Striped blenny acting odd! Help?

[papaya]

I purchased a striped blenny this morning, and he is now in my 45 with a pair of clarkii clowns, parameters seem to be in check and the clowns are having no problems. The blenny however has been staying near the top, sometimes just floating or sitting on the heater or suddenly swimming a little and going back to his spot. I'm not sure what to do because this doesn't seem good and he doesn't look good, although he is healthy looking other than the way he's acting. Please help me I'm not sure what to do, and by the way, he is tank-raised.

[Original Fin]

First off, you should seriously consider quarantine for any new adds. The new fish could very easily infect all the others if it's a disease carrier and/or has parasites. Check the stickys in this forum for a quarantine procedure/process.

Too late for that now, however. How did you acclimate it?

[Jessie Nicoletti]

I purchased a striped blenny this morning, and he is now in my 45 with a pair of clarkii clowns, parameters seem to be in check and the clowns are having no problems. The blenny however has been staying near the top, sometimes just floating or sitting on the heater or suddenly swimming a little and going back to his spot. I'm not sure what to do because this doesn't seem good and he doesn't look good, although he is healthy looking other than the way he's acting. Please help me I'm not sure what to do, and by the way, he is tank-raised.

alot of blennys and gobys have the habbit of siting in a area then swiming around and going back to thier safety spot dose he eat, dose he show interest in food. are any fish bulying him into this spot my red scooter blenny spends all day moveing from rock to rock my clown goby dose the same thing but sometimes chills on the glass. dose the stomach look sunken in or bloated or normal

[papaya]

I did acclimate him and he is only with the clarkii's his stomach isn't shrunken either, when he hangs out in his spot, he doesn't move much and sometimes just floats @ the surface, that's what's got me worried. He looks healthy enough....I did feed him, but he didn't seem interested, but he's been at my lfs for a while so he must be eating....right? I acclimated by floating the bags for about an hor, then dipping some of my tank water in a few times.

[Original Fin]

I did acclimate him...I acclimated by floating the bags for about an hour, then dipping some of my tank water in a few times.

Watch and wait is all you can really do.

That method of temp aclimation might work well for some freshwater fish, but marine fish can be a bit more sensitive to PH and salinity. It is best to do a slow drip acclimation. Swishing tank water into the bag a few times may not be adequate to prevent acclimation stress, and it does nothing to prevent the spread of disease to other fish in your display tank.

I use the below acclimation process. It's pretty much the same one that LeeBCA drafted, slightly modified. It Was Acclimation, I know. . . The referenced version assumes you are also planning to quarantine.

Step 1 Before your trip to the LFS, test the PH of your quarantine or display tank, whichever you plan to use. Prepare a vessel* with freshwater, prefferably RO, and use PH buffer to match the QT or DT. Float the bag or vessel in your QT or DT to equalize temp.
Step 2 When you've returned with the fish, take the fish with the water from the bag, and transfer to a second vessel & collander*. Mark the water level.
Step 3 Set up a drip with 1/4" tubing and an airline valve, and drip slowly (1 drip/sec)from the quarantine or display tank, until the level has doubled. Stop the drip.
Step 4 Observe the fish. Look for signs of parasites, ich, brook, velvet etc. Basically anything that doesn't look like normal healthy skin/scales slime coat and/or color should be cause for concern. If any anomalies are detected, treat in a quarantine/hospital tank. DO NOT PUT AN IFFY FISH INTO YOUR DT.
Step 5 Remove the fish from the mixed SW, and place into the prepared freshwater dip for 5 minutes. This will cause external parasites (if any exist) to drop off.
Step 6 Transfer to your ready Quarantine Tank if using. Otherwise, skip to step 7.
Step 7 Turn off the lighting in your DT and keep it off till the next morning. Remove the fish from the freshwater dip, and release into your display tank. Cross your fingers if you didn't choose to QT.
Step 8 See the Post acclimation section in the link above.

*Nets can further stress and injure fish. It's beneficial to use a small plastic collander rather than a net, so it's good if you can find acclimation vessels that your collander will fit into. It goes without saying that the collander and the vessel should be used for your aquarium only.

[papaya]

Thank you for your great support! He seems to be doing alittle better this morning so i have some hope! I will be sure to use your method of acclimation in the future and I will try to find space in my budget for a QT.

[papaya]

He is definitely doing better, however, he doesn't appear to be eating the frozen mysis or flakes that I've been feeding. Is this normal at the beginning?

[leebca]

Just because your LFS has a fish, doesn't mean it's eating. You always want to see it eating and then get the same kind of food to feed the fish when you get it home.

The reaction of the new addition is not that unusual. The fish has found a 'safe spot' and hangs there. Much depends on how long the mated pair of Anemonefishes have been there and, if it is long, they will probably try to defend the entire tank against a new addition. The kind of Anemonefish you have likes to have about 8 cubic feet of water to call their own.

Given time, the new fish should settle in, unless badgered by the pair.

[papaya]

Thank you very much! That's very reassuring. I did get the same kind of food, but maybe he was just too stressed to eat or something, I'll give it another go!

[SaltwaterTruthteller]

Hello, I'm new here, just off the bus this morning...lol However, from your description of your new blenny's behavior, I believe it's due to your pair of clowns defending their territory which no doubt is the entire tank, particularly the bottom. A pair of clownfish will be quite aggressive to anything encroaching on their territory. When a new fish has no hiding spot on the bottom to retreat they will stay near the surface in one area. There isn’t anywhere else for them to go and your clowns will chase him there every time they see him. Things can work out with no real problems in a short time. Watch them and if this is what is happening and if you see the clowns actually biting him you will have to intervene and separate them ASAP. If not separated your blenny will succumb to the stress and biting and then downhill from there real fast. Good luck..

[SaltwaterTruthteller]

One other thing to consider. I would not advise a freshwater dip with a newly aquired fish simply because the fish is already under a lot of stress from shipping to LFS and then transporting to your home tank. I would avoid any more stress completely. I think a freshwater dip can be effectrive when treating a fish you've had for some time and is acclimated to the tank it is in or in an emergency where a fish is heavily infested with obvious parasites and in rapid decline.