rlpardue
Supporting Member
I picked up two yellow stripe clingfish in mid-February after seeing them take a peck or two at cyclops. To be honest, I thought I had very low chances of them making it past the two-week mark. Their survival record in aquariums is very low, usually because they don't accept many foods. Their mouths are tiny. I've read of one person succeeding with Nutramar Ova, but that product is unavailable now. Anyway, I am super pleased that they have both grown quite a bit (much fatter) in my tank over the past couple months. They eat cyclops (a little bit) but mostly peck at hermit crabs all day long. They hover in front of a blue-legged hermit, wait until they feel the timing is right, then dart in and take a bite out of hermit, or (more likely) they're pecking at eggs carried by the hermits. I have not found any documentation of this behavior, but I find it fascinating. You can see their interest in hermits in the video. I have read of these fish exhibiting such behavior towards cleaner shrimp which are carrying eggs, but these two clingfish aren't very interested in my shrimps. I believe that these are both females, based on their snout shape. They hang together 80% of the time though. Enjoy the video!
