meiacanthus blenny questions

[cal3v]

Hi. I think these blennies are pretty cool, have done some research, and have been looking to get one. My one question that I still have is, when I stick my hand into my tank will it bite me? I know these guys are called fang blennies for a reason, and I don't want to get bit. If anything, anybody have suggestions on what to do to keep it at bay while I do tank maintenance? Or what I should do in case it bites me? Thanks.

[algaeguy]

Hi Cal:

I am also a big fan of blennies, and have several different ones in my system.

I have never been bit, or even threatened by any of them. Which is not to say, of course, that they won't or can't attack you! My understanding is that the "fangs" are strictly defensive, and are not used to attack other fishes.

My canary fangblenny ( I don't have my references with me here so I don't recall the scientific name) is a beautiful, small, and peaceful fish who has great personality. This fish spends all day out in the open and is a great eater.

I also have several "non-fang" blennies (a black sailfin, a lawnmower blennie, and bicolr) and they get along just fine in my 150 reef. I am interested in the striped fangblenny (again-can't recall the name- sorry) and some others. I think that blennies are a great addition to a tank if you can make sure that they occupy different habitats within your system (ie; substrate, mid-water, etc.)

I have found them (without exception) to be hardy and colorful. Do quarantine the new ones carfully, as they are (I think always) wild-caught, and do go through the usual shipping process that can be rough on them, lowering their disease resistence and depriving them of food during the trip.

I have foundthat quarantine really gives you time to feed them carefully and see that they are thriving before releasing into your main tank.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[cal3v]

Hi thanks. Cool, I'm probably going to go with something, maybe the striped one, grammistes I believe.

[Contender]

Grammistes would be the striped one. Let me know how it goes. I would be too intimidated to buy anything called Striped Poison Fang Blenny, but they are probably harmless.

I have been looking into Meiacanthus Bundoon, but have been able to find very little information on these beautiful fish. If anyone knows anything about this species, let me know.

[TurboRook]

I've got the Bundoon fang blenny. I've never had an issue with it being aggressive at all. It leaves me at its tank mates alone, and they leave it alone. It is a great fish and I think it's one of the more beautiful fang blennies. If I remember right, they come from a different region then the all-yellow canary blennies and tend to be imported less frequently than the canaries.

[Contender]

TurboRook - You are one of the first I've heard of that has a Bundoon. I was concerned about how well they adapt to an aquarium, but your post clears that up for me. Do you have any problems feeding yours, or does it eat readily? Does it spend alot of its time hiding?

If I'm not mistaken, this is not actually one of the fang blennies...I may be wrong though. At any rate, its not of the venomous variety. This species comes from Fiji. It is pretty hard to find, but the LFS I frequent gets one in every once in a while.

I also think think this is one of the most beautiful Blennies. It strongly resembles a Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), and I love the way it moves like clockwork...moving in short bursts and then staying perfectly still.

Thanks for your help.