The tailspot blenny is a small Indo-Pacific grazer with banded eyes, an amber body, and the namesake dark spot at the tail base.
It spends its day hopping between perches and mowing film algae.
It is among the best nano-reef fish: small, hardy, useful, and packed with personality for something the size of a finger.
Housing
A mature reef of 75 litres (20 gallons) or more with live rock suits it; maturity matters because natural algae and biofilm form the grazing base.
It claims a small hole or barnacle as home and returns to it constantly.
Reef-safe and coral-safe, it needs only standard stable parameters — 24-26C, salinity 1.024-1.026 — and, like most blennies, a tight lid.
Diet
Grazing alone rarely sustains one in a clean tank: offer nori on a clip several times a week plus spirulina-rich pellets or flakes.
It learns feeding routines fast.
A visibly hollow belly means it is losing the food race — feed more directly.
Mixed frozen foods are taken too, but vegetable matter should dominate.
Health
Tailspots are hardy and disease-resistant, with starvation in immature or over-clean tanks the main genuine risk.
Confirm feeding before purchase if possible.
Quarantine remains sensible.
Beyond that, watch only for jumping and for harassment by larger blennies or aggressive grazers competing for the same turf.
Temperament
Endlessly watchable: it perches on rockwork with curled tail, swivelling its banded eyes independently at everything that moves, then darts off to graze.
Many learn to recognise their keeper.
It is peaceful with everything except close competitors — keep one blenny in smaller tanks, as it may squabble with other algae-grazing blennies over territory.
Beginner
Beginner
Beginner
Beginner
Beginner
Beginner