Thinking of adding a starry blenny

[lcs]

I currently have . . .

YWG
percula clown
coral beauty
malanurus wrasse

The angel was a bit pushy when I added the clown and wrasse, but nothing that was too bad or lasted too long. Would a starry blenny be able to put up with a couple days of belligerance from the angel? Also, would having two microalgae grazers (angel and blenny) in an 18month old 56 gal tank with about 55lbs LR be too much? I do need to clean the glass off every couple of days.

 

[gofor100]

You'll probably be fine... as long as you have a decent amount of algae on the LR.

I've heard some people having a difficult time getting their Starry Blenny eating some prepared foods, so if you can supplement the blenny's algae diet with other food items (i.e., mysis and Formula 2 flakes/pellets) then you should be fine.

I've got a Starry Blenny in my tank (60 gallons), and love his personality. He's the king of the tank (mind you, I only have Clown Wrasse, Yellow Wrasse, and Fridmani Dottyback in there with him).

Good luck!

-Chad

 

[niter]

We have our first starry blenny and I love him! I found the lawnmower blennies were a bit more voracious when it came to the algae control, but this one still eats his fair share. He also eats during feeding time to my surprise. I really enjoy the personality of ours and he is always out.

 

[Sk8r]

They're pretty self-protective and will shelter in the rockwork. Most fish don't bother blennies much: they're just part of the wallpaper. Your angel is most likely to bother another angel-shaped fish.

 

[lcs]

Thanks folks!

Your angel is most likely to bother another angel-shaped fish.

That's what I thought too and then he was giving the new clown a really hard time for a while. Really pushing him around. Or is a clown just close enough in shape to aggravate the angel?

 

[therman]

I've got one that took a few months to start eating prepared foods, but now eats everything with gusto. It was king of the tank until I added a Majestic angel. He's a little flighty now but has loads of character and the angel doesn't bother him.

 

[lcs]

What about quarentining it? There's no microalgae for it to feed on so should I put it directly into the display? I am so reluctant to do that. Would I be better able to get it to eat prepared food or would it just starve?

 

[Sk8r]

I'm not totally sure on the starry's feeding. I have a starry and a tailspot, and the tailspot definitely eats crushed krill and anything else going, while the starry seems interested, but I never quite catch him eating it. WHat you might do to prepare for this blenny is to set up your qt to match-salinity with the lfs/dealer, but also have a fist-sized piece of raw dry limestone you can set in your tank and get algaed-up [raw limestone or dead coral is guaranteed to grow green in most any tank, because it almost always has bound phosphate)---and you could transfer that rock in as blenny food for the observation period. Your tank doesn't have ich, the qt won't have it if the blenny turns out clean, so the rock could become a standard qt item that can live in your sump and move back and forth until the day you actually see ich in the qt. Then of course, that rock is done for, or at least in for an 8 week stay without fish.

 

[lcs]

Love the idea of the algaefied rock! I'm sure I can find something.

What's weird is I stopped at my closest LFS just this afternoon and they are expecting one in today. Maybe they can give me a rock/coral with algae on it . . .

Thanks for the great idea!

OT, but are you involved in ice skating by chance? I haven't in several years, but I took it up as an adult in the late '90s and even competed a bit. I have this thing for expensive hobbies!

 

[zachk]

My Starry Blenny is about 3 inches and bullies 2 4" Maroons for food. He looks like he could explode at any moment!!

 

[rssjsb]

They're pretty self-protective and will shelter in the rockwork. Most fish don't bother blennies much: they're just part of the wallpaper. Your angel is most likely to bother another angel-shaped fish.

The one exception I've encountered was a Kole tang, who would chase my starry back into the rocks every time they saw each other.

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

Don't add one starry blenny, add at least two! I have 4 in my 400 gal tank and they are just great, everybody loves them. Contrary to the lawnmower blenny, starry blennies are very sociable and love to hang out together.

 

[elkinsda]

The one exception I've encountered was a Kole tang, who would chase my starry back into the rocks every time they saw each other.

I have the same problem with my kole tang chasing my starry back into the rocks.

 

[Angel*Fish]

The angel just wants everyone to know he's king of the tank -- I think your starry will be fine.