Lawnmower blenny

bwig333 · Oct 28, 2012

Hey guys, bought a lawnmower blenny about 6 weeks ago. He is very shy and spends most of the day in the rockwork. I check on him multiple times throughout the day. He seems to be a little more active. My problem is I have never seen him eat anything. I have been keeping an eye on him multiple times throughout the day and night. Still nothing as far as eating. I have tried flake, pellet, seaweed on the rock, still nothing. He has been in the tank for about 6 weeks. He is skinny, but doesn't seem to have any other health problems. Should I be worried that he will starve himself? Any other ideas on food? Side note: I do have green hair algae in the tank but haven't seen him eating it either.

wysiwyg · Oct 28, 2012

how old is your tank?

ritter6788 · Oct 28, 2012

Lawnmower blennies eat diatom algae from the glass and rocks. Don't clean your glass and look for "kiss" marks in the algae on the glass.

Mine loves formula 1 pellets, nori and PE mysis.

bwig333 · Oct 28, 2012

This tank has been up since Feb of this year. Had a 55g but moved and used it as an excuse to increase to a 90g bowfront. Tank was looking great until July. Had some AC issues for about 2 weeks(using homeowners insurance, will never do that again), and tank temperature increased to 90+. I lost all corals, and the algae outbreak began shortly after. My fish did survive somehow.

bwig333 · Oct 28, 2012

Will do Gabriel, thanks for the info

robert · Oct 28, 2012

The only time I had one starve was one that was fully grown when I bought him. He was huge for a lawnmower. He just found himself a nice perch on a montipora and spent the day lounging.
I think he died of old age honestly.

Lawnmower blennys are a great fish. Really fun to watch. He should be nipping at the rockwork - whether you see much algae or not, but I do recommend you buy them small.

bwig333 · Oct 28, 2012

the one I bought is about 4 inches long, so not small. The thing that worried me was he is not nipping at anything, at least while the lights are on. He is coming out more during the day now, so maybe it will get better.

robert · Oct 28, 2012

That's about the size of the one I bought that wouldn't eat. I don't know how long they live and how big they get - but I think that's about the upper end of their size range. Maybe someone on here has some more info.

Maybe they were caught as adults and never adjust to the tank - or maybe they just quit eating and pass along when they get older. I'm not too sure.
At any rate - if you lose this one- don't give up on em. They're ugly, but sill one of my favorite fish. Just buy the next one on the smallish side and I think you'll have good success.