Should I Get a Lawnmower Blenny?

[EliVChalk97]

Hi there!

I hurt my foot about a month and a half ago and was unable to clean/water change my tank. Unfortunately, it led to an algae bloom of green hair algae. I started weekly 20% water changes as well as 1% daily water change to control nutrient export. I have a tuxedo urchin, two clowns, and a strawberry pseudochromis.
Will adding a lawnmower blenny help get rid of the algae?

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

It definitely won’t hurt there cool little fish and full of personality but if your thinking he’s just gunna remove all the algae he won’t there good at keeping algae away if your tank is algae free but when it comes to an outbreak your just gunna have to get your hands wet and start removing it, but I will say having him in the tank and you removing it will help as your removing it he should be able to slow/ stop the growth of new algae depending on how big your tank is and how bad the outbreak is

 

[EliVChalk97]

It definitely won’t hurt there cool little fish and full of personality but if your thinking he’s just gunna remove all the algae he won’t there good at keeping algae away if your tank is algae free but when it comes to an outbreak your just gunna have to get your hands wet and start removing it, but I will say having him in the tank and you removing it will help as your removing it he should be able to slow/ stop the growth of new algae depending on how big your tank is and how bad the outbreak is

That's kind of what I was thinking!

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

Kind of a pro tip I do a 50/50 split when it comes to stalking my tank with 50% being things I want and the other 50% being things that will help my tank for instance fish selection in my first few tanks I always had a lawnmower blenny to help out with algae but since I upgraded a few years ago I purchased 3 tangs to help with the algae I also made sure to get a 6 line wrasse to help with pests as well as a cleaner shrimp to help with fish disease and parasites, as much as I like having hermit crabs I avoid them I would much rather have twice as many snails they don’t move my corals all around or kill each other to try to take the others shells and other then just scavenge the tank for left over food there cleaning the glass and eating algae,I also have a aiptasia eating file fish and some peppermint shrimp to keep the aiptasia away and a Harlequin shrimp for those pesky little asterina star fish for the most part my tank keeps itself clean and pest free just because of how I Stalked it.

sorry for rambling on I have a problem with always trying to push what knowledge I have on others lol

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I just noticed my autocorrect used the word stalked instead of stocked

 

[machliwala]

Hi there!

I hurt my foot about a month and a half ago and was unable to clean/water change my tank. Unfortunately, it led to an algae bloom of green hair algae. I started weekly 20% water changes as well as 1% daily water change to control nutrient export. I have a tuxedo urchin, two clowns, and a strawberry pseudochromis.
Will adding a lawnmower blenny help get rid of the algae?

I bought a sea hare and it worked diligently to get rid of the GHA. After all the GHA was gone, he seems happy with the film algae that grows on my rocks, back of the aquarium and glass. The combination of pulling it out by hand and the sea hare will get rid of it.

 

[rhostam]

Turbo snail also does wonders. If the growth is too long the blenny and turbos won’t go after it usually (in my experience).

But answer to tour question: yes, get the blenny the will keep new growth down somewhat. The biggest reason is because they are just fun to watch as they scurry around the tank scraping whatever they’re scraping off the rock work or when they find a perch and state at you staring at them.

 

[blaxsun]

Mine always seem to perish within 6 months. Not sure why.

 

[G Santana]

These guys are algae eating machines but they won't eat long strands of GHA neither do my Tangs for that matter, but look how fat this guy is, that's not Covid weight lol

 

[Rmckoy]

These guys are algae eating machines but they won't eat long strands of GHA neither do my Tangs for that matter, but look how fat this guy is, that's not Covid weight lol

What is it ?
Hard to tell from the picture .

 

[Rmckoy]

Snails work amazing on algae .

im not sure if tangs or even a foxface would eat that algae .
Mollies acclimated to reef salinity work amazing for some types of algae .
worth a try for $2.99

 

[G Santana]

What is it ?
Hard to tell from the picture .

Algae blenny

 

[USCfan]

Nope bad move. They don't really eat algea like you are thinking.

emerald crabs work great.

 

[Smite]

I had a battle with GHA and nothing really worked until I got my hands wet and added the proper fish and cuc to keep it at bay.

Lawnmower/starry blenny is a great choice in my experience. Absolute work horses and full of character too.

Manual removal is the key to success. I bought a cheap pair of small SS hemostats off amazon. Clip them, twirl the GHA like pasta and it helps rip large chunks off right at the rock. You can use one of those fish boxes with some tank water hanging inside the tank to put the GHA in or syphon while you are pulling chunks. GHA clogs those self priming bulbs really easy though.

That is the main step, nothing will eat it once its longer than an inch in my experience. That's including the seahare I bought too. Once I pulled it back and got it nice and short, suddenly everything that was supposed to eat it would! They will manage it once short, if it gets long pull it out with hemostats. It takes a few hours for the first couple weeks but then suddenly it'll be knocked back enough to stay there.

Things that worked for me once it was short:
Lawnmower blenny
Tangs
Seahare * need to be aware and not let it run out of food.
your basic CUC, mix of hermits and snails.

*TDS can also play a role in algae growth, thats when mine popped up. So be sure you are working with 0 TDS rodi water. Otherwise you might be diggin a hole with all those water changes.

 

[Rmckoy]

Algae blenny

I don’t know why I didn’t recognize it

they are one fish I have always had in every setup .
Never seen a picture from that perspective

 

[jhuntstl]

My single turbo snail is on an entirely different level of algae control compared to my Lawnmower. I got a few Pitho Crabs that also enjoy GHA. I love my blenny, but it mostly eats frozen LRS and algae wafers nowadays. It still picks at the rocks and glass, but I don't depend on him to be a heavy hitter.