Who knew my little Black Cap had it in him??

[ErikAnderson]

I recently adopted a fat and healthy baby dwarf lion fish. Problem was getting it to eat as in the past it had been eating pods and other bugs out of its prior owner's sump.
I tried ghost shrimp and feeder guppies with no luck for quite some time. Then about a week ago my dragon head goby came out and started eating them and pretty much showed the lion how. Now it's a race between them.

Well, today a third fish got in to the fray. Three days ago i picked up a Black Cap Basslet. It spent the first two days so well hidden that i thought it had found a way to jump out. All of a sudden today i put some guppies in and BAM, a little pink flash from under the live rock and i catch the first glimpse of my new fish since i put him in. Dude has a guppie by the tail and is dragging it back to his lair. I look through the live rock to see him smashing the fish back and forth against the rock and slowly eating it tail first.

Interesting behavior out of this fish. I was not counting on it to be that much of a predator. This guppy was barely a fit for its mouth, but the fish did not even waste a second to size up the prey, it just went for it. The lion and the dragon head will take a second to see if they got everything lined up right. This Basslet was in and out in just a half second.

 

[jnarowe]

that's wild.

and what is this: "لا يترك ال [بسترد] حصلت أنت إلى أسفل"

 

[reedman]

I hope it isn't too much of a hidden fish....too cool looking to hide all the time.

 

[ErikAnderson]

I hope it isn't too much of a hidden fish....too cool looking to hide all the time.

nope, now that he is happy in the tank he is out all the time, right in front of his little cave. just sitting there on display.

Tonight he was stretching super huge jaw out. Dude is like a baby lion fish...

and لا يترك ال [بسترد] حصلت أنت إلى أسفل is just what it is.

 

[reedman]

very cool. Glad to hear it. I may have to get one of those in the future.

 

[ErikAnderson]

without a doubt. You know this fish was the reason i got in to salt water, now 5 years later i finally have one. Interesting thing is that after all the reading i have done on him i had no idea they displayed this behavior. I was expecting another pretty fish that sort of hung out in the tank. Not a monster who has a mouth that unfolds like a large mouth bass.

He even holds his own against my super territorial and impossible to kill damsel, which i was worried about. I guess if you can swallow a thanksgiving turkey not much bothers you.

 

[BCT182]

that's wild.

and what is this: "لا يترك ال [بسترد] حصلت أنت إلى أسفل"

According to google translator:

"You do not let the bastards win"

 

[ErikAnderson]

So this blackcap seems to extend his jaw as a territorial posture. As soon as the dragon head goby gets near his little spot he folds in to this crazy sideways S shape and opens his giant mouth all the way while displaying his cool little fins. No nipping or any other garbage, just a good old "back off"

The goby even though he is maybe 3x his size takes a hike.