sabertooth blenny

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by schackmel, Oct 16, 2011.

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  1. schackmel

    schackmel Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
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    3,153
    Location:
    St. Louis
    [​IMG]


    this is not my fish yet, as I just purchased him today and he in the process of acclimating however I just purchased one of these guys.

    These guys are not common in the hobby because of their aggressiveness. They mimic a cleaner wrasse (hard to tell the difference until you look at their shark like teeth). The fish will go up to an unsuspecting fish, who will then allow the fish to clean them. However instead of cleaning them, they will pull the scales off of the fish and take big hunks of flesh out of them.

    Needless to say these are the only fish you can keep wtih them unless you want them to eat your other fish to death! They are super aggressive (of course) and will actually nip at your hands if you are not careful. However they will not harm starfish or inverts (which is odd to me, I guess no scales on them)

    So i had been looking at trying to find a unique fish for one of our frag tanks that is currenlty fishless. It is only 19g with a 10g sump so there was not a lot of choices we had. So today went to a store that I havent been in for a while and of course fell in love with him. They said this was a complete accident that he came and they didnt order him. However of course i fell for him when i saw his mean little self ;) I will post pics when he gets settled in. I have to do a very slow acclimation as he was kept hypo and I have it in my frag tank. They eat predatory food, (chunks of meat and such) so I had some Rods Predator food left over from Goldie. He was actually nibbling at food in the store, so will keep my fingers crossed
     
    schackmel, Oct 16, 2011
    schackmel, Oct 16, 2011
    #1

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  2. 1.0reef

    1.0reef Giant Squid

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    Orinda, Bay Area, CA
    Awesome! I really like these fish!
     
    1.0reef, Oct 16, 2011
    1.0reef, Oct 16, 2011
    #2
  3. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    Chesapeake, Va
    These guys are so cool. I remember an LFS got like 8 in as an accidental order and they didnt know what to do with them. gotta be careful with these guys cuz they have real sharp teeth, but i'm sure you know all about they're behaviour. There are also mimic sabertooh blennies, I'm not sure how to distinguish between the two, other then the fact that the mimic is an algae eater, and the mimcry is a defensive thing.
     
    Va Reef, Oct 16, 2011
    Va Reef, Oct 16, 2011
    #3
  4. Tmobo

    Tmobo T-Rev

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    Oct 24, 2010
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    Location:
    Saint Charles, MO
    Think I saw him at that lfs. Nice pick up
     
    Tmobo, Oct 16, 2011
    Tmobo, Oct 16, 2011
    #4
  5. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2009
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    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Wow!! I have never seen/heard of those before. Pretty fish. Enjoy your unique little guy!
     
    kcbrad, Oct 16, 2011
    kcbrad, Oct 16, 2011
    #5