Fang Blenny in Nano?

[Baby Ray]

I am looking for a second fish to add
to my 12 gallon nano and I was considering a capital bred stripped blenny (fang blenny).



I’m looking for something active with a lot of personality. I know people typically recommend larger tanks but I have a frag style 12 gallon so there is ample rock work, substrate and horizontal swimming space.

Do you think this would be doable? Right now I just have a clown, a BTA, some rock anemones, and anemone crabs and shrimp.

 

[malacoda]

Sorry, 12g is too small. Fang blennies are swimmers. I wouldn't put one in anything less than a 20g.

For a 12g, you be better off with a fish that hovers — something like a firefish, or perhaps an assessor. (Assessors move around a bit, but tends to be very localized – such as somersaults or loops in the open space right next to their hidey-hole.)

 

[Baby Ray]

Even with the added horizontal swimming space in a frag style tank?

I thought these recommendations were made mostly based on the size of the fish + how active they are.

This tank probably has double the horizontal swim space as a 12 gallon cube.

 

[Jamie9]

+1 for fire fish, even better a purple fire fish. It's a gorgeous fish that loves to hover. It'll spend all day in full view if you don't stand too close to the tank and doesn't need a lot of space. Definitely it'll want a nook under a rock to sleep in at night.

 

[malacoda]

How long is a 12g, frag tank? And how deep is it? It's not just length that's important, too little depth can stress a fish out too.

I had a tonga fang blenny that was in a 24" x 16" x 16" and it swam the entire tank actively.

I had three smith's blennies in a 65g that was 36" x 20" x 18". They swam the whole tank actively.

When I moved them into a 48" x 24" x 24" 120g, they would spend most of their time on one side or the other.

Right now, I have two grammistes blennies — which you have pictured above — in a 60" x 30" x 24" 180g. While they do browse around the whole tank, the spend most of their time actively swimming in one half of it.

That tells me, one fang blenny needs at least 24" x 24" x 16" (the full 20g) of space to be somewhat comfortable ... with 24" x 24" x 24" of space (e.g. half of the 120g) being more ideal.

If you prefer a more scientific method, from a very experienced biologist, take a look at Jay Hemdal's article and perform his straightforward caclulation for your specific tank size:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/estimating-the-need-for-swimming-space-for-aquarium-fishes.801/

 

[Baby Ray]

+1 for fire fish, even better a purple fire fish. It's a gorgeous fish that loves to hover. It'll spend all day in full view if you don't stand too close to the tank and doesn't need a lot of space. Definitely it'll want a nook under a rock to sleep in at night.

I like the idea of a fire goby, and the purple ones are gorgeous.

However with my current aquascape I intentionally let some rock pick out of the water, but that makes it difficult to build a lid or mesh top.

And as I do basically all of my viewing from top down, I’m trying to keep my tank lidless

 

[Baby Ray]

How long is a 12g, frag tank? And how deep is it? It's not just length that's important, too little depth can stress a fish out too.

I had a tonga fang blenny that was in a 24" x 16" x 16" and it swam the entire tank actively.

I had three smith's blennies in a 65g that was 36" x 20" x 18". They swam the whole tank actively.

When I moved them into a 48" x 24" x 24" 120g, they would spend most of their time on one side or the other.

Right now, I have two grammistes blennies — which you have pictured above — in a 60" x 30" x 24" 180g. While they do browse around the whole tank, the spend most of their time actively swimming in one half of it.

That tells me, one fang blenny needs at least 24" x 24" x 16" (the full 20g) of space to be somewhat comfortable ... with 24" x 24" x 24" of space (e.g. half of the 120g) being more ideal.

If you prefer a more scientific method, from a very experienced biologist, take a look at Jay Hemdal's article and perform his straightforward caclulation for your specific tank size:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/estimating-the-need-for-swimming-space-for-aquarium-fishes.801/

Thank you for giving me a run down of your experience. My tank is 16x15x11 so based on that experience I will probably steer clear.

They do seem like very cool fish though

 

[Baby Ray]

Sorry, 12g is too small. Fang blennies are swimmers. I wouldn't put one in anything less than a 20g.

For a 12g, you be better off with a fish that hovers — something like a firefish, or perhaps an assessor. (Assessors move around a bit, but tends to be very localized – such as somersaults or loops in the open space right next to their hidey-hole.)

I really like the idea of an assessor gobie, thank you for that suggestion.

I am trying to keep everything captive bred and it looks like captive bred assessors are hard to come by and expensive.

I got into this hobby probably around 10 years ago now and it is unbelievable to me how expensive everything has become.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I loved, loved, loved my Fang (Forktail). I had him in a 20-gallon, and he was rather chill-- but the tank only had 1 or 2 other small fish-- I think a Clown and a Yellow Tail Damsel. Anyway, he 'seemed' happy, but as we all know, it's kind of hard to just 'ask a fish'...

 

[JumboShrimp]

I guess you have considered a Possum Wrasse?

 

[Baby Ray]

I guess you have considered a Possum Wrasse?

I have heavily considered a possum wrasse, they seem like very cool little dudes.

I have heard they are huge jumpers so I would definitely have to figure out how to get a tight fitting lid with my exposed aquascape.

 

[malacoda]

If you have a fair amount of rock work they can hide in ... or egg crate shelving they can hide under (not sure if you're using your tank as a lagoon display, or an actual frag tank) ... I don't think you'd have a problem with a possum wrasse.

They are cryptic and tend to stay very close to cover/rock work. And they're more of a 'maneuverable' swimmer than an 'active' swimmer (at least mine is).

While any fish might jump when startled, IMO, unlike most wrasses, possums are probably on the low end of the risk scale ... especially if they have plenty of cover to retreat into.

Don't think I've ever seen them captive bred though.

 

[Baby Ray]

If you have a fair amount of rock work they can hide in ... or egg crate shelving they can hide under (not sure if you're using your tank as a lagoon display, or an actual frag tank) ... I don't think you'd have a problem with a possum wrasse.

They are cryptic and tend to stay very close to cover/rock work. And they're more of a 'maneuverable' swimmer than an 'active' swimmer (at least mine is).

While any fish might jump when startled, IMO, unlike most wrasses, possums are probably on the low end of the risk scale ... especially if they have plenty of cover to retreat into.

Don't think I've ever seen them captive bred though.

I’m treating the tank as a full display with rock water and substrate. I think deciding between an assessor goby or possum wrasse may be my best bet.

If I do end up building a cover I might try for a pistol shrimp and goby pair.