algae blenny question

[coryhupfer]

so i got a blenny at the store the other day and totally forgot to ask the kid at the store what to feed it?i saw something about them starving if they have a lack of food in the tank and i don't have very much algae growing on my rocks or in my tank there is some green stuff growing on the back glass panel but thats about it.i tried putting some green marine algae in and he didn't show any interest to that really and it looked like he might have been going after a few flakes of food i put in for my clown fish but is there anything anyone recommends i should feed this fish?any help appreciated just want to take proper care of this fish

 

[pyithar]

he'll eat the film algae off rocks and glass. try some nori. mine started eating hikari seaweed extreme after a couple of days. eventually, he eats everything i put in my tank.

 

[Puffyluv]

Is this a lawnmower blenny?

They are sold as algae blennies...but actually their main diet in the wild is detritus...only 10% algae.

 

[Marshall O]

Is this a lawnmower blenny?

They are sold as algae blennies...but actually their main diet in the wild is detritus...only 10% algae.

My thoughts exactly. I add one starve in my fairly new 55 gallon after it ate all of the hair algae It never touched any of the many foods I offered.

 

[Puffyluv]

They have a pretty poor survival rate, unfortunately...like a diamond goby.

I recommend molly millers instead of lawnmowers...they eat algae, also...and aptasia!

 

[sepulvd]

I have always kept a lawnmower blenny always nice and fat and ate everything I fed the tank. I also never clean the back glass so it's always has algae

 

[MondoBongo]

I have always kept a lawnmower blenny always nice and fat and ate everything I fed the tank. I also never clean the back glass so it's always has algae

it seems like these guys are either awesome and eat everything, or refuse anything but certain live algae and starve.

i have one of the former. like yours he eats everything i put in the tank, doesn't matter what it is. pellets, frozen, live baby brine, nori, etc... and i always see his lip marks on the glass, so he is getting his fill of film algae too.

 

[Puffyluv]

No, it's just a matter of time vs. tank conditions, I think...which is why (I believe) you really never hear of folks who have had a lawnmower more than, say...two years...in a tank smaller than a 75g. If you do, you will probably find there aren't too many other fish in there...and the tank will be one that "runs dirty".

Fun fact - they are actually primarily detritivores in the wild.

 

[MondoBongo]

I've had my guy for just about exactly two years, in my 75, that "runs dirty".

 

[Puffyluv]

Keep feeding well and crossing your fingers! I believe this set up is a minimum requirement for this fish. I would love to be wrong, and have lots of people come post how they have been able to keep a lawnmower (I do like these fish, though I believe a molly miller is a much better option) in a 20g for longer than a year...since they are sold to this size tank across the country (daily, I'm sure) but years of searching locally has produced nothing.

I just had to toss one of these guys in a garbage a month ago...I had told one of my customers not to buy this fish when they were telling me they wanted one...but they went to another local store who was happy to sell them one. Guess who they tried to bring this starving fish to? The store who sold it to them? Of course not....by the time he got the fish to me, he was already dead in the bucket.

I cried after he left. I purposely don't ever sell this fish so as to not have to deal with their inevitable death in most systems...and still the misconception on this fish chases me and makes me cry.

 

[coryhupfer]

Well he's been aLot less shy now and is eating flake food with all my other fish.the guy at the store showed me some algae pellets that he said the fish would eat but he'll only eat like one Small one and spit the next one out so I don't think he really cares for those and it kinda sucks because the food wasn't cheap but he sucks on the glass and eats flake food once a day so I think he should be good

 

[Puffyluv]

Cool, as soon as the store gets those detritus pellets in stock you should be good, right?

Best of luck to you.