blenny?

[beelzebob]

kinda got a question.

so i have an 18 gallon tall nano set up for a G.smithii. being a he eats primarilly inverts.

a while ago i got 2 really small 4 line damsels, expecting them to be food.

my mantis is a lazy wuss though. and hasn't killed much more than a couple hermits. sure likes to be fed though. and i seriously cant starve him for more than like 3 days. (just feel guilty)

now my question....

i want a blenny. just a lil scooter. but with the 2 damsels, doesn't that over stock me?

i know there is a risk hell get his head bashed, but im tellin ya, beelzebub is a strait up wuss. id id actually be stoked to see him man up a little

 

[DanInSD]

I wouldn't expect a G. smithii to eat fish that stay up in the water column. I've had damsels in my O. scyllarus for weeks now, and there hasn't been any predation. In the beginning, the mantis would "alert" whenever fish came near the burrow, but got nowhere near striking distance. Now, the mantis just ignores the fish (and vice versa).

A blenny, being a bottom-dweller, is another matter altogether. This is something I wouldn't try -- they habitate the same space. You've got an 18-tall, so the fish probably hang near the top and the mantis near the bottom. A blenny, unless it's a midas blenny (too large for this tank) will occupy the same water level as the stomatopod.

A "scooter blenny" isn't really a blenny, BTW. It's a dragonet, just like mandarinfish, and has the same finicky eating requirements that will in all likelihood not be provided by a typical 18 gallon aquarium. They need lots of live rock (30-40 lbs per individual) and a mature inline refugium.

 

[DanInSD]

Re: scooters, see http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm

 

[beelzebob]

thanks dude!

 

[Thurge]

YOur mantis probably hasn't eaten the Damsels because they are pretty quick little buggers and don't stay in one place very long. The blenny wouldn't have that "protection" and would probably be lunch pretty quickly. I personally tried a Yellow Watchman Gobie with a mantis and it didn't last more than about 36 hours before becoming a late night snack. I always recommend that when mixing fish with mantis, that the fish be active swimmers, and inexpencive just incase the mantis decides to have a Fish Fry.
Lions aren't good matches either, mantis tend to kill them quick.