Blenny or Tang?

[tah532]

I am considering placing one more fish into my 75gallon FOWLR tank. I am thinking either a Lawnmower Blenny or a Kole Tang. Would love to hear some thoughts and reasons why which one and for what reasons! I have currently:

Flagfin Angel
Coral Beauty Angel
Small Rect. Triggerfish approx. 1 1/2"
and one pair of Orchid Dottybacks

 

[RLMainers]

They both have their own unique qualities. However, I like lawnmower blennies because they are so fun to watch. They perch on rocks (usually the feeding rock, in my experience) and watch what is going on in the tank.
That would be my pick.

 

[tah532]

Yeah, I have narrowed it down to possibly the Blenny after eyeballing my tank and realizing that a Tang just wouldnt fit space wise. What are anyones thoughts on a Lawnmower in my tank though, and those with experience please share.

 

[fishfanv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6624995#post6624995 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tah532
Yeah, I have narrowed it down to possibly the Blenny after eyeballing my tank and realizing that a Tang just wouldnt fit space wise. What are anyones thoughts on a Lawnmower in my tank though, and those with experience please share.

i had a lawnmower that i could never get to eat. one day i went looking for him & he was gone. i tried every food you could think of: f2, algae flakes, mysis, cyclop-eeze, nori, seaweed selects, you name it. i don't know if he ever ate, i never saw him eat. there was also some algae on the lr that i don't think he ever ate.

 

[karid]

A LMB would probably get along fine in the tank. And they certainly are characters and fun to watch.

The only problem may be feeding one long term. I had one that ate like a pig for 6 months - he ate everything and was a very aggressive feeder - but then one day he just stopped eating (refused everything I tried) and starved to death.

This is quite common with the LMB. If you do a search on this forum under "lawnmower blenny eating" you will see what I mean. This doesn't always happen - I'm sure there will be someone who will pipe up saying they had theirs for 3 years no problem, etc. But it is common to have problems with them eating in the 6 mos-1 year window and if this happens - they usually die.

 

[tah532]

bump

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

I had a LMB that would eat nyhitng i put in the tank and it was so fat he could barly perch on his rock lol, he would even chew on my finger if i put it in the water lol He was my favorite fish and i would say get one, just make sure the LFS shows you that it is eating before you buy it.

 

[tah532]

So which blenny would you all recommend Lawnmower or others?

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

lawnmower, most personatly IMO anyways

 

[cgk29]

Bi-Color blenny has a lot of personality and eats alot of algae. But I will tell you. The Kole tang I have is always picking and eating algae all day long.

 

[bigeyetuna]

Red Scooter Blenny are great too. Mine scoots along the bottom and can even hang upside down on the live rock.

My Lawnmover eats the macro algae on my live rock. They love Hair algae.

 

[Kent E]

I have both and they are great. My LMB is fat as can be.