How much will the ORA Red Sea mimic blenny go for?

They are one of my favorite fish. I had one in 2004 that jumped out of the tank and then had a pair a year later that laid eggs for me. Unfortunately I thought they were picking on my corals so I sold them. It turns out I had a worm that was eating sps. :(.
Like ORA said they used to be mistakes in groups of blacklined blennies. In those days they weren't brought in on purpose, but you could look in the groups of blacklines and usually find a few. In those days there were two main collectors in the Red Sea. One group brought in the angels, tangs and butterflies and the other brought in smaller fish like the pseudochromis, blennies and clowns. For some reason the "small fish collector" went away about 2006 and there hasn't been anyone to fill that niche until lately.

Here are a couple picks of adult fish.
My single
gBlennyOpen_zps0a1d4217.jpg

gBlennyHide_zps7638332b.jpg


My pair
gMImicBlennyPair1_zps9b12808c.jpg


BTW, in those days, they were about $15 wholesale.
 
My ORA red sea mimic blenny is ready to leave the 20gallon QT tank it has been in for the past month. Did the first 14days without preventive medications and the last 14 days with straight coper sulfate to play it safe.

I plan to move it to a 40gallon breeder reef tank tomorrow, or Monday if mothers day activities interfere tomorrow.

The question is, do i leave in the only inhabitant, a established for 3 years ORA Orchid Dottyback P. fridmani, or remove the Orchid dottyback? I'd sell or give it away and get a new young one after the ORA mimic blenny is established in the 40B?

I'm also thinking about removing the fridmani and picking up a pair or trio of ORA yellow assessors to put thru QT then introduce to the 40B with the mimic blenny.

The fridmani has always been the only fish in it's tank, was in a 6' 100g long for a year before being moved to the 40b after i got rid of the 100gallon aquarium.
I had introduced a small ORA black snow flake clown to the 40b (after putting it thru QT), and found it dried up on the floor the next day! No torn fins or other visible signs of fighting and i never saw the fridmani attack the clown but i'm sure it's why the clown jumped. At the time i also had considered removing the fridmani first, a expensive mistake, don't need a repeat of that, not when ORA orchids are only $20 at Petco.

Any ideas?
 
Thanks but i'm not going to do that, i like unobstructed top down viewing. I try to avoid buying the notorious jumpers, i.e., small wrasses, etc.
 
Update:

Ok so i captured removed and sold the ORA fridmani Pseudochromis prior to moving the ORA Red Sea mimic blenny from QT to DT. I'm glad i went that route because the blenny hides from me just about all the time. I'm guessing it would've been worse with the fridmani present, possibly to the point where the mimic blenny would starve.

I am going to allow it to be the only fish in the tank for at least the remainder of the year before thinking about new fish additions. Although i probably would not hesitate to add one of the ORA mandarin dragonets if/when they became available again.
 
Ahh I want one of these babies. As soon as my tank is set up I will be getting one from DD.

Marc, maybe you should get more fish. When I started with just a pair of occelaris in my old tank they hid all the time. As soon as I dropped in a couple more fish everyone was out and about. I felt like the presence of other fish made them think the water was safe, and the absence made them feel very uncomfortable, like a shark might be lurking? Maybe it was coincidence and they just started getting comfortable at the same time, but it seemed night and day to me within a few hours of adding the other fish.
 
The ORA Red Sea Mimic Blenny that I have came from a fellow local reefer. He got it from LiveAquaria.com Diver's Den. In his tank, (mixed reef, mostly LPS and SPS) the blenny picked at one very specific acropora colony which was near the blenny's favorite hole in the rock.

In my tank (zoas, palys, euphyllia, acans, and a single millepora frag) I have not observed coral nipping in the 4 weeks I've had him.

your results may vary, every fish is an individual.
 
Ikserk said:
The ORA Red Sea Mimic Blenny that I have came from a fellow local reefer. He got it from LiveAquaria.com Diver's Den. In his tank, (mixed reef, mostly LPS and SPS) the blenny picked at one very specific acropora colony which was near the blenny's favorite hole in the rock.

In my tank (zoas, palys, euphyllia, acans, and a single millepora frag) I have not observed coral nipping in the 4 weeks I've had him.

your results may vary, every fish is an individual.
Click to expand...

I agree with every fish is an individual. Thank you for the information!!!
 
When i first put it in the DT it picked at the tiny polyps a species of Porities i've seen named "Mike Palettas Purple Porities", it didn't do any damage and i didn't see any missing polyps, no visible damage whatsoever.
I have allot of SPS, polyps are extended with no signs of nipping, also have candy cane coral LPS, no prob's there either.
The 1.5" T. maxima clam that doesn't seem to extend its mantle much anymore but that could be any number of things and i never saw the mimic blenny nip at it.

Just added a small ~4" Stichodactyla mertensii anemone. I'm hoping the mimic blenny will be smart enough to stay away from it. When the anemone settles in and grows some i'll add a clownfish, prob something that'll stay small and docile, thinking maybe a black snowflake ocellaris, or the ORA blood orange Maroon X Occi hybird.
 
Make friends with a LFS owner. They are $75 wholesale. My neighbor picked one up yesterday. Came in very small, but very fat and healthy. Real personality with these guys.

If you want the striking colors I recommend buying a larger sized specimen. There is not much color in the little guys.
 
Last edited:
Amoore311 said:
Make friends with a LFS owner. They are $75 wholesale. My neighbor picked one up yesterday. Came in very small, but very fat and healthy. Real personality with these guys.

If you want the striking colors I recommend buying a larger sized specimen. There is not much color in the little guys.
Click to expand...
I have seen many pix on DD where they look dull and washed out and lack the tail fin outline. The one i got has pretty good color for its small size, tail fin even has the black edging. Was on sale at Saltwaterfish dot com for $100 a few months ago when i got it.
 
I think they might all come in very small from ORA, which explains the difference in coloration. There was a light hint of black edging at the fin.

This fish was VERY small though. I'm talking 1" max, probably closer to 3/4".

Still an awesome fish, don't get me wrong. I might be ordering one myself the next time my local shop does a group buy.
 
Amoore311 said:
I think they might all come in very small from ORA, which explains the difference in coloration. There was a light hint of black edging at the fin.

This fish was VERY small though. I'm talking 1" max, probably closer to 3/4".

Still an awesome fish, don't get me wrong. I might be ordering one myself the next time my local shop does a group buy.
Click to expand...
Sounds about right. Mine looks more like the one Maximus got. Phender's has great color, hopefully it'll only be a matter of time before ours look like that.
 
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