Flametail Blenny (Enchelyurus flavipes)

The Flametail Blenny (Enchelyurus flavipes) looks like someone dipped a velvet black fish in molten gold: a deep blue-black body that ignites into a glowing yellow-orange tail. It spends its day doing classic blenny theater, perching upright in rockwork holes with its head poking out, then darting after drifting food before backing into its bolt-hole tail first. Small, peaceful, completely reef safe, and far calmer than most blennies, it is a perfect character fish for nano and mid-size reefs. Browse the rest of our saltwater livestock and supplies to round out the tank.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 20 gallons or larger. What it really wants is rockwork riddled with blenny-size holes to claim as lookout posts.
• Water parameters: 72 to 78°F, salinity 1.020 to 1.026, pH 8.1 to 8.4. Hardy once settled.
• Feeding: an easy eater, unlike many blennies. It picks zooplankton and drifting bits midwater and readily takes frozen mysis, enriched brine, and small pellets like Vitalis Marine Grazing Pellets. Feed small portions once or twice daily.
• Not an algae workhorse: despite the blenny name it is not a dedicated grazer; pair it with a cleanup crew for algae control and feed it like a fish, not a lawnmower.
• Lid recommended: blennies are hop-and-perch fish that occasionally hop the wrong direction.

Specifications

Compatibility

Gentle enough for nano reefs and ignored by most tank mates, it mixes beautifully with clownfish, cardinals, gobies, firefish, and the full invert cleanup crew. Keep one Flametail per tank and avoid stacking it with blennies of a similar shape and job, which can trigger perch wars in smaller setups. Shopping the blenny shelf? Compare the algae-mowing Lawnmower Blenny, coral-perching Red-Spotted Blenny, and the elegant Harptail Blenny.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• Ocean Nutrition Frozen Mysis Shrimp
• Vitalis Marine Grazing Pellets small-bite staple

FAQ

Will it eat algae like a Lawnmower Blenny?
No. The Flametail is a plankton picker, not a grazer. It will sample film here and there, but budget your algae control to snails and urchins and simply feed this fish.

Is it aggressive like some blennies?
It is one of the calmer blennies in the trade. The usual blenny attitude only surfaces against similar-shaped rivals contesting the same holes.

Why can't I see it?
New blennies live in the rockwork for a week or two, watching. Once it maps the tank and learns feeding time, that glowing tail will be front and center at every meal.

Is it jumpy?
Less than firefish or gobies, but any perching fish can hop badly when startled. A screen lid is cheap insurance for a $50 fish.