Lawnmower Blenny Death :(

[Kyle918]

Yestserday I came home from work and fed my tank as usual. I quickly noticed that my blenny was not out and about going for food as he usually does. I spent about 20 minutes searching and eventually shut down the powerheads and return pump to calm the surface water so I can look straight down into the tank. I did see him but just his tail sticking out from behind some rockwork. I decided to leave him be and went to the hockey game, Lightening won btw, haha. After I returned home, he had not moved so I put a long baster in the tank and pushed him and he was of course dead and already eaten almost completely out. The CUC wasn't on him when I originally found him, nor when I came home the second time so he must have been dead from that prior night. I leave for work around 7am and don't really inspect the tank in the am although I usually see him perched someplace on my way out.

Anyway, my two clowns and all other livestock, including coral are doing well. Two clowns, one cleaner shimp, one hermit and various snails were all accounted for after removing the blenny.

Tank parameters are and have been stable with most recent water change last weekend. I changed ~9 gallons.

78F
1.026 SG
Haven't tested ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in some time and haven't despite the death. None of the remaining livestock are showing any signs of ammonia poisening or stress. All livestock was behaving normal when I left this morning.

I did recently test alkalinity and calcium and just one day prior, dosed the tank to raise CA from 380 to 410. This was my first time dosing the tank. The solution was clear and I dosed half the recommended dose on BRS and the other half several hours later.

I am lost as to what caused this death. Could it just be a sudden death of natural means? I am at work until about 5 and can test the water more thoroughly at that time but I don't expect to find anything out of the ordinary.

 

[JerseyGuy]

I've had two of them over the past 10 years and both of them died in a short period of time. And I have no issues with any of my other fish. I don't think they get enough to eat. You could have high nitrates but it was probably just him. I won't be getting another one.

 

[Kyle918]

I did QT him for over 3 months. He was very picky and did not eat for nearly 3 weeks when I got him. After he ate, I kept him in QT until he was fat and confident with his eating as my clowns are agressive eaters and rarely let anything drop to the bottom.

He was eating well and always readily ate when I fed the tank. Nitrates shouldn't harm salt water fish to my knowledge and although I have not tested them in some time, I doubt they would be high at all based on the behaviors of my corals and inverts, which are far more vulnerable to nitrates.

 

[JerseyGuy]

It was probably just him. I have a bunch of friends with tanks who've had similar experiences. I think they're just tough fish to keep. They do look cool though.

 

[Kyle918]

Yea. I may try another one in a few months. He was a cool dude! Thanks for the help!

 

[MondoBongo]

He was eating well and always readily ate when I fed the tank. Nitrates shouldn't harm salt water fish to my knowledge and although I have not tested them in some time, I doubt they would be high at all based on the behaviors of my corals and inverts, which are far more vulnerable to nitrates.

sorry for your loss.

nitrates can harm fish, but like you said, they would negatively impact your corals long before getting to the point of harming the fish.

what were you feeding him, and how much/often was he eating?

i've had my lawnmower for almost two years now. he typically has a little buddah belly from stuffing his face throughout the day. i lucked out though and got one that will eat anything. pellets, frozen, fresh, nori, macro, micro, whatever.

i also tend to have a lot of algae in my tank, as i am a consummate over feeder.

how long was he in the main tank after passing through QT? did he show any signs of stress, or anything out of the ordinary in the last few days?

 

[Knots]

Wait, what? You have a death and still are not checking your leveling to see if that's a cause? Dude, that's just hoping and hope is not a plan.

 

[gone fishin]

what leveling? None of the other fish are exhibiting symptoms of high ammonia. As stated above fish can tolerate high levels of nitrate, the corals would show symptoms before the fish. No other obvious signs of disease or illness. My guess is the guy was not getting enough to eat or just plain old natural causes. just my 2 cents.

 

[CuzzA]

I'd test your water just to be on the safe side, but not even Jesus Christ himself made it out of this world alive. Unless you're going to perform an autopsy on a fish, who knows. Maybe he had some bad habits. Too many late night algae binge eating episodes that led to clogged arteries or a heart attack. :beer: Maybe he just died of natural causes.

 

[gone fishin]

Just because a fish dies does not automatically mean bad water, chemistry or disease. Sometimes the fish just die.

 

[JerseyGuy]

Agree 100%, sometimes they just die. If your monkeying around with the tank and something happens I'd be suspicious, but if thing are just cruising along and one dies, not so much.

 

[2k3sgm]

I've had a couple do the same thing, one day they're happy cruising around and putting pucker marks in the algae on the glass and the next day.....

 

[Sk8r]

Understand that ammonia can take 3 days to kill...things that happen with organ damage are not always instant. Just informational.
Also blennies are more apt than other fish to get into a quarrel with a mantis or foxface or pistol shrimp.
As you say--most likely a random thing. But it's a shame. They're fun critters.

 

[Kyle918]

Good morning all,

I tested my water Saturday morning, mostly to check my calcium levels since I just started dosing but I checked the following and as expected, saw nothing of concern.

Temp - 78 F
Salinity - 1.026 SG; 35 ppt
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrites - didn't bother
Nitrates - 0 ppm
pH - 8.0

Alkalinity - 3.5 mEq/L
Calcium - 410 ppm
Magnesium - 1400 ppm

All remaining livestock is unaffected.

Poor guy though. He was a very interesting fish.

One of my favorite photos of him. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[CuzzA]

Well there you go. Hanging out with the wrong crowd only leads to death or sump jail.

 

[shesacharmer]

I'm also fortunate my Blenny eats any and everything. I feed flakes, pellets, nori, live black worms, and spirulina flakes. He has a fat belly every day and really pigs out on the nori.

 

[Puffyluv]

Never seen a lawnmower live more than two years in a smaller tank, or a tank with grazing completion. Fun fact...they are actually primarily detritivores!

I think it is diet, also...though it seems to be helpful to feed a variety of food often and hope for the best.

You guys should get Molly Miller blennies instead! No dying suddenly issue with them...they are tank bred by SA, eat algae AND aptasia...and look just like a lawnmower!