please help: sand problem

[rica5tully]

All of a sudden my fine-grained sandbed is getting messed up in the front. Something is digging holes and covering corals near the bottom. I already might have lost a small pipe-organ coral.

Any votes on who might be the culprit? I haven't caught them yet:

1) Eyelash blenny (like a lawnmower)

2) brittle start (although I've never seen him out of his rock)

3) sand-sifting star


Thanks. I don't know what to do...

ET

 

[Pike614]

I've got the Marine Fishes Manual by Scott W. Michael, and there is no mention of a Blenny called the eyelash blenny. I have a lawnmower blenny though, and it has eyelashes.....so I assume this is the same species you have. YES, it does stirr up the sand, mine does it in one corner of the back of the tank so no issues there.....but he only does this when the tank is very clean. These lawnmowers usually starve because tanks are kept too clean. I feed mine with a veggie clip (my Tang eats off this as well). SO if you don't have much algae, I would suggest a veggie clip, or remove him from the tank. I had a sand sifting goby that would "eat" sand and he covered all my corals, I gave him away!
Good Luck