The most interesting fish I've never seen

[alan mcilvried]

I'm just posting this because maybe someone will look this up in an archive search some day.

 

I bought a Convict Blenny about a week ago. There were 7 or 8 in the tank at Aquarium One and they were pretty cool all swimming around together looking all convict-like. So I says to myself "Hey, I think I'll get me one of them Convict Blenny fish. They look cool!"

 

It's been in my tank for about a week now. I've seen it about 4 times from it's nose to it's ears (assuming they have ears.) I continually imagine how cool looking it is. I have to imagine because all I see is the end result of a continuous digging operation as it undermines every piece of rock in my tank.

 

It must have a whole series of tunnels under my sand bed because it shows up at opposite ends of the tank in about 3-5 second intervals without ever coming above ground. Now, you might ask, how do I know where it is if I don't see it? Well, I know where it is because of the plume of aragonite dust that billows up from the bottom as he spits out a bucket-full of sand from each tunnel entrance to the excavation. My wife and I have now taken to "blenny spotting" duty, trying to catch a glimpse of him.

 

This is a fish that I never see, makes my aquascaping unstable, and I can't show him to any of my friends because he never comes out. He is WAY cool.

 

This is a stupid hobby.

[jamesbuf]

Sounds like an engineer goby. They constantly dig up the sand. Don't know if thats such a good thing since you want the bottom layer to stay anaerobic. They are cool as heell though.

 

 

 

oh wait, its the same thing. Just looked it up:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=2065

[dzekunoi]

Convict blennies (engeneer gobies) are WAY cool fish. Lots of personality!

Edited May 8, 2007 by dzekunoi

[dandy7200]

Once they get established and finish digging their caves they are pretty neat fish. They will always be sifting and cleaning out their tunnels but the mess is not that bad. You should try and look through various books and websites to develop a sound stocking plan for your tank so you don't get hit with any of these surprises, you might find the hobby less stupid that way.

[johnnybv]

Convict blennies (ingeneer gobies) are WAY cool fish. Lots of personality!

They get huge too!! 12" +++

[alan mcilvried]

Convict blennies (engeneer gobies) are WAY cool fish. Lots of personality!

 

 

You know, I do have a stocking plan, so it's funny you should mention that. And interestingly, Convict Blennies aren't on it. I went to the store for Green Chromis and when I got there they didn't have as many as they told me when I had called to check. So I figured as long as I was there I'd get a little something for my time. The Blennies were all swimming around all peaceful and such in the middle of the tank............ and they told me they make nice community fish.............

 

Now i just have to wait for him to die or get tired of digging because I'm never going to catch him.

 

Al

[dzekunoi]

You know, I do have a stocking plan, so it's funny you should mention that. And interestingly, Convict Blennies aren't on it. I went to the store for Green Chromis and when I got there they didn't have as many as they told me when I had called to check. So I figured as long as I was there I'd get a little something for my time. The Blennies were all swimming around all peaceful and such in the middle of the tank............ and they told me they make nice community fish.............

 

Now i just have to wait for him to die or get tired of digging because I'm never going to catch him.

 

Al

Oh no, they are not going to die! They are very hardy and long living fish. My two rascals are fairly settled with digging now means they do not dig all the time. Just very often. And move to new location every week too.

 

If you regret you got this fish try a trap. They might go for it.

[jason the filter freak]

I saw the one in inna's tank, he's a cool little rascal

[davelin315]

I'd get it out... I bought a couple at a store that was closing in Chicago and thought that they were really cool, too, until the rock started to collapse. I am the type to really put the rock deep into the sand so that it's resting on the bottom and then I push and prod until it's solidly sloped into the glass typically, and that's how I did my last tank, with these very large pieces at the top weighting everything down. The sand didn't matter one bit and often got blown around without disturbing the rock. The engineer gobies, however, I had 2 of them in a 125, went nuts and within a few months they started to cause rock slides. One got huge, over a foot, and the other stayed rather small, but together they caused a lot of headaches and a lot of worrisome nights that the rock would slide and crack the tank. I ended up tearing it down to get them out. I'd remove them if you can, they will turn into a huge hassle.