courage once he has a few more tank mates swimming out in the open,midas blennies can change colour within a couple of seconds and they use that dark colour to camoflage with the background.well atleast mine does.

also i noticed that they love hair algae etc so make sure you got some algae for them to pick on from rocks or back glass.
 
thanks for all the help guys. Will try out some of your suggestions when i feed him tonight.
 
Just to let you all know - so far all looks good. The midas blenny eventually eats. He is looking healthy. Still a bit scared, so hasnt gone completely around the tank.
 
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