Fattening up a skinny blenny

[ACBlinky]

I bought a blenny tonight, he's so beautiful and was playing with me through the glass, I just couldn't resist. He's pitifully thin, much more so than I realized when I saw him in the store. He's attacking the rockwork with gusto, but there's really not much there for him to eat. I imagine there's some film algae, but the only thing visible to the eye is coralline; there's no hair algae, cyano, macro etc. I have some Caulerpa verticillata growing in my 21g, so I added a Caulerpa-covered rock to the blenny's tank in case he'll eat that (if not the angels will, they gobble it up like nori), and there's always nori in the tank for the angels. Is there anything I can do to help fatten the little guy up that I haven't thought of? I'm just praying he wasn't caught with cyanide (he came from Vanuatu, not sure if they use it there or not), in which case he could eat and eat and will die anyway.

Here's a pic, you can see how thin the poor guy is:

Thanks

 

[All Delight]

Thats an cool blenny. What kind is it?

 

[Bdimas]

Id just try to keep nori in the tank and try to get some brine and mysis in front of him atleast a couple times a day. Maybe try to get another seaweed clip and keep some more nori lower in your tank.

 

[ACBlinky]

Thanks for the replies

All Delight - thanks, it took some work to find an ID on this guy last night, they don't seem to be very common. He's a stigmata blenny, Cirripectes stigmaticus.

There's always nori and/or dulce in the tank, today he decided he liked perching on top of the clip and guarding it from the angels so I think I'll need to add another one for them. I have one lying around, but I'll need to get another MagFloat to epoxy the clip to -- suction cups don't seem to last long and the clips always end up on the sand.

Looks like he found something to eat while I was at work; his belly is less pinched than it was last night. I think it's going to be tough to get him really fat, but I'm sure going to try. I started a little hair algae farm in my 5.5g yesterday -- it's full of LR rubble I use for fragging, with a little HOB filter. I added a light fixture from an old 10g (2x15W spiral compact fluorescent bulbs), a little pinch of HA from my 21g (all there was) and some nutrients. Hopefully with nitrates, phosphates, light 24/7 and a little time I can grow enough HA to supplement the blenny, and just keep rotating rubble in and out of his tank.

 

[PatrickB101]

looks like the fish is in the display.

i would pull it out and QT it and hope you haven't infected your other fish already.

 

[Bdimas]

Cool. My wifes Blenny also perches on the nori clip.

 

[ACBlinky]

@ PatrickB101 - yep, he's in the 65g. I figured his best chance was to be in a mature tank with lots of rock to graze and places to hide out.

@Bdimas - lol does he guard it from the other fish though? It's funny how fast this little guy got territorial about the clip - he's like a little dog with a GIANT bone

 

[Bdimas]

LOL! They have alot of personality. Its only tank mate is a Mandarin fish. But i think it still tries to gaurd the clip.