Gold Blue Benny vs Millipora

[tench1]

Just got this little cutie from Irwana. Supposed to be reefsafe as many sites suggested.

However, had seen this guy nipping my millipora tips!! And the nipped part of milipora seems disturbed, and not extending...

Experts out there, any advice?

[Guest]

This fish is LPS safe but not SPS !! It will nip on sps polyps

[tench1]

O.O" OMGz

[marshalll]

Wow. But this is a very interesting fish I must say! Sad to hear it's not totally reef safe. How did you deal with it?

[allantang]

Ouch.. >.< hope u have fun catching it out..

[lauep]

I also bought this fish. Its not SPS friendly.

I will be decomming my tank this week to catch that darn fish out...

Anyone wants to adopt?

[tench1]

Yah man, its a fun lovely fish. But too bad, not sps friendly...

Luckily, managed to trap it with the same milipora!!

haha Its now in my sump. (Escaped from its little prison.)

[Joe_P]

Some Information here

There is some information in the above-mentioned link that refers to these blennies being reefsafe.

[tench1]

I also bought this fish. Its not SPS friendly.

I will be decomming my tank this week to catch that darn fish out...

Anyone wants to adopt?

Bro, do you really need to decomm your tank just to catch it?

Trust me, use a trap and be patient!

[tench1]

Some Information here

There is some information in the above-mentioned link that refers to these blennies being reefsafe.

Great info bro! Thanks.

[braincoral]

Never trust any things that swim

In the big sea...

Best to go fishless in sps tank

Can have a peace of mind and zzz

Soundly

[tench1]

Never trust any things that swim

In the big sea...

Best to go fishless in sps tank

Can have a peace of mind and zzz

Soundly

Its the thrill and challenges, that makes this hobby constantly interesting on one hand, and agony on the other!

Most website displayed that this fish is reefsafe. Nothing was mentioned that its hooked onto SPS.

This is the beauty of the marine wild life.

[Solo77]

Gosh, lucky u caught it. Was I the person who encouraged u to buy? Pai seh.

[yellowtang]

:whistlei luv their eyes and eye lashes.bewitching,yeh.

cheers

[tench1]

Gosh, lucky u caught it. Was I the person who encouraged u to buy? Pai seh.

Well...your advice was one of the push factor..haha I did a check before adding in, was so-called 'Reefsafe'.

So not your faulth la.

[tench1]

:whistlei luv their eyes and eye lashes.bewitching,yeh.

cheers

Mike, dont let the bewitching lashes blind you.

If you insist, i can get for you if i see it again in LFS.

[cedricang]

Guys, just to share that i do have this blenny in my sps frag tank and have not seen it disturb or nip at my sps at all.

What i have observe is that she will go around nipping on life rock for algae, nothing more. I have seen other reefers sps tank with this fish as well, no problem.

I am more incline to believe that there are some form of "acquired taste" behavior of this fish ( in fact for some pigmy angels too ), i.e. they may have already acquired a taste for sps and beginning to treat it as a source of their diet.

Hence it may be a matter of hit or miss for this little cuttie

However, do take note of the more 'notorious' species like Leopard Blenny, they are almost a certain to making your sps their happy meal , so it's a NO NO for this one.

[yikai]

as i've said before.

if nipping SPS polyps, it's ok.

if it's nipping the SPS flesh and actually causing tissue recession, then it's bad.

in the wild, SPS have very little to no polyp extension in the wild. it's kept in check by nipping fishes such as butterflies and blennies. so in the tank, P.E is unatural.

P.E is only encountered at night.

but of course, if you're after the polyp extension then by all means remove the fish. but just to let you know that if it's the polyps they are after, it is harmless to the SPS.

[tench1]

Guys, just to share that i do have this blenny in my sps frag tank and have not seen it disturb or nip at my sps at all.

What i have observe is that she will go around nipping on life rock for algae, nothing more. I have seen other reefers sps tank with this fish as well, no problem.

I am more incline to believe that there are some form of "acquired taste" behavior of this fish ( in fact for some pigmy angels too ), i.e. they may have already acquired a taste for sps and beginning to treat it as a source of their diet.

Hence it may be a matter of hit or miss for this little cuttie

However, do take note of the more 'notorious' species like Leopard Blenny, they are almost a certain to making your sps their happy meal , so it's a NO NO for this one.

Its great to hear from the expert like you Dr Ang!

Thanks for the sharing! i believe this will provide another view of this Blenny species vs SPS relationship.

[tench1]

as i've said before.

if nipping SPS polyps, it's ok.

if it's nipping the SPS flesh and actually causing tissue recession, then it's bad.

in the wild, SPS have very little to no polyp extension in the wild. it's kept in check by nipping fishes such as butterflies and blennies. so in the tank, P.E is unatural.

P.E is only encountered at night.

but of course, if you're after the polyp extension then by all means remove the fish. but just to let you know that if it's the polyps they are after, it is harmless to the SPS.

Thank you for your sharing of your valuable experience!

Its true that some SPS lovers tend to be more inclined towards P.E. (I admit, im one of them.)

However, with your sharing, i finally understand that its not doing much harm to the SPS as its only nipping on the P.E. portion and not the fresh.

Anyway, its already roaming freely in my sump with lotsa algae for it to feast on.

[yellowtang]

I enjoy seeing fishes and sps crabs darting and resting in the safe haven of sps branches. Even my hawk fish can only watch. Any good such fishes, must inform me.

cheers,

mike

[cedricang]

I enjoy seeing fishes and sps crabs darting and resting in the safe haven of sps branches. Even my hawk fish can only watch. Any good such fishes, must inform me.

cheers,

mike

Big bro, Green chromis may be common, but i find them nice (especially the black axil green chromis ) , i used to have them and seeing them hiding among the sps branches is a sure enjoyment

[cedricang]

Its great to hear from the expert like you Dr Ang!

Thanks for the sharing! i believe this will provide another view of this Blenny species vs SPS relationship.

Hey bro, it's a pleasure to share with you what i have observed or learned. Sometimes, we need to piece up various info before coming to sort of a conclusion.

Different bros may have unique experiences with the same type of fish, so it is always good to have an open mind. I am not a fish expert here, Lemon is a much experience reefer on fish

[cedricang]

as i've said before.

if nipping SPS polyps, it's ok.

if it's nipping the SPS flesh and actually causing tissue recession, then it's bad.

in the wild, SPS have very little to no polyp extension in the wild. it's kept in check by nipping fishes such as butterflies and blennies. so in the tank, P.E is unatural.

P.E is only encountered at night.

but of course, if you're after the polyp extension then by all means remove the fish. but just to let you know that if it's the polyps they are after, it is harmless to the SPS.

Hmm Lemon, is it unnatural for SPS to have daytime PE in the wild ? this is something new to me because i remember snorkeling in Philippine marine reserve park seeing millepora having great PE swaying with the current, so pretty and hypnotizing ....may be there arent many butterflies and blennies around that area. But that is beside the point, i do see that SPS ( at least for mille ) have PE in the day time as well.

[yikai]

Hmm Lemon, is it unnatural for SPS to have daytime PE in the wild ? this is something new to me because i remember snorkeling in Philippine marine reserve park seeing millepora having great PE swaying with the current, so pretty and hypnotizing ....may be there arent many butterflies and blennies around that area. But that is beside the point, i do see that SPS ( at least for mille ) have PE in the day time as well.

Depends on location and fish density and SPS as well.

Obligate feeding butterflies don't eat all SPS indiscriminately but peck on specific types. Milliepora are not so much targeted at.

If you notice scrolled colonies, especially tabling acros, their polyps are usually kept. Except for deeper within the colonies where fishes cannot reach. Acropora are food and shelter for juvenile and adult butterflies and almost always swarming with fishes.