Lawnmower Blenny will eat what?

joez

joez

Member
I saw afew of these in my LFS...I see now why people like them so much! What personallities! What do they eat? The owner didn't know too much about them (hey, atleast he's honest!) and told me someone returned one because he ate all his algae then wouldn't eat anything else.
Is this just a picky lmb, or do they all only eat algae? Will they eat brine shrimp or flake?
 
kev

kev

Member
Lawnmowers are a neat fish, I used to have one till it jumped out of the tank. Anyways, most of them will only eat algae. Some people say that they got theirs to eat other foods. But in general, they only eat algae. :D
 
joez

joez

Member
errr....will live rock support them? I don't have ANY algae right now...my snails take care of it all.
 
kev

kev

Member
I wouldn't get one if you dont have alot of algae. Theres other blennys out there that act simalar and are better known to eat other foods. I've seen LMB's at the LFS that were kept in reef tanks with hardly any algae growth at all, and they were skinny as a bone. So unless you have alot of algae I would skip the LMB. When I had mine I wasn't using RO water, and so my tank had a bad green hair algae problem that kept my little LMB nice and fat. :D
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member

Originally posted by JoeZ
I someone returned one because he ate all his algae then wouldn't eat anything else.

That is exactly right. Lawnmowers are very specialized algae eaters and will starve to death if not placed in the right tank envirnoment. Larger reef tanks, with lots of vegetarian food soruce, as well as refugium, or algae rock gardens that are cultivated outside of the tank.
There was a member here a few mos ago that posted a pic of a starving lawnmower. See if you can find it using the Search feature. That pic of the pathetic little fish, will make anyone who doesn't know how, or can't take care of this little fish, not get it.
 
joez

joez

Member
Thanks for the info guys...I guess if I start having an algae problem I'll get one. Maybe I'll get a Mandarin next...
 
kev

kev

Member
If you decide to get a mandarin, have your LFS feed it and see if it eats. I wouldnt get one unless I knew it was eating somethin besides just pods... :D
 
joez

joez

Member

Originally posted by fshhub
some will, ours even eats algae wafers, and loves them.
fshhub...how did you get him on it?
 
L

lathen

Guest
Ive had 2 LMB's - the first one ate all my diatom algae on the rocks and glass. Unfortunately he became a meal himself for my Sea Anenome (RIP). My second has been doing great so far - but I notice that he only eats algae on the glass ( havent seen him munch on rocks yet ). I have a 54 Gallon corner bow tank, so I et algae grow on the 2 sides for him. I dont plan on getting any turbo snails in my tank, so hopefully, he'll be one fat blennie.
Lathen
 
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