yellow watchman -algae blenny

[Mr Autistic]

went to buy a sea hare for hair algae but was advised by lfs to go for a lawnmower blenny was told he would be fine with a yellow watchman(blue base fin) he is big at around 4 inches and the algae blenny is around 3 inches .
Anyway the watchman is not happy and has been approaching him with wide open mouth and some chasing .The algae blenny has been stuck in the corner all day .
Done some research seems they normally get on ,its only been in for 24 hours ,plenty of caves are available for them in a 3 foot tank .
Any thoughts /advise ?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes, my advice is to not take any advice from a LFS, ask here first. There will normally be someone that will answer you pretty quickly most of the time if you wanted to post from your cell phone while at the LFS.

I also suggest that you come up with a list of fish and other critters that you want, that way you can keep to a plan. Also you want to add the fish in the order of least aggressive to the most aggressive. We won't ever steer you wrong and have nothing to gain but helping a fellow reefer to succeed, the LFS has $ in their best interest, not your best interest or your tank nor it's inhabitants. Sad to say this is the norm from most LFS.

 

[Mr Autistic]

that's nice but yours is the only reply in over 2 hours and I'm still no wiser !

 

[ThRoewer]

Some aggression against new fish is nothing unusual. In many cases it will go away once the old fish stops seeing the newcomer as an intruder and new fish settles in.
If the aggression persists or escalates into violence you will have to intervene.

Ideally you add the fish in a certain order: smallest or least aggressive first, largest or most aggressive last.

Watchman gobies are not extremely aggressive fish so I think this is just a sign of displeasure over another fish intruding into his territory.

It may be required to remove the goby for a few days so the blenny can settle in. If you then return the goby the blenny will hopefully be able to hold his own.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Then I'm sorry I wasted my time replying to you. You asked for thoughts and advice and I gave you what you asked for.

 

[Mr Autistic]

Some aggression against new fish is nothing unusual. In many cases it will go away once the old fish stops seeing the newcomer as an intruder and new fish settles in.
If the aggression persists or escalates into violence you will have to intervene.

Ideally you add the fish in a certain order: smallest or least aggressive first, largest or most aggressive last.

Watchman gobies are not extremely aggressive fish so I think this is just a sign of displeasure over another fish intruding into his territory.

It may be required to remove the goby for a few days so the blenny can settle in. If you then return the goby the blenny will hopefully be able to hold his own.

thanks