I'm pretty excited! I picked up a second Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura) from another reefer to try and pair up with the one I have had in my tank. I was pretty sure the one I had was a female and the new one appreared to be a male. I introduced them about 10 days ago and tonight I was watching the tank and could see the male doing a courtship display, trying to entice the female. The pair swam together for a few minutes before the female broke it off. My female looks to be gravid with eggs. I added a couple of spawning pots for the male, so hopefully he will be able to entice her to lay eggs some time soon. I'd really like to try raising these guys because I think they are so cool! I'll post some pics when I can get them.
BZ

we should just rename the breeders corner, to bob's corner. lol

good to hear, and good luck!

we should just rename the breeders corner, to bob's corner. lol

good to hear, and good luck!

Hehehe...:D You all need to join in the fun!
Z

Hehehe...:D You all need to join in the fun!
Z

heck, right now I barely get coral growth, much less breeding. But I would love to be able to do that someday. Seems like it would be very rewarding (emotionally)

heck, right now I barely get coral growth, much less breeding. But I would love to be able to do that someday. Seems like it would be very rewarding (emotionally)

It does take some effort but it is fun. It can also be pretty devastating when you lose them :sad: after all the hard work.

BZ

Bob, this is one of my favorite fish.. How can i tell if mine is male or female?

Here are some not so great shots of the pair of Tail Spot Blennies. The first pictures are of the female, and you can see the swollen abdomen. The next few are when the male has been trying to swim with her and get her to follow him, and the last pic is of the male after he gives up!


http://www.georgia-birding.com/BC-Reef-12-29-08-037.jpg


http://www.georgia-birding.com/BC-Reef-12-29-08-035.jpg


http://www.georgia-birding.com/BC-Reef-12-29-08-050.jpg


http://www.georgia-birding.com/BC-Reef-12-29-08-052.jpg



http://www.georgia-birding.com/BC-Reef-12-29-08-047.jpg

:D

Bob, this is one of my favorite fish.. How can i tell if mine is male or female?


Same here its going to be the first fish i pick up when i add fish to my reef tank.:)

Bob, this is one of my favorite fish.. How can i tell if mine is male or female?

Trey,
I think it's tough to seperate them until they start to some signs of pairing. I think typically the males are larger / longer than females. But I think mine are about the same size...

bob

Matchmaker Matchmaker, make me a match!

Congrats, Bob -- let me know when you want to try mating GDM eels!

:)

:) I call dibs!!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha. Second in line.
Man I am so jealous. I have been trying to get my lfs to get one in for me for the past year. Nothing. Awesome fish.

Budsreef was over today and saw the pair. The female is ripe with eggs. I made a small PVC cave out of 1" PVC capped on both ends and one end drilled with a 5/8" hole. The "cave" has been in the tank for a few days but while Bud was here today, the female finally found the cave and was sitting in the opening. The male watched from his barnacle perch. I'm hoping he takes the hint and moves down to the PVC and they start nesting. I'll post a pic tomorrow when the lights are back on... very cool and hoping to have eggs soon.

I picked up a tail spot on Wednesday, and as soon as I finished acclimating him, I put him in the tank and he went straight into the rocks. I haven't seen him since then. Did yall have similar experiences? I really hope he wasn't eaten by the brittle star or CBS.

They like to perch in holes. Mine disappeared for a few days in the QT tank while I was acclimating him. Hopefully yours should pop out in a day or two.
Bob

That's what I figured. At the store he had one in the display and it jumped around from ledge to ledge, and the one I got from the sale display was sitting on a piece of rock looking at me. I think he'll be fine, just paranoid about a 1" fish that cost half a tank of gas, lol.

Will you be at the next meeting? I have plans to set up a breeding and fry raising system and you seem to know alot about this stuff so I would like to check my ideas with you.

Will you be at the next meeting? I have plans to set up a breeding and fry raising system and you seem to know alot about this stuff so I would like to check my ideas with you.

I will be there. Happy to talk to you about your plans!
Bob

Woohoo!!!! :yay: :yay: :yay: :yay:

This morning, I checked the 70G and saw that the male Tailspot Blenny had moved to a different barnacle. As I watched, I saw him swim back to his regualr barnacle and swim right out again. I thought it strange, so I kept watching only to see the female poke her head out. I also noticed most of the fish in the tank hanging out in front of the barnacle clusted as well as the cleaner shrimp. Yep! The female was laying eggs! I quickly grabbed the laptop and camera and took som video and pictures. They are not the best quality because the spot he picked is fairly dark. I watched for over an hour while the female would lay eggs and then the male would swim over and in to the hole to fertilize the eggs. I can't see in to the hole well enough to see the eggs but you can see in the video some eggs do not adhere and they float out to be nabbed by one of their tankmates. I first noticed them around 10AM and it's now after 12:00 and it seems like the female may be done and has lef the cave. The male took her place and is defending the nest hole. I'm not sure when they started but it was a minimum of two hours that I watched. I think the male with tend the eggs for between 6 and 8 days, at which point they hatch. Unfortunatley, since they choose not to use the PVC cave I put in the tank, I may not be able to get these eggs to try and raise.
Here are some of the pics of the female laying and the male fertilizing, as well as a link to the videos...

Bob

The first three pics are of the female depositing the eggs

http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-003-female.jpg

http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-005-female.jpg

http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-006-female.jpg


And the male visiting to fertilize the eggs.

http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-022-male.jpg

http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-024-male.jpg


http://www.georgia-birding.com/tailspot-blenny-01-10-09-025-male.jpg



Here are the links to the videos on youtube:

Video Clip #1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InILprE5j44



Video clip#2 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWdapA9iRFE


enjoy!

Well, after the meeting tonight, I had to come home and check on the Tailspot Blenny eggs. I took my flashlight and looked up in to the barnacle that the female layed the eggs in and I could see them pretty well! She lined the inside of the barnacle and they are starting to look silvery! I expect that they will hatch out in another couple of days, unfortunatley I am headed to the coast on Thursday so I won't be able to collect this batch. I'll be ready again next time! I'll try and get a picture of the eggs tomorrow.

BZ

Man you must have some kind of special love potion in your tanks. Cool Pics.

These are great pics Bob.
As I said at the meeting, they should prove to be continuous breeders. They will spawn every several days. The eggs should hatch in about 6-7 days at 78-80 degrees F. Supposedly easy to grow out.

These are great pics Bob.
As I said at the meeting, they should prove to be continuous breeders. They will spawn every several days. The eggs should hatch in about 6-7 days at 78-80 degrees F. Supposedly easy to grow out.

John,
Thanks! That's good to hear! I've been watching the pair but have not seem the female go back in to the spawning site. I'll be trying to grow some of these out and try your method. One quick quesiton, are you using greenwater in the fish bowls? I was going to keep greenwater in them unless you have had more success with out.

Bob

These are great pics Bob.
As I said at the meeting, they should prove to be continuous breeders. They will spawn every several days. The eggs should hatch in about 6-7 days at 78-80 degrees F. Supposedly easy to grow out.

HA! LMAO. Right after my last response, I turned around to check on the blennies and the female was in the barnacle laying eggs again!

BZ

Bob
Yes, green water and rotifers. Oddly, I throw about a weeks worth of hatches in one tank/bowl with green water rotifers and artemia. Keeps everybody happy.
As I said methods are slightly different for every species. Just watch what the larvae are doing.
John

its great to hear thet you have a breeding pair, now hurry up and grow them out. I'd like one, one two. :) good luck raising.

baboonscience: great hearing your spiel last night. it was very informative.

baboonscience: great hearing your spiel last night. it was very informative.
Thanks, I enjoyed doing it.

How are the gobies doing? Still looking for one myself

How are the gobies doing? Still looking for one myself

Tailspots are doing good. I checked the pvc nest tonight and was going to bring some eggs to John but it looks like they all hatched. I have not had time to try and raise any since the first attempt but I am hoping things settle down a bit in the next couple of months and i can try raising them again.

BZ

If you're ever successful...I know my roommate is crazy about them. So, you could put us somewhere down the list?

He has a 14G biocube and all he cares about is getting a tail spot blenny. Possibly one other fish.

He may be old and gray (like me) before I have any for him!

OK. So tonight I had to do some work in my 65G so while I as in there, I decided I would check on the tailspot nest. The tube was loaded with well developed eggs! Much to the chagrin of the male Tailspot, I went ahead and moved the PVC nest to a hathcing tank to try my luck with another batch of tailspots. Yep, I didn't have enough to do trying to raise about 50 seahorses and another 100 or so Maroon clowns! What can I say, I'm nuts. I replaced his PVC cave with and exact duplicate so hopefully he will be back in it in the morning. Right now he is not happy with me.

John - if you read this, is there an easy way to remove the eggs from the PVC and leave some for the male to tend? I was afraid to scrape them. Also, assuming they continue spawning in the new cave, do you want any to try and raise? Hopefully they will keep up the spawnings on an almost daily basis.

Well, that did not take long! The male is Tailspot is back in the replacement cave already. Yea!

:)

You can do it!
It just amazes me that some people will never see a single egg in their tank ever and seems like you get to pick a fish and magic happens ahah. I love it!
I cant wait to see a batch of these hatch. Yours are the first Tail Spots I'd ever seen.

I awoke this morning and there were about a dozen larva in the hatching tank. Man, they are tiny!

bobz,
I have one . tThey are such beautiful fish. Although mine is in my overflow right now. If some reason I cannot get her, I might be contacting you for another of course if everything works out? I will keep you updated!

Oh man you got them out just in time to hatch!!!

Wait wait wait, you are currently raising clownfish, bangaii, seahorses and tail spot blennies? Im gonna come over again soon and actually hang out for a little while and talk reef when I dont have to go pick up my girlfriend :) Im gonna shot you a pm because I need some help planning out my system, btw can you drill tanks?

Wait wait wait, you are currently raising clownfish, bangaii, seahorses and tail spot blennies? Im gonna come over again soon and actually hang out for a little while and talk reef when I dont have to go pick up my girlfriend :) Im gonna shot you a pm because I need some help planning out my system, btw can you drill tanks?

oh yeah.... i need help. My name is bob... and I am a fish-aholic.

Let me know. we can find a time that works!
BZ

Bob, You are doing great things!! I wish I could raise fish. I have a pair of scooters that seem to be trying to hook up, but can't quite get the job done. I would love to come visit and see what you got going on over there. I want to see the little ones!

Bob, You are doing great things!! I wish I could raise fish. I have a pair of scooters that seem to be trying to hook up, but can't quite get the job done. I would love to come visit and see what you got going on over there. I want to see the little ones!

Give me a call next time you are on this side of town. Love to have you come over and see/talk. sent you a pm.

BZ

I tried to get some shots of the Tailspot eggs and larva but with the curved glass and the small size, they did not come out to well. Sorry for the quality! The spawning "cave" was a piece of 3/4" PVC, about 5" lenght, with two end caps. I drilled a 5/8" opening in one of the end caps. It took awhile for the male to move from the barnacle nest to the new PVC nest, but once he found he never left it! The female will lay eggs every couple of days and add to the nest while the male fans the eggs and protects the cave. I can always tell when the eggs are hatching because all the fish are hanging around in front of the PVC cave getting ready to snag a free male. Last night, I decided to move the cave to a RFB and try to hatch some of the eggs again. I moved the PVC and removed both end caps, and provide a slow air bubble across the eggs last night. This morning there were about a dozen larva and they have continued to hatch during the day. I took some picture before adding the greenwater to the RFB. Now I wait and see if any make it!

The first picture shows the PVC cave and the eggs that are attached all aound the inside of the cave.

http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-003.jpg


A couple of more shots from the other side, ifyou look closely you can see that many of the eggs have well developed eyes and look about ready to hatch.

http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-018.jpg

http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-012.jpg


In this shot, there is a newly hatched larve in the top left corner of the PVC. It looks like a blur, sorry.


http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-009.jpg

The same newly hatched fish closeup:

http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-027.jpg


One last shot of another newly hatched free swimming larva. The small white flecks in these two pictures are actually rotifers.

http://www.georgia-birding.com/TSB-05-23-09-024.jpg


I am hoping I can raise a few of them past juveniles! Time will tell!

Bob

I knew it would happen! Just knew it! :D

"Blenny and the Jets"

Are they jetting around yet? Too small?

I knew it would happen! Just knew it! :D

"Blenny and the Jets"

Are they jetting around yet? Too small?

Ha! Yep, still trying to grow some for your room mate! So far they are pretty much floating around, not too much jetting going on. I'll keep ya posted. How are the Green-banded doing? I still have mine in the 5G but getting ready to upgrade them soon!
bz

Great job! I really like these guys too.

Joe

I want one! haha

I want one! haha

Come and get em! Of course, you will need a few rotifers and NHBS to go along with it!

bz

Bobz!!!! Need an update. Jonesin' here :D

Me to
Love reading up a fish that has been on my wish list for the past 2 years

Well, the larva made it for about 6 days then i started losing them. They were not eating the rotifers and I think it was because they were too large. I think I need to get a smaller strain of rotifer before I try again. :sad:

The female has already been laying eggs in the new PVC cave so I will have more to try and some point.

Z

Oh no, sorry to hear that. You can do it though! haven't failed at anything yet!

Oh no, sorry to hear that. You can do it though! haven't failed at anything yet!

I consider it a learning experience not a failure! :D Although these guys have "taught" me lessons twice now.

Well, at least you're giving them chances, because they'd otherwise never survive in the tank.

Ah well, sorry to hear. :( What cultures are you going to have going for the next batch? Ideas?

Remember that post I sent you from the GBG's breeding? Attempt #1..2...34. Heh. It certainly is a learning experience!

Have you talked with Glenn anymore? He could have an idea that may be helpful, but I haven't seen him on here since the starry blennie post

I hope you don't mind, I read this thread a few months back. I was happy to see it active again! After many orders, my tail spots finally came in. She has 4 1" ones. All in the same tank. Any suggestions on how to pick a potential pair? I have read everything I can find, and they don't morph to my knowledge. I know I'm not local, but was hoping far any advice you might have. Thanks!

I hope you don't mind, I read this thread a few months back. I was happy to see it active again! After many orders, my tail spots finally came in. She has 4 1" ones. All in the same tank. Any suggestions on how to pick a potential pair? I have read everything I can find, and they don't morph to my knowledge. I know I'm not local, but was hoping far any advice you might have. Thanks!

Honestly, it's really hard. Look for two that are not killing each other (seriously!). If there are two together and they seem less agressive that would be a good start. If you really want to try and get a pair, If possible, I would take the all and try keeping them together for awhile in isolation/qt and watch closely. You can sell the ones that do not end up in the pair. Good luck!

I have been looking for one for awhile the last one I found at a lfs wouldn't eat when they tried feeding it so I passed on it..still waiting to get another

Honestly, it's really hard. Look for two that are not killing each other (seriously!). If there are two together and they seem less agressive that would be a good start. If you really want to try and get a pair, If possible, I would take the all and try keeping them together for awhile in isolation/qt and watch closely. You can sell the ones that do not end up in the pair. Good luck!


I thought about buying all of them. As hard as they are to get, she would take them back for credit worse case senario. She has them all in the same display tank. That aren't mature yet though...

Bob
I finally got a couple of flametail blennies through meta. Full color and all.
I'll try to get pics, if I can. I am horrible with the camera. Remember the talk?
Anyway, they have a voracious appetite. 30 of them are capable of cleaning out rotifers stocked at 10/ml in a 3 gallon kreisel in about 24 hours. The good news is that they start eating SF BBS at about day 5, so the drain on rotifers is short, unless you are puling them continuously. Then, be ready for heavy investment in algae and rotifers.

As far as sexing them, the flametails seem to be progressive sex changers. First femail, then male. I had to replace my females after the snow storm because the males both killed their mates during the power failure. I simply ordered small blennies (about half the size of the males) and sure enough, both turned into females and are spawning. Either that or I was exceptionally lucky because that is how I paired them the first time as well.

Don't know about the tailspot though but they are both combtooth blennies.
John

I have a pair for sure now. The male is distinctively bigger. Out of the 4, the two that seemed to get along were kept together. They are now in the display, the other two had to be seperated again due to fighting. Very excited! They were eating well in the first half hour. I will try to get them interested in a pvc cave similiar to the one mentioned. We'll see!

I have a pair for sure now. The male is distinctively bigger. Out of the 4, the two that seemed to get along were kept together. They are now in the display, the other two had to be seperated again due to fighting. Very excited! They were eating well in the first half hour. I will try to get them interested in a pvc cave similiar to the one mentioned. We'll see!

Excellent! Mine still lay eggs every day or so... keeps the male very busy. John (BaboonScience) may be coming over this weekend to get some of the eggs to hatch. keep us posted!
BZ

Hey Bob if you or John gets any to hatch I would love to buy one

Hey Bob if you or John gets any to hatch I would love to buy one


John has had some luck with his flame tail blennies so hopefully he can raise some of the tailspot as well. I've only been able to get mine to about 10-12 days before die off starts. I'm not in a position to try again any time soon due to my travel schedule. Hoping John can continue trying in my place....

BZ

Thanks for the optimism and the eggs.
They all look good after 24 hours. The bulk are about 24 - 96 hours from hatch, so I am hoping for a few busy nights.
I will try to keep your thread alive till you can take it back!
John

hey John been about 18 days since the last post on here did they hatch and are the still doing good if so??

John told me he had a few that made it past two weeks so he may be starting to crack the code on this species. He picked up another batch of eggs last weekend to try again so hopefully these will progress a bit further.

Bob

John or Tina, any update on the last batch? I've got more eggs when you need them!
bob

Bob,
sadly no luck with the last batch of eggs at all. Something went wrong. And I don't think we have any survivors from the first batch either. But they started out promising. We will definitely be in touch.

I picked up 3 so far 2 seem to stick together one bigger and one smaller the bigger one seems to get along with both the smaller ones but the 2 smaller ones seem to end up at opposite ends of the tank I am guessing that I have 1 larger male and 2 smaller females

In my case the male was the smaller one but that may just have been due to the ages (I had the female longer). It may be that there are two males and one female too. Mine do not stay together much. The male tends the nest site (a pvc cave) and the female lives in a barnacle on the other side of the tank. They get together in the mornings when the female swims in to the PVC cave (the male leaves momentarily) and she lays eggs for about 10 seconds. She leaves and the male goes in and fertilizes the eggs. This can go on for anywhere from 5mins to an hour, depending on how ripe the female is. It seems like she lays every few days now or I am missing her going in earlier and for shorter durations than before.

hmmmm maybe I will keep all 3 of them in the tank then I was going to pull the stray one in the corner but I will leave him a little longer they get pissy with each other but it never seems to last to long and I assume that I should plan on some of this even with a pair

hmmmm maybe I will keep all 3 of them in the tank then I was going to pull the stray one in the corner but I will leave him a little longer they get pissy with each other but it never seems to last to long and I assume that I should plan on some of this even with a pair


John may be able to jump in here and correct me but in my case once the two got over some initial "chasing" they never really had any conflicts. In the begining, the male would swim along side the female trying to coax her a bit, but she was the one who picked out the nest cave and started cleaning. Once she started to lay eggs, she left and the male took up his vigil. He has not left the cave except to eat, since they started this a few months back. Oh, he does get pissed at me when I take out the PVC to give the eggs to John to try and hatch... but he is right back in the new PVC the next morning. I would think once you figure out the pair, take the third out or it may not make it. John has Flame Tail Blennies that are spawning so he may have other ideas.

Best of luck and please keep us posted!
Bob

I have a pair for sure now. The male is distinctively bigger. Out of the 4, the two that seemed to get along were kept together. They are now in the display, the other two had to be seperated again due to fighting. Very excited! They were eating well in the first half hour. I will try to get them interested in a pvc cave similiar to the one mentioned. We'll see!

Ccombs, any update? I have to live vicariously through you all now that I am traveling for work again!

Bob

hmmmm maybe I will keep all 3 of them in the tank then I was going to pull the stray one in the corner but I will leave him a little longer they get pissy with each other but it never seems to last to long and I assume that I should plan on some of this even with a pair

My experience with the Flame Tail blennies is, when they pair up, the outsider is toast. There is not enough room in the tank. Oh and they have teeth!

I would remove the straggler to another tank. If you need a good home, give a price.

Bob
I had a major contamination of Ocelatoria in my algae system. Had to sterilize and restart the system. In the process, I found a smaller rotifer lurking in the mess. Am trying to culture it for the blennies and gobies that require a smaller food than Brachionus.
I will be interested in trying again as soon as this weekend. When are you back in town?
John

My experience with the Flame Tail blennies is, when they pair up, the outsider is toast. There is not enough room in the tank. Oh and they have teeth!

I would remove the straggler to another tank. If you need a good home, give a price.

Bob
I had a major contamination of Ocelatoria in my algae system. Had to sterilize and restart the system. In the process, I found a smaller rotifer lurking in the mess. Am trying to culture it for the blennies and gobies that require a smaller food than Brachionus.
I will be interested in trying again as soon as this weekend. When are you back in town?
John

John, PM sent to you and to tina.
BZ

[quote=BaboonScience;386664]My experience with the Flame Tail blennies is, when they pair up, the outsider is toast. There is not enough room in the tank. Oh and they have teeth!

I would remove the straggler to another tank. If you need a good home, give a price.



we have a pretty good local board that I should be able to sell him locally pretty easy getting him out of the tank may be a different story

I didn't notice the Utah location. Sorry!
Offer that one to Amy. I think she might take it. Tell her that John recommended.:D

been a while since I posted here since the last time I was here I tried several times to get the 3rd wheel out but the other 2 tailspots where more successful then I was:sad:

On the brighter things I got very excited today when I some some mating dances going on I dont know what one is the male and female but I am guessing I know from what I saw today one was luring the other one into his hole and would get very excited when the other would get close he would start bobing his head up and down in his hole several times now my question the one who is leading the other into the hole would be the male right

been a while since I posted here since the last time I was here I tried several times to get the 3rd wheel out but the other 2 tailspots where more successful then I was:sad:

On the brighter things I got very excited today when I some some mating dances going on I dont know what one is the male and female but I am guessing I know from what I saw today one was luring the other one into his hole and would get very excited when the other would get close he would start bobing his head up and down in his hole several times now my question the one who is leading the other into the hole would be the male right


after reading through this I would guess that I have it backwards on female/male

the only way I could seperate mine was by how obviously rotund the female became once they started the spawning process. She would swell up with eggs. Once they started laying eggs, the male has never left the nest site (pvc) for more than a couple of mins at a time. Best of luck and please keep us posted!

A few weeks ago John Lauth came by and collected the eggs from my TS pair. It's pretty easy, since the pair uses a piece of PVC pipe, capped at both ends with a hole drilled in one endcap. We've been done this a number of times and each time I put in a new piece of pipe, the male usually returns to it within a few mins and within the next couple of days the female has deposited eggs again. The last time I swapped out the PVC, I didn't have a piece exactly the same length, so I used one that was a few inches longer. I was too lazy to cut it and figured it would not make any difference. Well, for the past few weeks, the male has been in the cave as usual but the female has not laid any eggs. I couldn't believe that the length would be that much of a difference but I can't see any other things that would have changed their behavior. Today, I swapped out the longer PVC for the older shorter piece. The male returned to the cave within a few minutes and I'll wait to see if my female decides to start laying eggs again. John has a new strain of smaller rotifers and is anxious to try raising some of the larva again, and I am anxious to get him some more! I'll keep you all posted.
Bob

It will be interesting to see if she lays again now. Thanks for the update! Hopefully, John will be able to get them further along with the smaller rotifers.

Yes, it seems that the standard Brachionus rotfer is a bit too large for these little guys to get a grip on. They can get to the freshly hatched rotifers but as a rule, these do not have enough food in the gut and are not plentiful enough to sustain the larvae. Thus, by day 7-10, most have wasted away.
The ss strain runs about half the size of a standard rotifer and should do the trick. I am hopeful.

Bob, shame! You took their long established homestead and replaced it with a bigger house. Obviously they preferred their little home sweet home! I hope the come around soon!:up:
John

Hopefully she will go back..I really hope John has good luck with his smaller strain of rotifiers

So do I, it was frustrating trying to raise the larva only to lose them for after a week or so even though it looked like they had plenty of rotifers. Hopefully, this will take them further.

Today, I swapped out the longer PVC for the older shorter piece. The male returned to the cave within a few minutes and I'll wait to see if my female decides to start laying eggs again. Bob


It's been over a week since I made the swap out but the female has not started to lay eggs again. :sad: I also added a second PVC cave to the tank to see if maybe she would use it on the opposite side of the tank. No luck. Maybe I'll come home to some eggs in one of the tubes. Not sure what has caused her to stop. More to come.

BZ

I am guessing that you messed with their routine.
My flametail blennies have it all worked out. The male is getting quite large, so I tried to replace the PVC tube with one size larger. He stopped courting. I replaced the smaller tube and a week later, there were eggs again. I really don't know how they both fit in the tube at the same time!
John

That would be my guess too. I was hoping by going back to the smaller tube they would start again. The female looks like she is ready to explode. She needs to lay eggs soon or I'm afraid she might! Hopefully, by the time I get home this weekend, I'll be able to tell you they started up again. I'm almost afraid to pull the eggs out if they do start for fear of breaking a cycle again... we will talk.
Bob

No, probably better if we wait a week or so.
It does seem that the male takes the lead with blenny courting.
John

Sadly, it looks like I lost my female Tail Spot Blenny. She was swimming around Friday, but I did not see her last night after the frag meet at Collin's Hill HS. I did not think too much about it last night, as it was late and the lights were cycling down. I have checked the tank, sump, overflow, floor, canopy this morning and there is no sign of her :sad:

I'm assuming the cleanup crew took care of the remains.

Totally bummed.... I'll start looking for another small Tail Spot and see if I can get another pair. Sorry John.


BZ

Sorry to hear that Bob..Nemos did have a tailspot don't know the sex though

Sorry to hear. By far one of my favorite fish

Thanks guys... i'll probably look for another one in the next few weeks.

:sad: Oh no. I'm sorry : ( Same happened to Vincent my Starry Blenny a couple of months ago. No sign. I can only assume... :sad:

I'll still be lurking around your threads in waiting though....but not in a creepy way of course.

I'll still be lurking around your threads in waiting though....but not in a creepy way of course.

Ha! Thanks. BZ

Hello from Belgium.... i was reading this topic about the tailspot blenny and i have also two of them...can anyone tell me if i have a couple or not???

looks like it to me!!

Welcome to the Atlanta Reef Club

EDIT: I dont know if they are a "couple" - I cannot tell the difference between male/female so I think I misunderstood your question.

Are these safe with lawnmower blennies? I wouldnt mind adding a tailspot

looks like it to me!!

Welcome to the Atlanta Reef Club

EDIT: I dont know if they are a "couple" - I cannot tell the difference between male/female so I think I misunderstood your question.

Are these safe with lawnmower blennies? I wouldnt mind adding a tailspot

no you didn't understood me wrong... well mine are in the mainaquarium with other fishes and a couple of red scooters blenny.

Hi Miranda... I agree with Gary. I think there is a very good chance you have a pair. My experience was that if I did not have a male / female pair, they were fairly agressive which each other. My advice, if you are going to try and see if you can get them to lay eggs, is to provide a piece of PVC with a drilled end cap as a spawning site. My male still occupies his PVC cave even six months after I lost his mate. I still want to try pairing mine up again and see if I can raise them again some time in the future.
Gary - My pair co-existed with my Starry Blenny with no issues so think you should be fine. I also have a yellow-tailed Black Blenny in the same tank with no problems.

As a foot note; I tried putting one of John Lauth's tank bred Yellow-tailed Black Blennies in my 210 with my adult YT-Black Blenny and they did not get along, I am guessing that they must have both been males, even though John's was still very young. I would like to eventually pait them up as well so I may try and find some to see if I can get a pait or two going. I'm not sure how John has been doing in raising his since his intial batches. Hopefully he is still raising them!

bob

Hi Miranda... I agree with Gary. I think there is a very good chance you have a pair. My experience was that if I did not have a male / female pair, they were fairly agressive which each other. My advice, if you are going to try and see if you can get them to lay eggs, is to provide a piece of PVC with a drilled end cap as a spawning site. My male still occupies his PVC cave even six months after I lost his mate. I still want to try pairing mine up again and see if I can raise them again some time in the future.
Gary - My pair co-existed with my Starry Blenny with no issues so think you should be fine. I also have a yellow-tailed Black Blenny in the same tank with no problems.

As a foot note; I tried putting one of John Lauth's tank bred Yellow-tailed Black Blennies in my 210 with my adult YT-Black Blenny and they did not get along, I am guessing that they must have both been males, even though John's was still very young. I would like to eventually pait them up as well so I may try and find some to see if I can get a pait or two going. I'm not sure how John has been doing in raising his since his intial batches. Hopefully he is still raising them!

bob

Well Bob at least they don't fight so i think so too there is a very good change of a pair. Even the last i have bought last saturday.They are hardly to find here in Belgium.One is staying in a sarcophyton and the last one is living "next door" in a lobophyton but the first one is visite the other.. sometimes they are both laying in the same coral...I don't even think they are raised here already in my country.

now something else i see you are birding too??? we have about 200 yellow canaries overhere :):yes:whats your kind of birding just being curieus :blush:

Here some pics of my 80 gallons tank...

the tailspots blennies are still doing well together now i have seen one of them has a big belly ;-):fish:eggs mayby??? i am sure its not from dinner:yay: the other one is pretty slim so please guys stick :up: up

That's how I figured out mine were laying eggs! When mine started spawning, the female would swim in and out of the male's cave every few minutes lay eggs and the male would tend the nest. This species lays eggs every few days once they start and the female will add eggs to the nest almost daily. Very cool once they start!

Hi.. I have a barnacle full of TSB eggs... how long is the period before they hatch ? I think you stated at one time 6-8 days ? If I try it Im thinking about using a 10 g tank with natural sea water since my back yard is a canal system. Im guessing that the natural sea water might contain the natural foods for fry.... I have observed the canal system be a host for several kinds of fish fry......what do you think ?