Algae Blenny

[jsnrice]

So I picked up an algae blenny because I was having some algae growth and this guy has gone to town. In a week he's eaten almost every particle of algae in the tank. There is some algae growth, but not much left. Now he's turned to the rocks, which is cool. My big question is, should I be concerned? I have a 12 gallon biocube and the blenny is roughly 3 inches (juvenille). Should I pick up some algae pellets or do you think he'll be alright? I can't imagine him starving. The tank generates a lot of algae and I've heard that algae blennys have a method of harvesting portions of algae while letting other portions grow (think crop rotation). His stomach appears to be full, but that may be an illusion. I have the T5's on and the windows open to assist with the growth. The corals are taking off which is good. I just want to make sure that he's getting enough to eat. Anyone else have this problem, or am I the only one? :nerd:

 

[dave9905]

having the windows open and letting the tank get too much natural sunlight will get you a lot of algae growth that you may not want. algae blennys will eat most fish food as well as algae

 

[jsnrice]

@dave9905
Before I picked him up I used to close the blinds and watch the lighting. I also would cycle out the live rock to keep each rock from accumulating to much algae. This was a pain. For the most part the algae problem has been completely mitigated, because of the blenny and the fact that I'm changing 2 gallons of the roughly 9 gallons of water (3 gallons of live rock), every weekend. I use RO water from the LFS. Would you recommend a type of food for the blenny? He hasn't eaten any of the fish food yet, but that may be because he usually hides during the day when I feed the fish and comes out at night. I've heard that blennys go for nori (seaweed) and algae pellets. Not sure if I would accidentally over feed him though. :/

 

[Trex]

Mine have always been pigs, eaten any prepared foods that I put in the tank, including nori. Would try a variety until you find some that it likes --- it may take some time, since it isn't all that normal for them to eat out of the water column.