New Lawnmower Blenny

[lkoncilja]

My first post, so if it’s not in the right place please let me know. I got a Lawnmower Blenny 4 days ago and he went through about 1/2 of my tank algae the first 2 days and hasn’t eaten since. I tried seaweed pellets and wafers that I had on hand and he didn’t touch either of them. I went out and got some Nori seaweed tonight and not only has he not touched it, but now my tank looks like a snow globe. He is also swimming all over one side of the tank frantically (well to me it looks frantic!). Besides a belly that is just starting to sink in, he looks ok- no rapid breathing, eyes bright blue, skin good color.
Currently the tank has 0 nitrites/nitrates, 0.25 ammonia(which it almost always stays at that level no matter what I do), pH is 8.0. The only thing off is the salinity at 1.026, which I am trying to get down. I’ve googled my Blenny’s symptoms about 50 times now and gotten answers anywhere from he’s starving or the tank O2 is low, all the way to he’s seeing his reflection in the glass and thinks it’s another Blenny and is acting aggressively.
Up until now I’ve always had one dwarf octopus in the tank and decided to take a break from octopuses when my last one died so I have zero experience with fish. That being said there are 2 chromis in the tank as well and they’re both doing fine. Is there something I’m doing wrong or should be trying to feed him? Googling Blenny symptoms was driving me nuts so I figured I’d reach out and ask someone.
Thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

I’ve had 4 lawnmower blennies, Rigel I-IV. They look great at the local LFS, but I find they do very poorly in captivity (just my experience, YMMV). So yes, I’ve seen everything you described and no matter what I did their fate was always sealed. I have a midas blenny now.

 

[USCfan]

People have good luck with cubes of fresh cucumbers.

 

[MaxTremors]

They generally poor fairly in small tanks and tanks that have CuCs without a lot of algae (which they can be picky about, they only like certain types). How big is your tank? If it’s under 75g, and you don’t have a lot of algae and live rock, I would take it back to the lfs. If you like the look of blennies, there are other species that do much better.

 

[Tamberav]

Why would you lower a salinity at 1.026? That’s perfect for a reef.

 

[BTimms]

They generally poor fairly in small tanks and tanks that have CuCs without a lot of algae (which they can be picky about, they only like certain types). How big is your tank? If it’s under 75g, and you don’t have a lot of algae and live rock, I would take it back to the lfs. If you like the look of blennies, there are other species that do much better.

What other species would you recommend?

 

[MaxTremors]

What other species would you recommend?

Most of the larger blennies with a similar look are just as dependent on algae as the lawnmower (the starry, segmented sailfin, etc), though some to a lesser extent. I would look into one of the smaller species (Tailspot, Linnear, white-lined, etc), they still eat some algae but will more readily take frozen and flake food.