Removal of Starry Blenny

odetoeli · Apr 20, 2024

Hello all! First time posting, long time lurker here!

Essentially, I have a 60-gallon mixed reef tank. I have several fish, but the two with issues are my starry blenny and Midas blenny. Not only do I prefer the Midas blenny over the starry, but I am also over the hyper-aggression of the starry blenny and I am tired of getting bit every time my hand goes in the tank.

I have tried to bait him out of hiding and capture him with a net, but nothing is working. How can I go about evicting this devil-spawn of a fish so my reef can be peaceful?

KrisReef · Apr 20, 2024

odetoeli said:
Hello all! First time posting, long time lurker here!

Essentially, I have a 60-gallon mixed reef tank. I have several fish, but the two with issues are my starry blenny and Midas blenny. Not only do I prefer the Midas blenny over the starry, but I am also over the hyper-aggression of the starry blenny and I am tired of getting bit every time my hand goes in the tank.

I have tried to bait him out of hiding and capture him with a net, but nothing is working. How can I go about evicting this devil-spawn of a fish so my reef can be peaceful?

Get a Brute trash can or two. If they are dirty put a new liner inside and drain the water out of the tank and into the Brutes.

Grab the Devil off the bottom of the tank and then refill.

If you have barrels, a siphon hose and a return pump you can be done in 15 minutes or less.

Pro tip: if you have gravel substrate, dig a shallow spot in the front of the tank where you can easily catch the fish. Slope the gravel up from the low spot and when you drain the tank the fish will swim to the low spot for survival. Having some one else ready to net the fish when the water is getting low can prevent having to completely drain the tank. If you do have to remove most of the water, try to encourage any nems or LPs to retract before you start draining to prevent injury. Most reef animals can handle low tide exposure for much longer than this process should take and it’s been successfully done by many people.