stupid sand-sifter (help)

[rica5tully]

I bought a blenny that I think is a Seaweed Blenny (Parablennius marmoreus).

Every day or two it causes a terrible mess in my tank. It digs big holes in my sand and spits out the sand all over the live rock (and corals) in the lower 1/3 of my tank.

Is there anything I can do about this? I'm so frustrated. I'd like to catch or kill him, but he's so skittish I don't see any way of doing this.

Any other options? Is there some need he has that I'm not taking care of? Why does he do this?

Thanks,
ET

 

[prugs]

It's a meat eater, & does nothing for the algae. Can be a little aggressive during feeding time. Loves to dig in the sand. Moved him to a 37gal tank with a undulated trigger. He's got the trigger trained. Steals food right from the triggers mouth. I guess we'll see what happens when the undulated trigger gets hungry.

Mine was cheap, & the LFS said it ate algae. Huh
Good luck!

 

[rica5tully]

So...when he digs, does he wreck the tank and get sand everywhere? This is my main reef tank and I'm never getting him out of there now. So I guess I need to move some corals up and let him do what he wants? I don't know what choice I have.

ET

 

[prugs]

Mine was easy to catch. Hold a piece of krill in the tank. When he won't give up trying to get it away from you, net him out. At least it was that easy for me.

 

[rica5tully]

I don't understand how that's possible. When I put the net anywhere NEAR the tank he hides in the middle of the reef and is scared of me even when I put it away.

Do you hold the krill in your fingers and try to hand feed him?

I thought about putting the net in there and letting him get used to it, but it's one of those standard green nets with a metal frame and I didn't know if that should be in saltwater.

He's driving me nuts. If I could figure out a way to kill him I'd be happy with that too.

 

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9493831#post9493831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rica5tully

Do you hold the krill in your fingers and try to hand feed him?

Yes

 

[ZIN22]

If he is an aggressive eater you can go get a very small fish hook and put some food on it and when he grabs it pull him out.I did this once and it worked sweet.