Help, made a big mistake

ACBlinky

ACBlinky

Premium Member
I was at the LFS this afternoon and made a BIG mistake. I should know better than to buy without researching, but I saw a beautiful little blenny and decided to buy him. He looks a lot like a lawnmower blenny, and was happily attacking bits of algae on the rockwork in his tank, but after getting him home I thought I'd look up the species before I added him to my reef. The tank was labeled 'leopard blenny, Vanuatu, reef safe', but I'm desperately hoping I haven't bought Exallis brevis , which apparantly feeds only on SPS coral polyps. Of course the LFS didn't mention this at all, and if he is in fact a corallivore I'm going to be very unhappy with them for labelling him 'reef safe'.
This fish has a wonderful personality and is drop-dead gorgeous, but I'm afraid to put him in my reef. I only have LPS and soft corals, is this guy going to decimate my tank? Is he destined to die no matter what, even if he's taking prepared foods? I can't take him back, but if I need to I can keep him in a Rubbermaid or my 21g (just a few softy frags in there, no worries if they get eaten) until I can find him a new home. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
take him back... those like orange spot filefish should never taken from the ocean unless someone has a house that suits their needs. luckily you looked him up before you added him....
 
Sorry, not sure I understand. He's not a filefish, are you just comparing him to one because of his dietary needs? I actually can't take him back, there are no returns on marines, but I can try to find him a new home.
 
I've been researching myself silly while the little guy sits in his bucket, and from what I can tell he's actually not E. brevis, but something similar. According to fishbase.org, E. brevis has papillae (bumps) on its upper lip, this blenny has none. It also has red eyes, and their pic of brevis shows white eyes. I released him into the tank, so far so good. He's desperately thin, much more so than I realized in the store, and started attacking the rockwork the minute he hit the bottom. I pulled a Caulerpa-covered rock from another tank, he hasn't tried it out yet (though the angels are pretty happy :rolleyes: ) but from what I can tell this guy is at least partially herbiverous.

Here are some pictures, maybe this will help with an ID?

P9270010Medium.jpg


P9270015Medium.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8234068#post8234068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ACBlinky
Sorry, not sure I understand. He's not a filefish, are you just comparing him to one because of his dietary needs? I actually can't take him back, there are no returns on marines, but I can try to find him a new home.
Click to expand...
he is beautifull, he looks harmless:p
 
take him back!!!..........why wont they take him back?! is he still in the original shipping bag? Demand a manager, explain the situation and risk, and say you would have not baught the fish if it was sold and labeled corectly.

i work at a lfs and your situation makes me mad!!!! ide kill a co-worker that would just leave you screwed for a measley ($15 bucks?).
 
@ cybertec69 - thanks, I really hope I can get him eating (and that he really is harmless). Easily the prettiest blenny I've ever seen.

@ Scopas Tang - I used to work at a LFS, it frustrates me as well. It's the customer's responsibility to do their research, but when a fish is specifically labeled reef-safe, to me that's the store making a guarantee that the species is what they say it is. If he's not, I'm going to be upset, but I bought him knowing the store has a no returns policy on marines. Mind you, I've been a VERY good customer there for quite a while, so they might take him back if I jump up and down. And er... he was a tad more than $15 ;)
 
doesnt look like a Exallias brevis to me at all! (since i have now seen a pic). i would rule it harmless, but only because most blennies are. :D


WarrenG: you cant always go by the colors, there are a few pics of the E. brevis that look pretty close to what is in question. but the dorsal fins on the E. brevis are more rounded where as the one in question not only spike up theres more of them.
 
Thanks so much for the responses guys. He may be harmless, but I'm kicking myself all the same -- RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!

Now I guess I have to cross my fingers that I can get some food into the little guy and fatten him up. He's going crazy biting at the rockwork, but there's not much there for him to eat.
 
Thanks :)
He doesn't look like a starry blenny to me, wrong colours, but they are the same basic shape.

He's running all over the place, biting at the rockwork, poor little guy is starving. I hope there's enough there to keep him going until he learns about the nori clip -- he seems smart, maybe he'll catch on when the angels go nuts at breakfast tomorrow.
 
Well, it took some looking, but I think I've found the correct species. Looks like I may have an ember or stigmata blenny, Cirripectes stigmaticus .

Here's my picture:
P9270015Medium.jpg


And one of C. stigmaticus from fishbase.org:
Cisti_u0.jpg
 
The mouth shape is combtooth, not fanged, FWTW, and he's beautiful: I don't blame you. He should be an algae eater, if he doesn't nosh a little coral now and again---I have a tailspot that doesn't mind robbing a coral of, say, cyclopeeze, but does no harm when he does.
 
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