Losing a l.m.b

[SALTYwaterDOG]

Greetings reefers, my wife's 75gal has a lawnmower blenny. For a long as she has had it. It has not taken offerings. Its been in our possession for almost two years. As of recent there has not been algae for it to graze on.the tank is feed the usual -nori,mysis- extra. The blenny looks pinched and I fear the worst. I'm looking for any advice or tricks to get this little guy to eat. This fish is one of my wifes favorites. There has never been a lot of algae and it has all was made a good living you know just fat.could it be at the end of its life span? I just checked the water and the dKH is bit high it's about 11.2 , zero nitrates zero phosphate temp's reading 79 .
Anyways thanks for your time. :facepalm:

 

[Bent]

Pics? Have you tried giving him seaweed sheets?

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

Its a bit shy. I'll try to get one and yes I've been keeping a peace of seaweed in there for it all the time now. I've rubber banded some to rocks on the bottom. But it gets covered hermits. So it doesn't really bother with it there.i also keep some on a clip on the side of the glass were it will sit. Why it doesn't just take a bite i can't figure out?

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

Here it is, sorry for the bad pic its shy.

 

[wrott]

Have you considered buying a few pieces of LR covered w/ algae?

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

I haven't thought of that,that might work. If I was able to catch this guy and sump it could or would it eat chaeto? There some algae in there but not much.

 

[Bent]

How long have you had him? It does not look very old in those pics.

LMBs do eat more than just algae and there should be sufficient food in the average tank to sustain his grazing needs.

Did you QT him and prophylactically treat him? If not, and he's a relatively new addition It's possible that he has some ailment of his GI system that's either preventing him from eating or shunting his nutrients.

 

[Reef Frog]

Maybe trying a few different sinking pellets for herbivores (algae mix) and omnivores (algae mix & shrimp for example). If it's shy can you keep the hermits away? Maybe a few days in the sump? I'd try a Selcin soak and even a garlic soak to entice it to eat.

In cases like my two LFSs will give me a few pellets or sample of different dry foods before at no charge to try.

A pinched belly could be digestive parasites like worms. A Prazi treatment might be in order, but you'd need to decide if the stess of a capture & transfer to QT is a wise move. I'd probably try getting it to eat first. Good luck.

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

It's been in the tank for nearly two years. I did have an Ich scare about a year ago. I thought I saw some but haven't seen any sign sence. I'm not sure if it was sand or Ich. The tank is full of rock and has been up for many years. It was originally seeded with live rock soooo really anything possible. I do feed with sinking pellets on occasion. I have never used garlic. I will give this a try.do you soak garlic in some tank water than add the pellets?

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

Can you soak nori in garlic as well if so I might have a better chance with that sense it likes to sit on the nori and clip.

BTW thanks for your help people's

 

[Bent]

Can you soak nori in garlic as well if so I might have a better chance with that sense it likes to sit on the nori and clip.

BTW thanks for your help people's

Yes you can.