TSB aggression, will it fade?

[Reffetsevla]

I've got a Tailspot Blenny (TSB) that I've had about 5 weeks or so. I also have two clowns, one was added 3 weeks ago and the other 2 weeks.

My TSB is a giant a**hole. He chases the clowns around but doesn't seem to do any actual damage. The smaller clown has started fighting back some and the TSB will then retreat. Again, no damage to any I can see and all are eating/swimming fine.

My concern is stress. If my clowns can't ever get comfortable because this blenny keeps going out of his way to chase/headbutt them they aren't going to do too well. This is the first time I've ever had an aggressive blenny so not sure if this is just territorial and will fade once my clowns are no longer juveniles or what. Anyone ever run into this? I am about ready to tear the tank apart to remove him but I really hate to do that. Finally got things situated and establishing where i want.

As the clowns mature and get larger, they should outsize the blenny eventually, but can I wait that long? I imagine once they realize they're larger than the blenny the hierarchy will correct itself. But never had this issue before.

Something to note, these are Wyoming White Clowns. I had not considered the fact they have white tails, with black on them and the blenny may not like it. Obviously the shape of the fish is different but maybe he thinks it's another TSB? I don't think that's likely but again, this is a new one to me.

Thanks!

 

[Impala67]

I've got a Tailspot Blenny (TSB) that I've had about 5 weeks or so. I also have two clowns, one was added 3 weeks ago and the other 2 weeks.

My TSB is a giant a**hole. He chases the clowns around but doesn't seem to do any actual damage. The smaller clown has started fighting back some and the TSB will then retreat. Again, no damage to any I can see and all are eating/swimming fine.

My concern is stress. If my clowns can't ever get comfortable because this blenny keeps going out of his way to chase/headbutt them they aren't going to do too well. This is the first time I've ever had an aggressive blenny so not sure if this is just territorial and will fade once my clowns are no longer juveniles or what. Anyone ever run into this? I am about ready to tear the tank apart to remove him but I really hate to do that. Finally got things situated and establishing where i want.

As the clowns mature and get larger, they should outsize the blenny eventually, but can I wait that long? I imagine once they realize they're larger than the blenny the hierarchy will correct itself. But never had this issue before.

Something to note, these are Wyoming White Clowns. I had not considered the fact they have white tails, with black on them and the blenny may not like it. Obviously the shape of the fish is different but maybe he thinks it's another TSB? I don't think that's likely but again, this is a new one to me.

Thanks!

Welcome to reef2reef blenny aggression can be very frustrating i had an lawnmower blenny just like this but my case was a little more severe I had my blenny for about two months and just added a baby watchman goby well my blenny did not like that at all. Long story short everything ended up ok and I’ll tell you how.
1.) do your clown have a place that they can call home, do they have a cave/ section of the tank they stay in. If not instead of ripping apart your tank add a small clay flower pot where they hang out because once they mark this as there spot they will defend it to the death!!

2.) are you feeding enough? A lot of times people will only add a little bit of food at a time so then only one or two fish get it and that in itself cause aggression.

3.) does your tailspot blenny have a place to call home? Does he have a specific place that he hide in or just a bunch of random places if so add a pice of pipe or something big enough for him to turn around in and kind of burry it in the sand.

4.) if all else fails try remove him and put him in your sump for a week. No I don’t mean take apart your tank, they sell traps online you can order for cheap. This will allow your less dominant fish to establish its territory!! Good luck!!!!!

 

[Reffetsevla]

Welcome to reef2reef blenny aggression can be very frustrating i had an lawnmower blenny just like this but my case was a little more severe I had my blenny for about two months and just added a baby watchman goby well my blenny did not like that at all. Long story short everything ended up ok and I’ll tell you how.
1.) do your clown have a place that they can call home, do they have a cave/ section of the tank they stay in. If not instead of ripping apart your tank add a small clay flower pot where they hang out because once they mark this as there spot they will defend it to the death!!

2.) are you feeding enough? A lot of times people will only add a little bit of food at a time so then only one or two fish get it and that in itself cause aggression.

3.) does your tailspot blenny have a place to call home? Does he have a specific place that he hide in or just a bunch of random places if so add a pice of pipe or something big enough for him to turn around in and kind of burry it in the sand.

4.) if all else fails try remove him and put him in your sump for a week. No I don’t mean take apart your tank, they sell traps online you can order for cheap. This will allow your less dominant fish to establish its territory!! Good luck!!!!!

Thanks! I'll hit your points below:
1: Clowns have been trying to host in a frogspawn, the blenny specifically goes to the other side of the tank just to annoy them. Sometimes he'll just watch them and do nothing, other times he'll headbutt them until they move. They are both still juveniles so I'm not sure if they're to the point they're going to defend yet. The smaller one has started to some, just not enough to deter the TSB.

2: I feed 2-3 times a day. Pellets and Flakes first time, frozen blend second (if I only do two that day I add pellets) and pellets/flakes third. I've been feeding a little extra to try and help get some more nutrients in the tank. Fighting some dino. Which came about because I fought hair algae too hard and stripped all the PHO and NO3 out lol

3: Blenny defends about a 10lb rock with a ton of holes. I actually had to move frags because he would attack the plugs if they were too close to his perching spots. There's a couple he can completely disappear inside of, which is why catching him is going to be next to impossible.

4: I tried for a few hours to catch him yesterday with a net. That's going to be ridiculous hard. Tank is only a 20g so I'm not sure if a trap will fit? Haven't ever used one lol Going to go get some nori and then try the old "water bottle" trap where you cut off the end and invert it and see if I can't catch him today.

Think the clowns will eventually correct his behavior? I hate to remove him, he was almost see through when I first got him and he's beautiful with orange and blue markings now. He's just a giant a**hole.

 

[Reffetsevla]

I almost had the little bugger last night. Now he won't go in that corner.

Any suggestions on how to curb the aggression or catching a blenny without tearing the entire tank down? Looking more and more like I'm going to have to go that route.

To make this more ridiculous the clowns will nip at me as soon as my hand is in the tank but god forbid they stand up for themselves against that blenny lol

 

[Lyss]

Thanks! I'll hit your points below:
1: Clowns have been trying to host in a frogspawn, the blenny specifically goes to the other side of the tank just to annoy them. Sometimes he'll just watch them and do nothing, other times he'll headbutt them until they move. They are both still juveniles so I'm not sure if they're to the point they're going to defend yet. The smaller one has started to some, just not enough to deter the TSB.

2: I feed 2-3 times a day. Pellets and Flakes first time, frozen blend second (if I only do two that day I add pellets) and pellets/flakes third. I've been feeding a little extra to try and help get some more nutrients in the tank. Fighting some dino. Which came about because I fought hair algae too hard and stripped all the PHO and NO3 out lol

3: Blenny defends about a 10lb rock with a ton of holes. I actually had to move frags because he would attack the plugs if they were too close to his perching spots. There's a couple he can completely disappear inside of, which is why catching him is going to be next to impossible.

4: I tried for a few hours to catch him yesterday with a net. That's going to be ridiculous hard. Tank is only a 20g so I'm not sure if a trap will fit? Haven't ever used one lol Going to go get some nori and then try the old "water bottle" trap where you cut off the end and invert it and see if I can't catch him today.

Think the clowns will eventually correct his behavior? I hate to remove him, he was almost see through when I first got him and he's beautiful with orange and blue markings now. He's just a giant a**hole.

My TSB is friends w/my clowns but occasionally they get up his a** and he'll nip them to back off. He can also "attack" new stuff, like when I first added my conch and she went up on the rocks one night he MAJORLY said, "no." Or if I put a frag near his home base he'll push it of and say "no." He seems to get in these moods sometimes. I just glued the frag and once he saw he couldn't push it off he accepted it. He also eventually got over whatever was up his butt about the conch. Hopefully they'll work it out in time, and in the meantime you can try to interrupt it if he's being an extreme jerk to the clowns.

Edit: One thing I did after the first month was add a little barnacle cluster for him. He pushed it off his home base rock at first (LOL) but once he realized it was awesome he took to it and has never left it since. The best thing about it is that when he goes to hide from me he goes into the barnacles and can very easily be lifted out of the tank inside them if I ever need to move him for any reason, though I'm hoping I won't unless I upgrade the tank.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Wow, just goes to show that fish can have their own individual personalities. My daughter's 20G cube has a tailspot in it with two clowns and a firefish. He's the calmest fish either of us own. He even just chills out on a rock when I have my hand in the tank and practically yawns! Good luck

 

[Reffetsevla]

This little guy does the same thing with anything "new" too. I picked up a few Mexican Turbo's to help get some algae under control (can't win, it's either Dino's or Hair Algae) and I set one on his rock. NOPE. Headbutted that thing right off multiple times. Same with a couple frags and a full on ROCK. He's a little jerk but he's got spirit lol

 

[Reffetsevla]

I may try finding something he can "rehome" in. Worst case I will chase him into his hidey hole, pull the whole rock and set it in a QT tank I have. Wait for him to come out and then yank out the rock while he's in the QT tank. Just sucks because it is quite a large rock and but luckily no coral on it yet I can't remove temporarily.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Good luck! Whatever you do, don't replace him with a yellowtail damsel. Those fish are like rabid piranhas. Meanest little fish on the planet

 

[Jeeperz]

No, mine was peaceful for about a year until he grew up. Then he was a rude fish. Attacked everything, especially my yellow watchman goby.

 

[Lyss]

Mine pushes snails and hermits off his home rock, I just think it’s funny. I would never rehome mine, he’s too funny. The only time I ever truly thought him aggressive was when he was mad about the conch going on the rocks, but that subsided once he was used to her being around. I just added three tiny new gobies last week and he was chasing them away from his barnacles but nothing I would consider aggressive. A week later he’s cool with them.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Decided I'm taking the rock he lives in with him to the LFS I got him from. The stress and beating up of the clown's is not worth it. They'll trade me pound for pound for my LR and give me 75% of what I paid for him a month ago, I think that's more than reasonable. This store has been nothing but great the 15yrs I've been going there. Not sure if mentioning LFS's specifically is allowed but it's Preuss Pet's in Lansing, Michigan. They've been nothing but amazing at every turn for my various visits over the past 15'ish years.

 

[Tamberav]

I've got a Tailspot Blenny (TSB) that I've had about 5 weeks or so. I also have two clowns, one was added 3 weeks ago and the other 2 weeks.

My TSB is a giant a**hole. He chases the clowns around but doesn't seem to do any actual damage. The smaller clown has started fighting back some and the TSB will then retreat. Again, no damage to any I can see and all are eating/swimming fine.

My concern is stress. If my clowns can't ever get comfortable because this blenny keeps going out of his way to chase/headbutt them they aren't going to do too well. This is the first time I've ever had an aggressive blenny so not sure if this is just territorial and will fade once my clowns are no longer juveniles or what. Anyone ever run into this? I am about ready to tear the tank apart to remove him but I really hate to do that. Finally got things situated and establishing where i want.

As the clowns mature and get larger, they should outsize the blenny eventually, but can I wait that long? I imagine once they realize they're larger than the blenny the hierarchy will correct itself. But never had this issue before.

Something to note, these are Wyoming White Clowns. I had not considered the fact they have white tails, with black on them and the blenny may not like it. Obviously the shape of the fish is different but maybe he thinks it's another TSB? I don't think that's likely but again, this is a new one to me.

Thanks!

many blennies are actually jerks! TSB included. How big is the tank?

If the clowns have a nem to host them (assuming they eventually take to it) then the TSB will likely think twice.

 

[Reffetsevla]

many blennies are actually jerks! TSB included. How big is the tank?

If the clowns have a nem to host them (assuming they eventually take to it) then the TSB will likely think twice.

I have thought about the nem too, but I really dont want one. I plan on a fair amount of coral and can't risk one moving into range of one that would hurt it or vice versa.

It's an Innovative Marine 20g Fusion Nuvo Pro (first gen). LOTS of algae to eat, to the point I bought three mexican turbo's last night to help quell the uprising of algae. They'll be rehomed so they don't starve after the tanks clean in case anyone was concerned.

 

[jfoahs04]

Sorry about your TSB. I've had several of them and would consider them to be my favorite reef personality. I've never had an experience like that (my last one "bonded" with my lone clown and would sleep next to him in my GSP), though I've heard occasional examples of TSBs being jerks to tankmates. If your LFS will swap the rock and give you a 3/4 refund, it sounds like that will make sense.

 

[Reffetsevla]

Sorry about your TSB. I've had several of them and would consider them to be my favorite reef personality. I've never had an experience like that (my last one "bonded" with my lone clown and would sleep next to him in my GSP), though I've heard occasional examples of TSBs being jerks to tankmates. If your LFS will swap the rock and give you a 3/4 refund, it sounds like that will make sense.

Thanks me too, I love his personality.....when he's not attacking my clowns. I may just get another one, different ones have different personalities. But may try another fish entirely.

 

[Thetankdoctor]

Blennies can just be a**holes. That's all I can say...