Territory dispute

[Keith A]

Two weeks ago I got a lawnmower blenny to try to help manage the hair algae in my tank. I have had a Hawaiian hawkfish for a little over a year now and he has, for the most part, had the whole tank for himself (75 gal). I figured there would be some temporary territory disputes between the two when I got the blenny so I took the hawkfish out for most of a day and rearragned some of the rocks and put him back in the tank. Two weeks after the introduction of the blenny, the hawkfish is still pretty territorial to where it is keeping the blenny off of the rocks which keeps it from eating the algae. I'm thinking about putting the hawkfish in another tank for a while to help the blenny out and maybe have the hawkfish "forget" his territory. How long should I keep him out of the tank to do this? Would adding another fish or two before I put him back in help? I'd like to keep the hawkfish if possible but will get rid of him if needed. Any feedback?

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Keith A]

Anyone?

 

[mhills16]

i would go with 5-7 days

 

[rydr119]

I would move the hawkfish for at least a week and see if that doesn't help. My boyfriend has a rather large Lawnmower Blenny in his tank and its very territorial towards all the other fish. Just hope that the Blenny doesn't harass the hawkfish when you add him back in.

 

[nikon187]

in a similar situation i removed my yellow tang for 3 weeks but you should be able to get by with 2. just rearange the rockwork and let the lawnmower gain some ground

 

[Keith A]

Alright. The blenny is about the same size if not a little bigger than the hawkfish so hopefully the roles won't reverse when I intorduce him back into the tank. I've heard from other LFS about a week or so too. Just wanted to see what you all thought.

Thanks for the feedback.