Lawnmower Blenny

[t5Nitro]

Well, I picked one of these up in hopes that he would cure my GHA problem. At the store he was chomping at their sand bed non-stop, so I figured that would be the one to buy. Ever since I got him last week he stays at the top of the tank every day the lights are on. He swims down toward the sand at night, but in the day he swims all day at the top of the tank. It also only eats off the algae clip sometimes. Is this normal blenny behavior?

 

[Doris M]

The only thing that got rid of my hair algae problem was turbo snails, urchins, water changes every week and turning lights off. I have a lawn mower blenny and he is too busy leaving his little lip prints all over the glass.

 

[t5Nitro]

Maybe I should buy more turbos then. I've been dealing with this since March. Tank has gone downhill ever since. Really makes you want to take the rocks out and scrub them in bleach, coral encrusted or not :lol:

I wish the tang and foxface would even just look at the stuff

 

[Onte]

Our Blenny never really did anything on or around the sand bed. He'd hang out mostly on the higher elevated rock and on the powerheads. He ate off the rockwork surface and from the rear glass.

At the time we had our Blenny, though, we had a hitchhiker crab that we didn't realize was in there until it was too late. I don't know if our Blenny seemed to hang out high in the rocks and on the powerheads because of that crab or if that's just what Blenny's do.

 

[crabbejoe]

Mine also likes to hang out at the top of the tank and sits on top of a powerhead most of the time.

 

[t5Nitro]

What are you all feeding your blennies? Mine so far only eats from the algae clip here and there and chomps at the glass once in a while.

How should I go about getting the GHA out from around the corals then? For instance, the mushroom corals were doing so well and now most are all sunken in and/or covered up.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Once hair algae gets a foothold it's difficult to get rid of. Grazers do help alot but unfortunately not all of them eat hair algae. My Starry Blenny only likes film algae on the glass. I have a Bicolor Blenny that eats green algae from the rocks. He probably would eat hair algae if it wasn't too long. I had a Lawnmower Blenny years ago that ate up all of the hair algae in a 90 gal within a week. Unfortunately that is all he would eat and he eventually starved and died.

What do I feed my Blennies? My Starry and Bicolor eat everything: mysis, homemade fish mash, nori on a clip and algae.

Hair algae? Do a search. Many of us have been plagued by it and you can find alot of info here. In a nutshell though here's what you can start. Scrub it off the rocks. Remove the source of organics either incoming or trapped. Change your ro cartridges and/or membrane if needed. Vacuum or remove a shallow sand bed (as in non-functioning sand bed, not deep sand bed). Blow detritus off of rocks and do a big water change removing the detritus filled water. Add several different grazers to keep rocks clean before it grows the long hair algae that many of them won't touch.

 

[t5Nitro]

I've been doing the scrub technique. It's hard. You only get maybe 5" x 5" area per 5 gallon change.

 

[Joe-ness]

Next time you do a water change, take some rock out, scrub with an old toothbrush, and then rinse it in a bucket of old water. Should knock it down to the point were the mower might touch it.

Best of Luck!

 

[Avgou]

My Sailfin/Lawnmower Blenny it's micro-algaes all over the tank, especially the micro/film algae that grows on the Halimeda in my tank. I have a decent forest of it that keeps him busy, I have had him 4 months and have not yet had to feed him prepared foods.

I have one spot of hair algae in my tank on a wild Clam and every now and then the Blenny munches on it, but it's his last resort it seems.

Sounds like your tank has too much phosphates and nitrates...What's going on with your flow? Try turning your powerhead's angles up a bit so they help eliminate Carbon Dioxide and increase gas/oxygen exchange. That eliminated my red slime issue withing a day or two it was gone.

 

[t5Nitro]

^^^^ The powerheads are aimed more toward the surface. Lots of surface agitation. Chaeto (which doesn't grow) and a phosban reactor are already in there (since a while ago). I wonder if the chaeto needs better light to grow. Do you guys think it's safe to put a ball of it in the main display under the halides? I would put some mesh around it and have it floating at the top or something. Would that be too much light for the chaeto?

 

[scaz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13310211#post13310211 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by t5Nitro
^^^^ The powerheads are aimed more toward the surface. Lots of surface agitation. Chaeto (which doesn't grow) and a phosban reactor are already in there (since a while ago). I wonder if the chaeto needs better light to grow. Do you guys think it's safe to put a ball of it in the main display under the halides? I would put some mesh around it and have it floating at the top or something. Would that be too much light for the chaeto?

It would be fine. some people put the chaeto in agle clips and between cleaning magnets. You might also want to make sure you are using good RO/DI water. Have you been using a TDS meeter to measure the water?

 

[Koralkid]

Sometimes i fin d that cutting back on feeding the fish (proceed with caution as n ot to starve) helps if the tan is looking a litle dirty, i know your tank is beyond just a little algae but perhaps enticing the fish to look for food elsewhere would maybe show them the way to the algae?? Just a tought

 

[rainmkr07]

my lawnmower was always amongst the rockwork, always perched on some rock or anotehr, never swimming around at the top... that's weird that yours is doing that...