Lawnmower Blenny help!!

[yanni]

He ate a singular pellet!! The clowns keep beating him to the rest, but I did watch him eat 1!!

Hopefully this is a good sign, and he eats again soon. It’s a good start though! He goes so crazy at night though, I wonder why?

 

[Idech]

He ate a singular pellet!! The clowns keep beating him to the rest, but I did watch him eat 1!!

Hopefully this is a good sign, and he eats again soon. It’s a good start though! He goes so crazy at night though, I wonder why?

Might be a long shot, but maybe he sees reflections. Can you try covering the tank where the light is hitting ?

 

[yanni]

Might be a long shot, but maybe he sees reflections. Can you try covering the tank where the light is hitting ?

its completely dark at night, so I’m not sure what he’s seeing that makes him go so crazy tbh

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Might be a long shot, but maybe he sees reflections. Can you try covering the tank where the light is hitting ?

its completely dark at night, so I’m not sure what he’s s1eeing that makes him go so crazy tbh

Reflection was actually my first thought too - glass shows reflections when there's a substantial difference in the amount of light on both sides (i.e. when one side is light and the other dark, the side with more light will start reflecting). So, if the lights are off outside of the tank but you have moonlighting or something on the inside of the tank, it's possible that the amount of light in the tank is enough to cause reflections on the glass.

I have no idea if this is the problem for your tank, but if it is you could just light up the dark side and the reflection would go away, or you could block the light from hitting the light side and that should get rid of the reflection as well. For it being lighter in the tank and darker out of it, I've seen someone put a white piece of paper on the outside of the their tank to reduce the light difference inside vs. outside, and that successfully eliminated the reflection they were getting; some other suggestions include blocking the light from hitting the glass inside, or putting little LED's around the outside to light it out and decrease the difference in light.

Regardless of if this is what's causing problems for you or not, though, I hope you're able to figure out what's wrong soon - best of luck!

 

[Idech]

its completely dark at night, so I’m not sure what he’s seeing that makes him go so crazy tbh

I had a fish that did that. Except he did it all day, without ever stopping. He wouldn’t eat, ever. I tried the breeder box, then a 5 gallons and he would still barely ate.

I got him a pistol shrimp and put both of them in the breeder box. They immediately paired and a day later I released them both in the same spot. He immediately started guarding the cave. He ate. He became a totally different fish. He started living.

So what I’m saying is maybe your fish is extremely distressed from being removed from his natural habitat. Maybe he is missing something that isn’t there and just tries to get out. Try researching if there is something you could add to his habitat that would make him like it more.

 

[yanni]

I had a fish that did that. Except he did it all day, without ever stopping. He wouldn’t eat, ever. I tried the breeder box, then a 5 gallons and he would still barely ate.

I got him a pistol shrimp and put both of them in the breeder box. They immediately paired and a day later I released them both in the same spot. He immediately started guarding the cave. He ate. He became a totally different fish. He started living.

So what I’m saying is maybe your fish is extremely distressed from being removed from his natural habitat. Maybe he is missing something that isn’t there and just tries to get out. Try researching if there is something you could add to his habitat that would make him like it more.

Was it a watchman goby that pairs with the pistol shrimp? As far as I’m aware the tank is pretty well adjusted to his needs, some algae growth, lots of crushed coral skeleton in the sand and some of the live rock is old dead coral. Lots of caves and overhangs to hide in and explore. Lots of height and different areas to perch on. Not too sure what else he might need that I haven’t considered

 

[Idech]

Was it a watchman goby that pairs with the pistol shrimp?

Yes, and although it was living without one at the store, it was completely distressed in my tank. Like you, there was everything else.

I know your fish doesn’t need a shrimp though. I’m just trying to think of something.

My new kole tang was glass surfing on one side like a crazy maniac when I got him. I covered that side of the glass with a towel for 2-3 days and he stopped.

 

[yanni]

Yes, and although it was living without one at the store, it was completely distressed in my tank. Like you, there was everything else.

I know your fish doesn’t need a shrimp though. I’m just trying to think of something.

My new kole tang was glass surfing on one side like a crazy maniac when I got him. I covered that side of the glass with a towel for 2-3 days and he stopped.

Yeah I understand what you’re saying. There definitely is a way, it’s just finding it. I’m gonna keep at the feeding and make sure he’s okay. The guy who I bought him off said as long as he doesn’t look pinched, he should be okay. If he isn’t taking food, he might just already have eaten. This confuses me though, arent most fish opportunistic eaters? I can feed my clowns, and then feed them 30min later, and they go just as crazy as they did earlier, and eat it all

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

On the bright side, sounds like you don’t need an alarm clock any more!

 

[yanni]

Small update, he still goes nuts at night, I think it may be reflection, but even when the room is pitch black he still goes berserk. He is also readily eating pellets now at his convenience. He munches algae all day, and he usually takes pellets when the lights start to dim! Thank you all for the help

 

[Jmcg89]

I've had a lawnmower for almost a year now and he still doesent eat food in the water column, he ate food In the bare bottom qt when I first got him but now the only time I see him eat is nori off a clip. I have a good amount of rock he browses and I broadcast feed a good amount of frozen every day so I imagine he gets some of that that gets caught in the rock work. He is always working at the glass and rocks and stays fat though.

 

[yanni]

Another update. Lawnmower blenny is a big piggy, absolutely devours mysis and gnaws at rocks pretty often. Very rarely eats algae, which sucks bc that’s a big reason I bought him, but he picks at small tufts of GHA, and loves film algae. Also for some reason loves cleaning the snails.

He has a belly now, sleeps at night in his own little cave, and always greets my gf (never me), in the morning. Super cute personality, always curious, loves sitting on high rocks or peeking his head out to watch me n my gf walk around the room and play video games

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Another update. Lawnmower blenny is a big piggy, absolutely devours mysis and gnaws at rocks pretty often. Very rarely eats algae, which sucks bc that’s a big reason I bought him, but he picks at small tufts of GHA, and loves film algae. Also for some reason loves cleaning the snails.

He has a belly now, sleeps at night in his own little cave, and always greets my gf (never me), in the morning. Super cute personality, always curious, loves sitting on high rocks or peeking his head out to watch me n my gf walk around the room and play video games

I love my lawn mower

 

[yanni]

the lil guy

 

[yanni]

I love my lawn mower

He’s a great tank member. Even tho he’s a bit lazy with algae (is an Addict for mysis), he’s quickly became a favourite

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Hey all!

I recently bought a lawnmower blenny for my nano (20g) tank, to curb some early algae growth. The tank is a month old now, started fully with live rock, and it’s other inhabitants include two clowns, one banded shrimp, and a few snails. All water parameters are stable and in line.

The blenny has been exhibiting weird behaviour, unsure if it’s normal for them. I’ve had him for 3 days now and he refuses to eat, but I catch him chewing on sand or pecking the rocks/glass occasionally. He’s super shy during the day, but at night time, gets the “zoomies,” where he just swims constantly like he’s taken an energy drink. It doesn’t appear anything is chasing him, the clownfish are asleep together, the shrimp hanging in his cave, and he’s going berserk.

He went so crazy last night he jumped through a tiny gap in the netting, landed on me and woke me up, then landed in the floor, where I scooped him back into the tank???

many insight or help on what to do please

Haha! I'm just finding this thread thanks to another thread on here. The mental image of the blenny jumping onto you while you were sleeping has me cracking up! Sorry...not much of a contribution to this discussion, but thanks for sharing this moment with us!

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

It's seriously a crazy story. When you posted this thread I had to tell my gf and we we're cracking up for a good 10 mins.......

 

[yanni]

Haha! I'm just finding this thread thanks to another thread on here. The mental image of the blenny jumping onto you while you were sleeping has me cracking up! Sorry...not much of a contribution to this discussion, but thanks for sharing this moment with us!

Man it was comical almost, my gf and I couldn't believe it!! He was such a funny lil guy, sadly passed away now

 

[lmfbs]

Man it was comical almost, my gf and I couldn't believe it!! He was such a funny lil guy, sadly passed away now

Oh dear, this was super recently wasn't it? How'd he die, do you know?

 

[yanni]

Oh dear, this was super recently wasn't it? How'd he die, do you know?

Two months ago I think, at the end of may. I’m not sure. I believe he was starved when we got him, and it was already too late as he suffered irreversible damage to his liver/stomach. Poor thing, he had a happy few months in our tank, even if he slowly only ate at the end