My new Midas Blennie turned brown and is hiding in a cave.

glb · Jun 16, 2017

Yesterday I got him and he was yellow/orangish. He ate at the store. I acclimated him by floating the bag then adding some tank water. He was quarantined, copper treated at the store. I had to pour the bag out into a bowl because I couldn't catch him. He promptly jumped out of the bowl onto a towel. I had him in the net and into the tank within seconds. He immediately swam into a cave and hasn't come out. His color changed to brown, which means he's stressed. I put Prime in the tank to guard against any ammonia. The tank is a 40g with four other fish. Is this normal behavior for a new blenny or should I be concerned?

glb · Jun 16, 2017

He just peeked out and his color is better than last night.

Velcro · Jun 16, 2017

This is normal. He'll start coming out and coloring up. They can quickly change colors depending on their mood/perceived danger.

glb · Jun 16, 2017

Velcro said:
This is normal. He'll start coming out and coloring up. They can quickly change colors depending on their mood/perceived danger.

What a relief! He is eating now. I dropped some food right by his cave and he grabbed it. I've heard they have great personalities. Do they eventually swim around?

Velcro · Jun 16, 2017

glb said:
What a relief! He is eating now. I dropped some food right by his cave and he grabbed it. I've heard they have great personalities. Do they eventually swim around?

For sure. Once they settle in they are out and about quite a bit. Very fun to watch. Mine has a few hiding spots for whenever I walk up to the tank too fast or am working on something inside it. I named mine Gucci, since he's gold and because he's the most expensive fish I've bought (I think he was a bit gouged at like $80).

glb · Jun 16, 2017

Velcro said:
For sure. Once they settle in they are out and about quite a bit. Very fun to watch. Mine has a few hiding spots for whenever I walk up to the tank too fast or am working on something inside it. I named mine Gucci, since he's gold and because he's the most expensive fish I've bought (I think he was a bit gouged at like $80).

Mine is Benny the Blennie. He's just a regular working class guy.

Rjramos · Jun 16, 2017

Midas blennies have got to be one of my overall favorite marine fish, comical, and personality. Color changes with mood are common. As you will see in pics below, the male in this pair would turn completely black during spawns. I once had a breeding pair and I posted the occurrence here on R2R. Unfortunately, after many spawns, the female died looking unhealthy, and the male, still looking healthy disappeared in the tank shortly afterwards. After many attempts by myself and a local breeder to raise the babies, we were never successful. I believe Midas Blennies have not been successfully bred in captivity yet. Here is the link and some pics, enjoy!

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?posts/1368406/

glb · Jun 16, 2017

Rjramos said:
Midas blennies have got to be one of my overall favorite marine fish, comical, and personality. Color changes with mood are common. As you will see in pics below, the male in this pair would turn completely black during spawns. I once had a breeding pair and I posted the occurrence here on R2R. Unfortunately, after many spawns, the female died looking unhealthy, and the male, still looking healthy disappeared in the tank shortly afterwards. After many attempts by myself and a local breeder to raise the babies, we were never successful. I believe Midas Blennies have not been successfully bred in captivity yet. Here is the link and some pics, enjoy!

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?posts/1368406/

Thanks! How can you tell the difference between a male and female when they're not breeding?

Rjramos · Jun 16, 2017

glb said:
Thanks! How can you tell the difference between a male and female when they're not breeding?

For one thing, males get bigger and generally have more variety of colors. I also learned that the female has a more oval black marking near the anal fins. The male more elongated black mark.

glb · Jun 16, 2017

Rjramos said:
For one thing, males get bigger and generally have more variety of colors. I also learned that the female has a more oval black marking near the anal fins. The male more elongated black mark.

Thanks. Since Benny's behind is stuck in a cave, I guess I'll have to wait on the gender.

Kyl · Jun 16, 2017

I've found through three blennies so far (bi-colour, tailspot, midas) that they are super moody, and also big chickens. It will also just depend on the character of the fish, but all three of mine have been very shy for a long time and will stress super easily.

As long as it's eating, just give it time.