Lawnmower blenny

Marvin

Marvin

MyPetPugMilo
Dec 17, 2003
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Irvine, CA
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Hi everyone.

My lawnmower didn't make it this morning. I had him for about 2 months now and didn't seem to have any problems. He seemed to eat things off my live rocks. I don't know what happened. Do lawnmowers have a special diet i don' know about?

My water levels are normal except for nitrates that are around 20ppm. I added some LR about 2 weeks ago so not sure if that had anything to do with it.

37g FOWLR

Hmmm? Any speculations?
 
Posibly one of two things here.

Your live rock could have created a little bit of a spike in the tank in which he did not handle very well. How is everything else in the tank?
or
The Blenny was not getting enough to eat. They eat algaes as their main staple and if you are lacking this in your tank, they wont get enough to eat. They are great at keeping the algae down but when it is gone, you need to supliment with some greens.
 
I know my system is fairly new...about 3 months now. I checked the water levels after the addition of more LR and everything was ok except for Nitrates at 20.

If there isn't enogh algae...what type of supplements are there.

I loved the little guy and probably want to get another but want to make sure everything will be ok.

I also have been adding Calcium on a routine basis...would that have caused any problems?
 
I've also been considering one of them for my 90 gal reef. Someone at my lfs told me that they have a tendancy to be big bullies is this true?
thanks
Chris
 
Bully? Not mine... Very friendly..well more on the shy side. He would hop around and peck on rocks or just sit there on the rocks or most of the time hiding behind some rock.

My yellow tang is the bully in my tank. LMB is as nice as can be :)
 
Thank you very much! Will be adding very soon
 
They can be bullies...

Hi,

LMBs can indeed be bullies. We had one that was a "rescue" from a hobbyist's tank. It was literally the "aggressor" in his tank. This brings up the relative importance of order of introduction. This is often forgotten about as we go along... but it is always important. From my experiences and discussions, the LMBs are usually just fine with most fish in the tank that they are introduced to. The problems most reportedly come when fish are added after the lawnmower. :eek: This is when they most tend to bully the newcomers in their now "home" environment. Smaller, defenseless fish can be badgered into oblivion in a tank. That is to say, they might not swallowed ala "shark style," ;) but the real aggression comes at feeding time! :eek: They can make it very hard for certain fish to eat, with their constant badgering and "darting" at them when submissive fish try to eat.

Before getting a LMB, I think it is fair advice to suggest that you first have any smaller fish you desire in the tank first. LMBs can be real pains to newcomers.

As for feeding, nothing seems to be so good as Formula II frozen cubes. After thawing, you can quarter a cube and the blenny has no problem devouring as much as 1/2 a cube daily. They'll yank the whole piece off, but if you continue feeding they'll "leave" it there and go on to new pieces. Some fish eat best when food is free-floating in the water column, so this "take and stash" habit of the LMB can be real troublesome.

In short, they can be a real food-hog - as others can attest to. Simply leaving this fish in a tank and thinking it will do fine of "algae" is incorrect. Well, you'd have to have a rather large, established tank with a good ecosystem and algae going on to support their diet "naturally." Again, Formula II cubes should keep these guys supplemented and alive for many years! HTH

:)
 
thank you very much F.W. and Marvin will follow both of your advise. Also I'd like to thank the whole community for all the information that I've gained off of this forum. You are all a great resource and seem to be a very fine bunch of people! I find myself hitting this site at least 3 times a day. thanks all keep it up:D
Warmest regards
chris
 
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