lawnmower blenny: I don't get it

lion king · Jul 30, 2017

So this is now my 2nd lawnmower blenny and although he's only been in the tank a couple of days, I'm already concerned. It's a macro algae tank with a variety of micro algaes as well, should be a blenny's dream. The first one never really ate and just died, he had been eating at my favorite lfs and had been there for a while. This one came from a different source and was eating mysis and nibbling at flake at the lfs. Now he seems completely uninterested in eating. The flame angel in the tank seems happy enough, and he's not picking on them at all. Both the blennies have been out and about and show no signs of stress.

Am I missing something. I thought they would do better going straight into the macro tank so they would have something to graze on. The 1st one had been doing well in an independent tank system at my friends lfs so I wasn't as concerned about his health. But could these guys be coming in with something that would make them stop eating. Or is this just the luck of the draw with lawnmower blennies.

I've had my experience with difficult, finicky. even more delicate fish than these; so I am a little frustrated. I rarely lose fish, so to lose 2 in a row is just out of the question. I don't get it.

djorijun · Jul 30, 2017

I ended up buying a clip and feeding my blenny nori cause he started to run out of algae.

Stuart Willis · Jul 30, 2017

i do the same i feed mine some nori wrapped around a rock
which the clownfish seem to like shredding into bits and my tank looks like a tornado whipped through it

lion king · Jul 30, 2017

I guess you guys didn't get that is is a macro algae tank with an abundance a many sources of micro and macro algaes. I obviously didn't get a blenny for a macro tank to feed him nori. I don't even feed my tangs, angels, and foxface nori.

Stuart Willis · Jul 30, 2017

but if he ain't eating then I guess you should feed him or at least try nori and see if it works rather than he starves to death

Ocelaris · Jul 30, 2017

Some macro algae aren't palatable to fish, for example halmeda, chaeto and many turf algaes. Mine keeps hair algae at bay, but he won't touch the ones with thick cell walls or with calcium in them. What kind of macro algae are you keeping? Mine eats anything and everything the other fish eat, and grazes the rest of the day.

DSC reef · Jul 30, 2017

lion king said:
I guess you guys didn't get that is is a macro algae tank with an abundance a many sources of micro and macro algaes. I obviously didn't get a blenny for a macro tank to feed him nori. I don't even feed my tangs, angels, and foxface nori.

We get it's a macro algae tank. But as suggested, it might not be palatable to the blenny. Why not try nori, it's beneficial to the other fish too. Having multiple food sources for fish is always a good idea.

Budman's Corals · Jul 30, 2017

mine eats flakes that float down in front of him try that.

lion king · Jul 31, 2017

I know blennies don't eat macro algae, it's the micro algae that they eat. This tank has an abundance of natural life, even a more delicate flame angel grazes on what's in the tank. The tank is also fed other frozen foods. Of course I didn't find the negative post concerning lawnmower blennies until after I got one, it apparently seems that many of them decide not to eat.

I guess what I was looking for in advice if anyone has found these guys come in with parasites and the such that inhibits them from eating. like in the cases of some angels and wrasses. And once you've treated them they acquire an appetite. With the abundance of food sources in this tank I don't think he would be better off going back to the lfs. This tank should be a blennies dream. I found out after the fact that the lfs purchased a display at Superzoo and likely this blenny was part of it, that type of transport doesn't do well.

SmokeyGnar · Jul 31, 2017

He could be stressed after the move. When I had mine I was feeding my tank a variety of pellets, flake, frozen, nori, and the occasional live black worms and earthworms for probiotics. At first it wouldn't eat, then it would nibble at leftovers, then after a while it started to eat everything

Slarti · Jul 31, 2017

I had a bicolor blennie which would go days without eating, then he will grab some pellets floating past and then nothing again for a day or two. Did do grazing in-between and was healthy enough so maybe they only eat when they feel like it?

OREGONIC · Jul 31, 2017

Some days my bicolor grazes and some days he just eats meaty foods when i feed the tank. The days he does decide to graze he does so non stop. Tried feeding him nori a few times and he showed no intrest. He is fat and very healthy. He was also very shy the first few weeks, now he comes and goes from his cave without hesitation. I wouldn't worry to much since he is a new addition,give him time to get used to his new environment.

Slarti · Jul 31, 2017

I once tried nori in my tank, had to fish it out a little later and it did not get a second glance from anything in my tank. I did have some algae wafers though and I open the packet around the corner and the nassarius snails and strombus will be waiting for me to appear! Drop it in and you can organise betting on the snail 'races' as they went for it...

But i digress, I agree giving him some time and he will come around soon enough.

eatbreakfast · Jul 31, 2017

I've found lawnmower blennies are quick to go on a hunger strike. If it waa eating at the LFS, then it has a better chance of eating again.

As a grazer they can be more prone to internal parasites. However, the meds to treat internal paradites often stifle a feeding response.

Ocelaris · Jul 31, 2017

Just reviewing here, did you skip quarantine? If you skipped that, hard to say whether it's a disease, especially if it was eating fine in the store. It's unlikely to do any better in the display tank, they don't absolutely need algae as a sole food source, but high protein diets can give them blockage. If it was eating prepared foods in the store, it should have been fine to eat those in it's new home. Also you could have some disease resident in your tank i.e. "new fish die syndrome, must be the new fish", when it could be something your existing fish are healthy enough to fight off, but the new fish doesn't have that energy reserve.

lion king · Jul 31, 2017

It specifically has to do with lawnmower blennies, not until I decided to put one in my tank did I see the overwhelming amount of post concerning lawnmower blennies not eating. Since then I've also started talking to the lfs and one told me 1/2 of the ones they get in never eat. So I was fishing for some knowledge from someone that may have a clue of how to deal with it, or is it just the luck of the draw. It has nothing to do with my tank or the variety of foods being offered.

Ocelaris · Jul 31, 2017

I've heard the same, and was lucky to get one who was eating. But he also was introduced to a tank where everyone was new, so I went through a bunch of different foods and maybe he watched and learned from others? I really feel that fish have to learn to eat the food we provide. Who knows what they ate in the wild if it looks or tastes anything like the algae in our tank.

Sorry for your situation, hope you find something he'll eat!