Lawnmower Blenny Grazing Locations

[Patrick Cox]

I just added a Lawnmower Blenny to my 75G SPS reef tank and after a day or two of getting comfortable in the tank, it has absolutely wiped out all algae on my back glass! Over a two day period it just went crazy and literally mowed it all down. Really unbelievable. I also have quite a bit of the same green film algae on my rock and sand bed and it doesn't seem to be that interested in that algae, even though I know it is the same algae. It all looks the same. So, any experience with this fish? Will it eventually develop a liking for the algae on the rock? And then what about algae film in the sand? Will it eat that or should I remove the sand algae? I don't want to remove any algae that the fish would eventually eat.

Thanks!

 

[peasofme]

they sometimes will only eat certain algae like the kind on the glass. the biggest concern is keeping them fed.

 

[Patrick Cox]

OK, scratch that! The glass is clean and now he is eating algae on rocks! There should be enough growth to keep him fed because I am feeding my tank (corals) daily and I have added several fish so hoping for LOTS if fish poop and colorful corals and enough algae growth to feed my Blenny! :fish1:

Thanks!

 

[peasofme]

they eat a lot of algae so you don't want to remove any algae from now on.

 

[peasofme]

if you see your algae going too low, the best way to foster algae growth is overfeeding and keeping the lights on a lot.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Thanks for replies. Do you think the Blenny will eat algae in the sand? It is the same algae that is on the glass and rocks, it is just in the sand because of low flow at the bottom of the tank. Thanks.

 

[MondoBongo]

i have never seen mine eat any algae off the sand, but i don't have green algae on the sand, just cyano. which he won't eat anywhere.

you might want to see if he will accept other foods as well. i know mine will eat nori from a clip and as much meaty food (pellets and frozen) as he can fit.

he is such a little piggy i have nicknamed him "Mr. Creosote". although i have read a lot of people who have trouble getting theirs to eat anything but live algae. might be worth seeing what else he goes for in case he does wipe out your nuisance algae.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Just following up on this thread. This Lawnmower Blenny is literally a lawnmower! This fish is plowing through all green algae in my tank. The only algae I have is green film algae like that in the above sand bed picture. It grows on the glass, on the rocks and on the sand bed. He first totally cleaned the back glass. They he started working on the rock work and now he is also picking at the sand bed. Probably 75% of the algae on the rock work has been eaten and he is working more on the sand bed now. I just hope I can keep enough algae to keep him fed! So if you have a green algae problem, this is your fish! And he is interesting to watch!

 

[sepulvd]

I was able to feed mine nori and NLS pellets

 

[3dees]

it took about 6 months before mine realized that the stuff floating in the water was food. it now eats everything but still keeps the algae it check.

 

[kenman345]

I have a 56G tank, had my Lawnmower Blenny for about a week.

I see him getting comfortable and have seen him once or twice a day nipping at the glass for algae. I bought him from the store after observing a feeding and saw he ate a pellet or two and then went to the glass to eat algae while the other fish in the tank were distracted. I believe he is eating some of the pellets i am feeding the tank, but I have green hair algae about 2" long or less all over 80% of my live rock right now.

How long should I expect him to take cleaning up a 2"x2" area? I havent really noticed any lessening of the algae yet.

 

[Patrick Cox]

I have a 56G tank, had my Lawnmower Blenny for about a week.

I see him getting comfortable and have seen him once or twice a day nipping at the glass for algae. I bought him from the store after observing a feeding and saw he ate a pellet or two and then went to the glass to eat algae while the other fish in the tank were distracted. I believe he is eating some of the pellets i am feeding the tank, but I have green hair algae about 2" long or less all over 80% of my live rock right now.

How long should I expect him to take cleaning up a 2"x2" area? I havent really noticed any lessening of the algae yet.

Hi,
Here is another update on my blenny. He at all of the green film algae in my tank. I now am starting to grow green hair algae and as of yet he doesn't seem to like that algae. We will see if he take a liking to it. But he will not eat any of the food I feed. This includes seaweed I have put in the tank. He only picks at the glass and rock. If he likes something, he can quickly plow through it.

Good luck.

 

[kenman345]

Hi,
Here is another update on my blenny. He at all of the green film algae in my tank. I now am starting to grow green hair algae and as of yet he doesn't seem to like that algae. We will see if he take a liking to it. But he will not eat any of the food I feed. This includes seaweed I have put in the tank. He only picks at the glass and rock. If he likes something, he can quickly plow through it.

Good luck.

So I should expect him to get comfy and fat soon? I just want to know he's making a dent in my algae growth before i increase my lighting to what I want it to be.

 

[Patrick Cox]

So I should expect him to get comfy and fat soon? I just want to know he's making a dent in my algae growth before i increase my lighting to what I want it to be.

Hi,
How is your Blenny doing? Mine ended up dying. I was planning to give him back to the LFS because he would not eat the GHA in my tank and then one day he was dead. It was strange because he ate every bit of film algae but he was not interested in the hair algae.

Hope yours is doing well.

 

[kenman345]

Hi,
How is your Blenny doing? Mine ended up dying. I was planning to give him back to the LFS because he would not eat the GHA in my tank and then one day he was dead. It was strange because he ate every bit of film algae but he was not interested in the hair algae.

Hope yours is doing well.

Fat every day, but not sure if he's eating something else besides hair algae, problm might only be maintained now, i havent seen much of a reduction

 

[Triggerfish]

typically if a blenny does not accept prepared food they will eventually perish. mine eats everything like a beast. some will some wont...

 

[kenman345]

I have a lot of algae, but also, i have definitely seen it fight for some food and nibble at it when it is on the sand floor. I just hope he also is eating some algae because i see him do it maybe once a week, but i am not always there to see