Blenny..so cute, but an idiot of the fish.

[olga]

I have redlip blenny in my tank. I "fell in love" with him while watching his behavior in a "aquatic center", so I bought him. And it is my favorite fish now. He is such a character!
However, why he hardly ever eat when you feed the rest of the fishes? Yes, he can grasp few things, then back to to his cave with head protruding out of the hole and just watching how other fishes greedily consuming the stuff, and his eyes rolling all over the place and not symmetrically either.
In fact he does not look like a "proper fish" at all! Dare I to say: he looks humanly alien like. But why he does not eat as much as other fish do? Surely, its not enough for him to scavenger from the LR, some plants, algae and sand in the tank which was not matured yet?
Do you have any "blenny experiences"?

 

[nytrillium]

I have a Lawnmower Blenny and he is the cutest thing. Mine is a character too. He has his pearches that he likes .. He also does this thing where he stands with his tail on the sand and puts his fins on the rock so it looks like hes standing up. :joy:
Mine seems to like the pellets that i feed my damsel. Everey time i feed them he comes out and picks the ones that sink off the sand. He also picks off the rock all the time. And he keeps the outlet to my canister filter spotless of algae.

He is deffinately my favorite fish. He has little eyelashes and his eyes are always scanning the tank. He seems very attentive. Great fish, hope you enjoy yours as much as i do mine.

* To answer your question, i have had my tank up for about 4 months now and i got him as my first fish after the cycle. He has been there ever since and the tank has matured along the way. I wouldnt worry about him starving, just try and find a pellet food that will sink for him to find. i use the spectrum small fish formula that you can find here on SWF. MY damsel also goes nuts for it.

 

[sarwiz100]

Also have a lawnmower that is a character. Does he ever hammer at rocks, pieces fly off , but he is eating a lot of algae, just not where we want him to. It is cute how he "sits up". Also have a royal gramma that is NOT timid (can be a real B**ch) and flares at other fish like a betta does.
P.S> Olga, how is your tank doing, glad you stayed with it.

 

[chipmaker]

If its acting normal (can blennys do that?) and its eating and doing the blenny thing I certainly would not worry about it. I have a clown that seems to turn its nose up at anything I feed. When you see it eat, it spits back out just about everything, and one would not think its getting sufficieint nutritiion, but its growing and nice and fat, so let it spit out what it wants. I have to agree Blennys are super cool and quite a character.....

 

[olga]

Originally Posted by sarwiz100
P.S> Olga, how is your tank doing, glad you stayed with it.
I am glad that I am not the only fan on the blennies. I think I will get another one (different type) in the month or so. However I need to get rid of my black mollies, to free space, and not to overload my tank. My local LFS agreed to take them(well, I am very good costumer ;-)
Will they fight? If I will have two blennies in the tank? I know I should do research myself, but thought it will be quicker to get response here.
Sarwiz..my tank is great and water is clear as a tear! i posted a picture of it on Aquaria's thread https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/201035/cycle-question
I am so surprised that I have not lost any fish during all my troubles. Better not to say anything about it, and not to put bad vibe/spell on it. I am started to enjoy it, since I can see my fish now in the tank (after weeks of cloudiness in the water)
I also got two shrimps since: one cleaner shrimp, and one fire shrimp. Cleaner shrimp is a very socialable, but fire shrimp is handsome but shy sod, and only comes out from the behind the rocks during feeding time.
I can't wait to start to add some soft hardy corrals (I do have some mushrooms and polyps), but I understand I need to wait at least for another 4-5 months to do so.
I am very happy... for now! :joy:

 

[mrdc]

Olga,
I'm glad you didn't quit and got that tank clear

My blenny is fun to watch. He really has his own personality!

 

[dfox]

I have a bicolor blenny, and he is by far my favorite fish. He is out frequently, but he also perches on the LR and goes into very small holes in the rock. He responds to your presence if you get close the glass. They are a blast to watch. Very active if not living in fear of other fish.
In terms of the feeding problem, my blenny was sensitive to more aggresive fish. I had 2 damsels. The larger one was very territorial and constantly bothering the blenny. I got rid of that damsel, and the blenny is almost never hiding in the rock anymore. When the food goes in, he comes and gets it just like the other damsel and the firefish do. P.S. the blenny is also very tough. He would have eventually killed that larger bully damsel in self-defense if I hadn't removed the damsel. Now that the larger damsel is gone, the remaining 3 fish (bicolor blenny, firefish, and small yellowtail damsel) have become a "pack." They are almost always together in the tank.
All the books and fish profiles that I have read say that you should not keep more than 1 blenny in a tank unless it is very large.

 

[stanlalee]

Before I started my set up a blenny was the only fish I had pre determined would be part of the live stock. I've loved blennie's behavior and looks from the early days of watching them in the pet stores. I have had mine (LMB) longer than any other fish I presently have in the tank (going on 2yrs now). He so at home and so used to being around omnivores, carnivores and aggressive eating fish he doesn't even know he's a damn herbivore anymore. I drop some frozen reef plankton (frozen pods) and/or mysis shrimp he gulps it up and aggressive like a tang darting mid tank for one peace after another. when I first got him he'd sit there and watch everybody else eat and perhaps get the nerve to try a bite once or twice during feeding. He eats frozen meaty food, formula one and two, tetra marine pellets and flakes as well as algae and I look to see if he spits it out, he doesn't. He even swims much more than I think a blenny has any business doing (when he feels like it). then when he's tired of immitating an open see swimmer he goes back to rock skipping and picking. He even picks up mouthfuls of crush coral and moves it around like a damn goby!