Warning: To All Lawnmower Blenny Owners

[kev]

I have had this lawnmower for 5 months now and I was really starting to get attached to him. His name was Chomper and he was pushing 4.5in in lengh. I came home the other day to find a semi-dried up blenny on my carpet. I dont know why he decided to do this but i hate it that he did. Ohh well I guess I can replace him but it just wont be the same. I just wanted to warn you guys out there that have a lawnmower with no top on the tank. Do your lawnmower a favor and cover your tanks!!(or any fish for that matter that is known to jump.) Have any of you ever had a lawnmower jump out of the tank?
R.I.P. Chomper

 

[ryebread]

Hi Kev,
Sorry to hear about your LMB.
I have a LMB as well as a Fairy wrasse which can both be jumpers. IMO, almost any fish can be a jumper. My tank is covered very well and I hope not to have this happen to any of my little pets.

 

[azonic]

If my lawnmower jumped he would probably get fried by my halides..... :-( hope it never happens, especially since I'm taking the glass top off soon...

 

[j21kickster]

ya- LMblennies are little jumpers-

 

[pyro383]

I just don't understand why no one covers their open top tank. How hard is it to go to a hardware store and pick up a linear diffuser aka egg crate. $6 dollars, and 10min to cut it to fit the top. I have mine broken down to 4 strips that fit the inside lip of the tank and each section goes to the middle plastic strip. I cut openings for the wires, heater and filter. You have heat disappation and virtually no salt creep. If someone needs pics just ask and I will post my setup.
Save the fishies, cover the tank.

 

[hnf2k]

i want to see pictures.

 

[j21kickster]

egg crate blocks light- we use it on our tanks at work (night) and i can tell which ones still have it on w/o looking at the top of the tanks- we have the white and the mirrored ones- they block light - dont like em

 

[slothy]

id rather block some light then lose fish

 

[azonic]

I have a glass top inside my wooden canopy....the salt that builds up on it is unreal...when I clean them the light which gets through has no comparison to before i clean them...
To be honest....I'm FAR more concerned with the $100 light bulbs ( TWO OF THEM ), which are above the tank then a $15 lawnmower blenny.....sure it's a living thing, but I'd rather lose the fish then the light bulbs.

 

[j21kickster]

or how about dont buy fish that are likely to jump out of an uncovered tank- usually the more long, slender fish are the jumpers rather than fish with flat or round bodies. blocking light on your reef is not good for the coral either- so why spend hundreds of dollars on lights that are bright enough to grow a reef then, cover the tank with an opaque material thus blocking some of the light that you spent so much on? just dosent make sence.

 

[sebae0]

i would have to agree although protecting the fish is your first instinct any eggcrate or glass would cut the light down. think about the eggcrate with the square cuts it is cutting atleast 50% of the light off.

 

[j21kickster]

not 50%, but enough not to want to use it

 

[10k]

Kev,
Sorry to hear about the loss of your Lawnmower, they really have a great personality don't they. I personally have had a problem with my Lawnmower jumping, luckily my tank is sealed off other than the fan openings. My experience was a pain, but everything worked out OK. When I first got my LM, he didn't seem to want to be in the water. He went around, and around, trying to find a way out the top. He finally found it, into the overflow, and man do they screw up your plumbing! After about thirty minutes of tearing out overflow plumbing, I rescued him, and he's never even thought about it again. Guess I got lucky... Again, sorry about the loss. I feel it, as I have lost two Diamonds in the past week due to the overflow diving. They both made it into the refugium, and from there, the floor.

 

[dburr]

Eggcrate if put on the tank right will dispurse light. It doesn't block it.
Just put the thicker side up. The light will bounce around your tank.

 

[j21kickster]

i have tried it both ways- it is always darker, i have never seen light amplifcation from egg crate- with the white and mirrored kinds- this is going to far ot- the point i was making was, if you arent using a lid then dont put fish in that will jump out- simple as that- yes, all fish might be able to jump but some, way more than others.

 

[pyro383]

Well I have finally gotten pics of the eggcrate, in the picture you can see the fron, it is cut in half too make 2 strips and it rests on the lips at the ends of the tank and in the middle bracing. I cut it up to the light. And 2 more strips behind the light. The eggcrate does not block any light.

 

[jr8budcar]

cover is always good!! I came to that idea when my snowflake eel came out of the corner of my tank about 3-4 inches to see what was happening!!! :yes: