Algae grazing fish?

liverock27

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I am looking to add fish to my tank that look good, but also serve a purpose(outside of my clowns). The next fish I want to add is something that will graze on the rocks for any algae that does eventually pop up. As much as I love Scopas Tangs I am not sure that a 25x20x20 tank is appropriate for one. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
 
Something in the Ctenochaetus "Bristletooth" family would be a good choice.
Kole, Tomini, Squaretail and there's a few others. The nice thing about these are they not only are the smaller of the tangs but they're always cleaning the rock, glass, pumps... anything that is in the water really.
 
Lots of beautiful members of the Bristletooth family. The white tail is amazing.


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I used to have a starry blenny and it was a great algae eater! But I would advice to first figure out what other fish you want to get and introduce those first, because the starry blenny does become aggressive towards other blennies or fish whose bodies look similar, like fire or scissor gobies. In my case, it was harassing my midas blenny, and it was extremely aggressive towards my hand. I couldn't put my hand in the water to clean or even pick up a coral that it would attack me. I did some research and other people have reported the same behavior. It's a shame because it is a very active fish and fun to watch but I had to take it to the LFS after having it in my tank for over a year.

Now I have a Kole tang and it is an active little fellow, it's also very calm so no issues with my midas blenny or any other fish. The only caveat is you'll need a tank of at least 70 gallons to house one.
 
A starry blenny is a great combination of personality, uniqueness and Hoover in fish form. They are sort of the saltwater version of a plecostomus catfish.


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