do blennies play nice?

[mayjong]

Specifically with each other?
I have a tailspot in my 60g and love him. Would like another...starry or other type?
Anyway,will they fight?
ThaNks

 

[Nina51]

i'm considering both of those for my 75g, i'm told they do fine together. you might want to go to the "new to hobby" forum as there is a sticky there where snorvich can advise you ("PLEASE check out your fish purchase...").

 

[criticalencore]

Starry blennies can be di**s in my experience....

 

[ssick92]

Starry blennies can be di**s in my experience....

Really? i've had 3 in a fairly small tank (only 1 at a time though) and they have all been really friendly. Once it got big it started to scare my Yellow Watchman Goby, but he never harmed it or anything. On the other hand, I had a Red Lip Blenny, and he killed 2 of my clownfish before I was able to get him out...

With that said, I think it all really depends on the actual fish you get. Some fish were just treated poorly and turn into *******s, but another one of the same species might be totally friendly. I don't think you would have any issues with adding another Blenny in your tank since the Tailspots just kind of keep to themselves and don't tend to bother any other fish.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Starry blennies can be di**s in my experience....

Agreed...

I had a starry blenny that I named fat bastard that obliterated my jawfish, and tired to kill my sand sifting goby while in my 120g. I moved him to my 55g mantis tank where it instantly started trying to kill my mandarin. None of these instances were assumed. I witnessed them with my own eyes...

I had to break down each tank to get that fat bastard out. Back to the LFS, he went...

 

[Moort82]

I have a starry blenny and it is as mellow as you can get. It lives with a tailspot and its the tailspot who has a pop even though it is half the size.

Saying that though i wouldn't recommend the mix. My friend has a resident tailspot in a similar size tank to what your suggesting and he added an algae blenny. They were fine until the algae blenny grew and it eventually killed the tailspot. Since algae blennies are basically starry blennies in different clothes i would be very wary mixing the two.

 

[mayjong]

any other blenny's that could go with my tailspot?
thanks1

 

[d-man]

I have a pair of miller blennies, pair of tailspots, scooter blenny, and a 5" lawnmower blenny. They are all fine in 11' 325g tank. And none of them stay in "their" territories. The miller pair and tailspots both sleep near each other every night.

Out of them all, my male millers took offense to my blue spot jawfish for a few days but other than a few tussles it's all good.
I plan on adding a few other blennies soon too. Such awesome personalities.

 

[johnike]

My Starry is quite well behaved, and lives with a Tailspot.
Had a Golden Midas for a while with them as well.

 

[snorvich]

I have a pair of miller blennies, pair of tailspots, scooter blenny, and a 5" lawnmower blenny.

Just FYI, scooter blenny is a dragonet

 

[kalgra]

I can concur with most obove IME Starry Blennies will typically be little bastards to most other Blennies and similar types of fish. Mine even beat up my mandarin for a good month before they finally sorted things out.

 

[ah_notty]

I had a starry blenny in my 75 and he became a little monster. I often saw bite marks on my yellow eye kole tang. I added a disbar anthias and he killed it the first day I had it in the tank. I tried trapping him with no luck. I got lucky and he died. Probably not enough algae. Will never get one again

 

[d-man]

Yes snorvich, I know. As same fam as mandarins. But I included them as well since they get thrown in quite often.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Also: My starry blenny ate everything except algae. LA has them listed as herbivores. Mine would head ram some of my larger fish to get at some of the frozen krill that I fed my carnivores...

 

[Moort82]

Also: My starry blenny ate everything except algae. LA has them listed as herbivores. Mine would head ram some of my larger fish to get at some of the frozen krill that I fed my carnivores...

Starry blennies are more detrivores which is why they sometimes have problems with bristletooth tangs. They tend to become omnivores in captivity and get the protein bellies. Its easier after all

 

[Elysia]

In general, I think of blennies as mean fish, and don't consider them for peaceful tanks. I've watched algae, bicolor, two-spot, and linear blennies all harass other fish. I want some sense of peace when I look at my tank, not fish stressing one another out.