feeding a lawnmower blenny? advice needed

V

vsindorf

Member
I have been battling the hair algae in my tank for a while now (mainly with a toothbrush). But I took a 2 week trip to visit grad schools on the west coast and when I got back I found that my parents had introduced a lawnmower blenny to the tank. For a week or so it did nothing but sit in a cave and pace up and down the glass. I was sure it was going to die. Then one day it woke up, realized it was a blenny, and started acting like a real fish - perching on rocks, picking at algae, etc. and really, he's been doing a great job at keeping the algae at bay. Usually when the weekly waterchange rolls around I have quite a bit of scrubbing to do, but not this week! There are still some patches, but the tank isn't being overgrown either, so I'm happy.

Here's my question: I want him to keep eating algae just as voraciously, but I want to keep him healthy too. Do I need to be supplementing his grazing with prepared foods like pellets/nori sheets or live gracilaria, etc?

I'm pretty sure he was fed just prepared foods at the LFS, and we haven't fed him anything since he's been here. I noticed when I got home that his stomach was looking pretty pinched and he was gaping his mouth and breathing pretty heavily - signs of stress and possibly starvation. His behavior has definitely improved but his body condition not so much...I guess it will take more than a week to fatten him up on algae, but still, I'm worried. I don't want him to be malnourished if all i'm offering him is natural hair and film algae...

so should I feed him? If so, what?
(only other livestock is a tomato clown and some hardy zoas, gsp, toadstool, plus cuc)

thanks!
 
triniwasp

triniwasp

Member
I'd feed him some omega one veggie flakes or something similar, every two to five days, depending on your algae levels. Also, blennies often appear to be gasping and uptight, its just kinda how they roll. Which is partly why they are known to have such cool personalities.
 
whippetguy

whippetguy

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Both of my blennies eat the regular foods that I feed my other fish in addition to the nori I put in the tank.
 
Doogle

Doogle

Well-Known Member
I feed mine N.L.S. pellets (1mm) and flake food, a little ROD's and brine shrimp/spiralina sometimes.
I've never seen him eat the green algae sheets I have (my African cichlids do) but he gets busy on the pellets and flake food the most, seems fat and healthy.

Blenny's are cool fish.
 
R

rufus2008

Active Member
Mines a pig and eats everything I offer to the other fish. I've had him for 2 years now and he's 3 inches long and had a nice fat belly:)
 
C

cgkrick

Member
Got mine about 3 months ago to solve a hair algae problem, which I still battle intermittently. When it is under control, I supplement with nori. Right now, I am fighting it again. Lately, I see him eating my sis shrimp meant for the other fish. He is great to have.

My tank is 6 months old.
 
V

vsindorf

Member
cool, thanks for the advice, everyone! I'm glad to know i'm not being inhumane by not feeding him specifically. I'll let him keep lawn mowing for the time being and maybe pick up some pellets or flakes to give him once a week or so for those extra nutrients.

He is such a fun guy to watch. I was not happy to find him at first because he definitely puts me over the recommended fish length bioload, but I'm so happy with him. I'm watching levels and so far everything is good, so hopefully I can keep him! :)
 
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