<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10419695#post10419695 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Insane Reefer
I am SO glad I took your advice Kevin - this little guy is so cool and fun, I don't think I will even consider another fish (for this tank)...
Bogo is in good hands! I'm very happy that he's working out so well for you and, more importantly, that you've fallen for blennies. Now I'm not the only blenny nut out there, LOL. Actually, back when I first had them, you couldn't find blennies hardly at all. Every now and then one would show up in an LFS.
My first blenny died, unfortunately, because back then materials just weren't available about husbandry of most of these guys. My first one was from the Mediterranean Sea and was a cold water fish. I didn't know this at the time (found out many years later) and he simply wasn't compatible with the warm reef environment.
My next one was a Molly Miller (formerly known as Blennius cristata, now correctly named Scartella cristata). This blenny grows rather large, about 5" long, and is quite aggressive (picks on fish holding similar niche but otherwise is a good fish) and is an omnivore. Current literature available to aquarists sometimes label it a herbivore, but in my experience it NEVER ate algae (micro or macro) for the 4 years that he survived in my tank. He scarfed up any meaty meal that I could provide.
After my tank crashed (the cause of his death), I caught a blenny from the Chesapeake Bay, a critter known as the feather blenny (Hypsoblennius hentzi, hence - no pun intended - my user name). This guy too was a meat eater. Both the Molly Miller and this blenny had tons, and I mean tons, of personality, so much so that more expensive fish in my tank became boring to me...with the exception of my angels, of course. Those two fish have since been my favorites, for nearly 30 years now, and my inspiration to learn as much as possible about any blenny that I come across. My "bay" blenny used to swim to the surface during feeding time and when I placed my hand in the tank would perch in my hand as I fed him by hand. Lacking a swim bladder made him probably one of the last to reach food as it floated down, but with a sympathetic blenny loving handler, he all of a sudden had the feeding advantage.
Anyway, I could go on and on but I'll spare you. That's how I became hooked on blennies. Now, IR, yer hooked too! Ain't they cute?
By the way, my blenny oyster reef tank is finally coming along. I'm in the process of building the stand, pics to come on my thread of the progress. After that, it's a little bit of plumbing, installing the circulation equipment and lighting, establishing the rock and sand bed (bio filter), then collection of the blennies. I hope to have this all done by mid September, fish and all.
Bogo Food Supreme looks pretty good to me. No MSG? Wonder how it will taste over some steamed rice and a little sushi? Oops...guess that's taboo on this site, LOL...
Now IR, you'll have to find a way to make some MMLR with built in blenny food supplementation...more oyster shell to enhance algae growth perhaps? I'm kidding, but hey, if anyone can do it you can!
:bum:
