Algae blenny not doing Algae blenny things!

[mwwhite]

We have a lawnmower blenny that has been doing very well in our tank for a couple months now -- tank is 3 months old. He's been all over the tank, picking at the rocks constantly, picking at the glass, hanging out being cool.... normal stuff.

All of a sudden three days ago - he has stopped doing those things - he is now staying hidden, sitting on the sand behind the rocks, no more nipping at rocks or glass. He has never eaten any other foods offered. We've been worried and have expected to find him dead. He looks thin too.

There is alot of algae in the tank, all different kinds - you name it we have it.

We can't figure it out -- water params are excellent - all in the ranges Doc Holmes-Farley suggests - we have not added anything new to the tank except a bubble coral last weekend.

What could be his issue? We just love his little personality and want to fix whatever seems to be wrong.

Trying to anticipate your questions -- he's been living with a mated pair of true percs, one blue reef chromis, and one fridmani psuedo with no problems. Like I said only thing new is the bubble coral.

Any ideas?

 

[scrmbld33]

did you notice which algae he prefered? ive had 2 LMB and one ate any algae he could get the other only ate flake food, maybe the algae he liked is gone?

 

[mwwhite]

Hard to tell.... he nipped at both rocks and glass constantly and they both have all kinds..... green, brown, purple....

I always worried he wasn't getting enough - nipping, at first, seemed to me he was foraging for food -- but I got over that because he has lasted this long and figured that was just the way he ate.....

I don't see any less of any of the algae we've always had....

He's not right though....

IF we could catch him would it be a good idea to put him in sump or fuge? We don't have a hospital tank....... yet.

How long can they last without eating?

 

[scrmbld33]

i dont know how long he'll last with out eating, do you have a supplementle algae like seaweed selects? i feed my tangs that and my lmb that ate algae used to nip at it

 

[creditgirl]

We had a scooter blenny for about 3 months that did the same thing, only scooter's are meat eaters rather than algae eaters. Ours wasn't getting enough food from what the lfs told us and was starving to death, so we bought some live brine shrimp to feed him. He did well for about 2 days and seem to be eating normal and by the 3rd day he died. I guess it was too late to reverse his malnurishment. Maybe check with your lfs for suggestions. He have algae tablets that we feed our tang and he loves um, maybe you could try that.

 

[KyleP]

My lawnmower blenny loves algae tablets along with my yellow tang. Might try that. My blenny doesn't even forage for algae anymore. He has become lazy and waits for feeding time. I can't say I blame him.

 

[cw150]

lawnmower blennies don't seem to last very long. Maybe that's it. Maybe try some cyclopeze.

 

[mwwhite]

We regularly include Cyclop-Eeze in our feedings. Interesting about Algae tablets/seaweed selects - I'll look into it. We'd tried Formula 2 a number of times, but the blenny isn't interested.

 

[Racing1]

I know what you are going through. I had the same problem with mine recently. He ended up in fishy heaven. I tried everything I could think of and he would not eat. I never thought of the algae disc's though. Good Luck

 

[mwwhite]

Yeah he's breaking our hearts -- we'll try the algae tablets/seaweed selects today. Hope it's not too late...

We're finding you get attached to these animals just like dogs and cats!

Thanks for suggestions.

 

[mwwhite]

He didn't make it........