Impulsive buy

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

I was driving through Atlanta, and stopped at their LFS. I found a beautiful fish labled sandhopper blenny. He wasn't hiding, and hopping/swimming along the bottom. I normally research a fish before I buy it, but other than live aquaria, there isn't much information on this fish. And what is online contradicts itself. I went ahead with the impulse buy because LA does have it listed as reef safe. I'm attaching pics from online, bc it gives a clearer picture. Have any of you owned this fish? Will I regret my buy?

MTBake · Jul 21, 2019

Sure is a nice looking fish. I've never seen one for sale by me.

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

MTBake said:
Sure is a nice looking fish. I've never seen one for sale by me.
[/QUOTE

I live about 2 hours from Atlanta, so technically not near me either lol. Its even prettier in real life, I couldn't resist.

Hemmdog · Jul 21, 2019

Here’s some more info, seems like a really cool fish! Technically a perch not a blenny apparently.

- Quality Marine

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

I read that article in the store and it sounded similar to LA, except for the size. On the way home, I found another article that did not paint the fish in a good light. So I wasn't sure which information was more reliable.

Parapercis schauinslandii (Redspotted sandperch)

How to keep Redspotted sandperch in an aquarium. Get some tips on how to care for Parapercis schauinslandii in captivity and a list of good references for further studies.

reefapp.net

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

Parapercis schauinslandii (Redspotted sandperch)

How to keep Redspotted sandperch in an aquarium. Get some tips on how to care for Parapercis schauinslandii in captivity and a list of good references for further studies.

reefapp.net

Hemmdog · Jul 21, 2019

Jholli90 said:
I read that article in the store and it sounded similar to LA, except for the size. On the way home, I found another article that did not paint the fish in a good light. So I wasn't sure which information was more reliable.

Parapercis schauinslandii (Redspotted sandperch)

How to keep Redspotted sandperch in an aquarium. Get some tips on how to care for Parapercis schauinslandii in captivity and a list of good references for further studies.

reefapp.net

That doesn’t sound to bad. As long as you have established live rock you should be good. They eat mainly zooplankton the one article said and the other is saying it will eat pods and micro fauna. Once it gets to 7 inches maybe if it hasn’t been fed in a few days it could turn on a peppermint shrimp but I don’t see it being a menace or anything to worry about. It’s a cool fish, impulse buys occasionally work out well lol.

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

Hemmdog said:
That doesn’t sound to bad. As long as you have established live rock you should be good. They eat mainly zooplankton the one article said and the other is saying it will eat pods and micro fauna. Once it gets to 7 inches maybe if it hasn’t been fed in a few days it could turn on a peppermint shrimp but I don’t see it being a menace or anything to worry about. It’s a cool fish, impulse buys occasionally work out well lol.

I feed several times a day. He'll never go hungry Full fish are happy fish. ( and hopefully more behaved lol
)

saltyhog · Jul 21, 2019

Sounds like he would only be threat to small sand dwellers like blennies and gobies as well as small ornamental shrimp like sexy shrimp/anemone shrimp. Cool acquisition! Keep us updated on how he does in your tank!

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

saltyhog said:
Sounds like he would only be threat to small sand dwellers like blennies and gobies as well as small ornamental shrimp like sexy shrimp/anemone shrimp. Cool acquisition! Keep us updated on how he does in your tank!

Thank you! As long as he survives QT, I will update this. He had a great personality in the store. He was very active and swam up to the glass when I approached. My only blenny is a midas blenny, and I don't plan to add more. My midas chose a spot at the top of my tank. I should be ok there.

Jholli90 · Jul 21, 2019

1st update.

He/she is settling into quarantine. I have a royal gramma and melanarus in there already that I had just bought the other day. It chose the wrong pipe to run into and the RG said hello by kicking him out. After that it's fine, and already swimming around. Even ate when I fed the other two.......

But now I have a dumb question.Could he actually be a pregnant she???? It looked nice and fat in the store, but I've been comparing it to online pics. They are rather streamlined, and This belly is rounded. Could this be something wrong, or just fat? Colors are still kinda pale bc of the move/acclimation. Was very vibrant in the store.

mort · Jul 22, 2019

Not kept this exact species but kept a couple of other Parapercis sp and they were really hardy, ate well but were feisty. The ones I had were 6" or so, came in as box fillers in an import and had to be put in the big 8ft fish sales tanks because they wouldn't get on with the smaller fish.

I know it's dangerous describing a family as all the same and it annoys me when people do this with damsels or dottybacks but if yours is similar to the ones I looked after it wouldn't be reefsafe with small fish or shrimp and it would be better off in a more aggressive type tank eventually. I hope I'm wrong as it looks a nice species but I think its behaviour may change as it grows and matures.

As to being pregnant, unfortunately it isn't. These fish gorge themselves when food is available so it's just the sign of a healthy appetite but make me more inclined to suggest that a large shrimp or fish meal would be a strong possibility.

Jholli90 · Jul 22, 2019

mort said:
Not kept this exact species but kept a couple of other Parapercis sp and they were really hardy, ate well but were feisty. The ones I had were 6" or so, came in as box fillers in an import and had to be put in the big 8ft fish sales tanks because they wouldn't get on with the smaller fish.

I know it's dangerous describing a family as all the same and it annoys me when people do this with damsels or dottybacks but if yours is similar to the ones I looked after it wouldn't be reefsafe with small fish or shrimp and it would be better off in a more aggressive type tank eventually. I hope I'm wrong as it looks a nice species but I think its behaviour may change as it grows and matures.

As to being pregnant, unfortunately it isn't. These fish gorge themselves when food is available so it's just the sign of a healthy appetite but make me more inclined to suggest that a large shrimp or fish meal would be a strong possibility.

That makes me a little nervous about adding it to my tank because once it is in, it will be hard to get back out. My tank is peaceful, and my future additions will be peaceful. The only fish with an attitude was going to be the kole tang, and it's going in last. My smallest fish will be the RG. The rest will be about 5 inches. The 2 articles I found online contradicts each other, and there wasn't much info past that. One says the fish would be the target of bullying, the other says can get aggressive. LA says normally not aggressive unless they have similar body. My only blenny is a midas.

I have a 90 gallon.... do you think it's worth the gamble??

mort · Jul 22, 2019

Jholli90 said:
I have a 90 gallon.... do you think it's worth the gamble??

I honestly don't know as I've not kept this exact species. Maybe @eatbreakfast has experience. A quick look in the search section here led to these thoughts about the family.

scchase said:
Not that species, looks big, I have kept some of its smaller cousins and foudn them highly predatory for their size and moderatly agressive.

Jake Adams said:
Parapercis altipinnis is a new species of sandperch which has the potential to become a popular aquarium fish. Unlike many sandperch species which are long bodied with capacious mouths, the new sandperch is short with a bright red eye and an attractive dorsal fin. This species was first documented in photographs by Akira Ogawa in […]

Continue reading...

nereefpat said:
A kept a different sandperch (red spotted) for a couple years. It was a great fish, although it was aggressive to new similar-shaped fish. Really hardy and active.

I've never seen this one before, though. Fishbase has it listed as sub-tropical, China/Taiwan/Japan area.

eatbreakfast said:
It's subtropical so needs cooler temps.

Parapercis in general are pretty hardy. May be territorial to other sand dwellers, will be predatory to any fish or invert it can swallow.

Jholli90 · Jul 22, 2019

The sandhopper blenny is also listed as a red spotted sandperch, and several other names lol... it looks identical to the red spot. It doesn't look like fish in Jake Adam's article. Possible this is a juvenile?

Either way, he's making his way to my LFS when I get off work. As I was getting ready for work he started going after my other 2 fish. Being the new guy and already the aggressor is not a good sign. It may boil down to the fact my QT is small, but that still puts my other 2 in danger. So, short on time and lacking an acclimation box, I dumped out some cherry tomatoes I had and rinsed the container. Now he is really unhappy with me. I can see the murder in his eyes

I think he would be a great fish in a different tank. I do plan to get a trigger/puffer tank in a few years. Maybe I'll try him again with fish that can hold their own.

Moral of the story...... Don't do impulse buys