Why / why not get a lawnmower blenny?

[kevjtomy]

Just wondering the ups and downs of this fish. I think they look really neat. Once I would be ready to get one the only other tankmate would be a clown. Would this work? Also have snails, crabs, cleaner shrimp, and soft corals. 72 gal with DSB. Suggestions? Thanks..

 

[Laurie]

One of my favorite fish! Be sure that you have good algae growth on your rocks and glass before you get one because he might not take to food right away. Mine eats just about anything now but he still likes to chomp the green algae off the glass. I let it build up for a couple of days sometimes and the lip marks are all over the place.

I really can't think of any reason not to have one.

 

[Blowfishaq]

This is an awesome fish. I agree with Laurie, there is no reason not to get one.

 

[pcragg]

Great fish! Lots of personality. Leaves your coral and other fish alone, and keeps your live rock clean. Don't worry about feeding, they chow down on flake. They are kind of ugly though, but that makes them cute.

 

[kevjtomy]

Thanks everyone. My main concern was them leaving the corals alone. Another thing: I failed to mention that I have a clam in the tank also. Will that be a problem? Thanks a bunch.

 

[Laurie]

Nah! I have 3 clams and Bennie doesn't even notice them. They can jump sometimes though - found mine in the overflow the other day - he was not happy. Enjoy your Blenny.

 

[Anonymous]

i totally agree with the above posts. great fish. I've even found mine in the overflow once too. the only thing i didn't see posted was the lawnmower blennies tendency to stir up the substrate with their powerful tails. (or maybe it's just mine?). Yesterday i tried adding an even courser brand of CC to cover the bare spots. woke up this morning and noticed he'd (he?) worked his way to the bare acrylic in a corner of the tank. hehe

they've got some chameleon camaflauge properties too. among the live rock he turns a darker brown and shows off a tiny line of blue irridescent spots. i can tell when he's been lying on the bottom of the bare acrylic because he's a more light sandy color.

very cool fish.

FWIW,
po

 

[reeflobo]

i agree with all the above post, BUT the only problem I've had with him was at night when he sleeps. He has a paticular place that's his, and if i put a frag or a colony there, he will promptly knock it off of his sleeping spot. Other than that, the best fish i have.
drew

 

[DKKA]

I've had three of them over a ten year period. Each time I thought I had enough algae in a large enough tank to support them, and each time they starved to death. I know others have had success getting them to accept artificial foods, but mine never came close to it.
You might want to ask to see it eat before you buy it.
Dan

 

[toptank]

I don't remember I posted a picture of my Blenny on this board but I wll again. This is the best fish I have. I put my hand in the water and move it and here he come, he eats of out my hand and I can rub his head. Never bothered anything in my tank.

Barry

[ October 26, 2001: Message edited by: toptank ]</p>

 

[slojmn1]

I recently tried one in my tank with a ton of algae, 3-4 different types. he was fat when I added him and slowly starved to death

. I was so bummed. I hoped he would help with my algae problem but he did not like the type I had and refused to take any of the stuff I offered him, nori, various fish foods, zooplankton, and formula two. It is really sad to watch. I would not add another one to my tank unless I knew for sure he/she would eat prepared foods.

 

[Lefty1]

I read somewhere that they can bother pipefish and other small slow fish. Anyone know anything about this?

RR

 

[BRichards]

I love my blenny, it eats right out of my hand. They have awesome personalities and the way that they change colors is cool too. I saw one in a lfs sitting on the white gravel substrate (nothing else in tank but dead coral) and it was labeled as "rare white lawnmower blenny" lol. I don't know about problems with other fish other than I had a friends tang in my tank for a while and they got a bit competitive over the nori I would put in for the tang. The blenny would eat the little bits that the tang missed though. I like the little sets of antenae that they have on their heads, very cool fish!

 

[2poor2reef]

This is the only fish I keep as I only have small tanks. Best personality I've ever seen. Only down side is getting some of them to eat prepared food, in which case you have to have enough sustainable microalgae for them. That's why some books recommend minimum tank sizes as high as 55g. I keep mine in a 12g and I have the opposite problem. He's stopped eating meaningful amounts of microalgae and waits to be fed frozen mysis shrimp instead. Omnivores prefer meat, that's what my lm blenny and emerald mithrax crab have taught me.