Lawnmower blenny. Is this normal?

ebranger

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My lawnmower blenny loves spending most of his time in the flow of my power head. In fact, he spends a good deal of time trying to swim hard against the current to pick at algae on the power head itself. He (she?) is fun to watch, but is this unusual behavior?
 

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If you don’t have a YouTube account you can use Instagram. I post the videos on my IG first then link them here.

Anyway, w/o seeing the vid I can’t say for certain BUT I can say that my tail spot goes through bouts of doing this when there’s algae he likes in the return nozzle. There were times I was very thankful for a good lid b/c otherwise he might’ve gotten shot right out of the tank trying to get into the return nozzle to eat the algae.

He eventually developed a very interesting tactic of trying to approach the nozzle from above and behind.
 
Pecking and scraping at powerhead for algae is actually normal. There is a misconception that they must have lots of algae to survive. Truth is . . . . . although a blenny needs plenty of algae to survive, a common misconception is that it can survive on algae alone. Since blennies frequent shallow tropical waters, they find their sanctuary within the coral reefs. They circle areas with coral branches and sponges, scraping their way along the diverse sea bottom. Their feeding techniques are to pound and gnaw the coral, and as a result, they ingest detritus, or waste material primarily, from the coral. This includes bits of coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and other organic matter, such as fish eggs and tiny crustaceans.
Since a blenny in the wild does not subsist on solely algae, it stands to reason that their captive diet must be supplemented.
 

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