Description
Yellow Face Pike Blenny, Chaenopsis limbaughi, is a small blenny which is somewhat common to south Florida waters. The problem is that they are extremely hard to see because they are so small, blend in well with their surroundings, and you generally only see a small portion of their bodies when approaching them in the wild. All that being said, they are great for the home aquarium as they are easy to care for and mostly peaceful little fish. We sell the largest ones we can fine but considering that most books only list the maxium size as only a little over 3″ they are still pretty small. The average size we sell is probably 2.5″. Since these fish are so small, use caution to add them to a tank with larger fish as they will become food. They like a rubble sandy bottom with rocks with crevices for them to hide in. Another option is to add a small pvc pipe for them to use as a burrow. They can be somewhat aggressive to defend their burrow, or pipe so be sure you have enough bottom room if you have you have other bottom dwelling blennies or gobies. They will get along fine as long as they are not overcrowded.
Please Note: Any new fish purchased from us or from a local pet store should to be quarantined. All fish from anywhere in the wild can be possible carriers of bacteria and protozoa that can lead to an infection in your system, so we always recommend that you use some sort of quarantine system prior to adding them to your system. If you have a fish only system and can medicate the whole system, you may not need a separate quarantine tank. If you have a reef system that cannot be medicated, a good ultraviolet sterilization system should prevent any kind of disease outbreak. We medicate our system for bacterial infections and protozoans, but because we don’t always hold our fish for long periods of time, there is no way to be sure all the protozoan cysts have been killed. A little bit of prevention will save you lots of trouble down the line.
dpanchit (verified owner) –
These guys are hoot! Love watching it swim and go after food. Mine knows to be patient when the real pods are being released to him/her and will eat frozen brine just as well. So glad I got them!
David (verified owner) –
These fish are absolutely awesome. KP Aquatics sent me a male-female pair, and they settled very quickly into their heavily planted 10-gallon holding tank. Although they started out by fattening themselves up on amphipods, they hungrily accept frozen brine shrimp and flake food. I expect they will scarf down anything they can fit into their mouths. Because they are so small, the pikeblennies are not a threat to small fish or shrimp.
Their small size and sit-and-wait behavior make them a perfect species for a nano reef tank. Even though they like a lot of cover, especially tubing that simulates worm tubes, they are not shy nor are they easily spooked. The male is not aggressive toward the female, but he will display his big dorsal fin if I hold a mirror up to the tank. Definitely a species that deserves more attention.