Tailspot Blenny- aggression?

[Caseymae725]

We've had this fish for a few weeks now, and in the last several days this dude has lost it's mind. Desperately trying to give it's reflection a piece of it's mind (I think), then going and taking out it's frustration on neighboring fish. Which there hasn't been a problem with up until recently. It's even going after a coco worm, body slamming it a couple times before retreating into it's house. Is this normal?? Everything I've been told or read is that this fish is as close to peaceful as you can get. The coco worm isn't out of it's tube like it used to be in the last 3-4 days. Don't want it to die bc we paid a pretty penny for it.

Going to try and attach a video, I apologize if it's hard to see. If I get to close to the tank it darts, so I just have to zoom. In the video it looks to me like it's sizing itself up, gets after a fire fish, was about to go after a clown, then hits the tube worm 2 times.

Suggestions would be great... should I ride it out and see if it stops (at everyone else's expense) or try to catch it and return it to the store? Any tips on catching them? Thanks for your time.

 

[Mjrenz]

I can’t view the video but my suggestion would be to give it a little more time and see if he calms down after he gets used to his new surroundings. Maybe also move the tube worm outside of his current warpath.

 

[LaloJ]

IMO, I think your fish is being affected internally, I think that he is quite nervous and stressed about something and it is likely that in his desperation he is acting crazy. Have you added something to the tank or have you noticed a parameter that has changed suddenly?

 

[attiland]

Every time you add a new fish new picking order has to be set up by the fish. This seems like a fish didn’t find its place yet. Swimming on the side looking at is faint reflection of the als indicating stress of some kind. Those attacks are half hearted not to be worried about

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

how big is the tank and how many fish are in it? It sounds a little like small tank aggression

 

[Caseymae725]

I apologize for not answering sooner, my phone hadn't notified me that I was getting responses.

It's a 25g lagoon style, there's a pair of purple fire fish, a pair of clowns, a tiny male ruby red dragonet, tailspot, and the coco worm. The only new addition has been a leather coral. Hubby checked the water parameters and I took in a water sample to the Lfs for good measure. Everything checked out great, was even told it wouldn't hurt to raise the phosphates some, tank is almost too clean. Like I said though, none of the fish have had any issues with each other over the last few weeks. They are really good about minding their own business.

 

[ColoredRock]

I apologize for not answering sooner, my phone hadn't notified me that I was getting responses.

It's a 25g lagoon style, there's a pair of purple fire fish, a pair of clowns, a tiny male ruby red dragonet, tailspot, and the coco worm. The only new addition has been a leather coral. Hubby checked the water parameters and I took in a water sample to the Lfs for good measure. Everything checked out great, was even told it wouldn't hurt to raise the phosphates some, tank is almost too clean. Like I said though, none of the fish have had any issues with each other over the last few weeks. They are really good about minding their own business.

what about hiding places.. everyone needs a "bedroom"

 

[Tamberav]

Not totally unusual. Tailspot blennies actually can be fiesty and bold. Even mildly aggressive. It sounds like yours doesn’t feel it has enough space to itself.

A lot of things we rate peaceful isn’t totally accurate. Many small fish can be territorial. They are peaceful when conditions satisfy them.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I watched the video and I have a slightly more aggressive tailspot myself, but to me, yours looks like it's glass-surfing, and stressed. The action on the coco worm looks more like flashing or itching behavior.

When mine acts aggressive she opens her mouth wide, like yawning and goes head first to things. But it's only to defend her cave. She's not out chasing. She does eat algea off the back glass, but it looks like chomping, not glass-surfing like yours.

 

[Tumey]

I’m with the others here and it looks to me as if the little guy is stressed more than anything. Doesn’t know quite where he belongs yet. Maybe moving the coco worm away from the cave he took cover in at the end of your video would be enough to help him to feel like that’s his place for comfort in your tank.

 

[Caseymae725]

I really do appreciate the responses, all the live rock in there is very porous, it had multiple hiding places, but definitely favored the one in the video.

Because of the word "stress" being used a lot in this thread, I went ahead and caught it and took it back to the store. If it was, indeed, that stressed, then I'm not going to force it to live the rest of it's life that way. That would just be cruel on my part and unfair to the tank mates.

I had moved the tube worm several times and it almost seemed like the tailspot sought it out to continue that behavior. Like a game it learned that by hitting the tube the worm would retreat. It really was odd, and I don't know if the worm can feed appropriately while inside it's tube and I didn't want it to die. But I hope the fish ends up in a tank with better accommodations. Again, thank yall for the input.