LM blenny alternatives

[canadianeh]

I am looking utilitarian fish that loves algae for 3’ 55 gallons tank. I don’t like the coloration of lawnmower blenny or Molly Miller blenny.

What are the alternatives?

 

[Mr_Knightley]

An alternative could be a Starry blenny, related to the lawnmower. I'ts black with little white spots all over. The only downside to them is it's really hard to tell if they have ich or not, but if you buy from a vendor you trust, that shouldn't be an issue.
Good luck and God bless!

 

[canadianeh]

Starry blenny is a bit too large for me as they can get up to 5.5”.

Anything else?

 

[Eva Rose]

Tailspot Blenny. Lots of personality too.

 

[canadianeh]

It looks like with Tailspot Blenny, it could be hit and miss in term of algae control

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Theres golden sailfin blennies

Fiji Golden Sailfin Blenny

The yellow sailfin blenny from Fiji is a color variation of the black sailfin blenny. They make excellent algae eaters and even eat diatoms, film algae, and oth

reefs.com

 

[Cell]

Personally, although they eat algae, I dont think blennies are all that great at algae control. They will also chow down on whatever food you feed your other fish. A horned blenny may be an option for you, but again, not a super effective algae consumer imo.

 

[canadianeh]

Thanks

 

[Pbh-reef]

Maybe consider a tuxedo urchin or two

 

[User1]

As said - blennies are a bit hit or miss especially if you don't like the lawnmower. The starry is pretty and may not be too big for your tank but totally respect the concern.

Urchins are nice. A bit of a bulldozer attitude from time to time. So if not secured stuff will get moved such as coral frags. Could acclimate mollies as an option. Another option is to just let the tank mature and manually remove what you can while working with tank balance and maturity. Then also add a balanced snail crew and be ok.

Back to blennies though - I've had both lawnmower and bi-color. Both scrapped the rocks but nothing was as good as my urchin, scopas and lavander tank. Turbo and other snails when balanced so they don't compete for food was also key.

 

[canadianeh]

hmm not many options apparently. I might just go with Molly miller then. Thanks guys