Herbivorous fish in the hobby.

tyler1503 · Sep 19, 2014

Hey guys, something struck me today. We don't have any strictly herbivorous fish in the hobby. Atleast none I can think of off the top of my head.
I wonder why that is?
There's probably is a few obvious ones I'm not thinking of, so don't be too harsh if I forgot them lol.

Marshall O · Sep 19, 2014

My Lawnmower Blenny was. Only ate hair algae. Once that was gone, it starved :(

tyler1503 · Sep 21, 2014

Marshall O said:
My Lawnmower Blenny was. Only ate hair algae. Once that was gone, it starved :(

Sorry to hear that :( they're a great fish.
It's not often we get fish that are herbivorous. Anyone else have any stories to share?

hawkinsrgk · Sep 21, 2014

I had a Lawnmower Blenny that starved as well because it only ate green hair algae.

crayon · Sep 21, 2014

Both my lawnmower blennies are fat pigs. I see them constantly picking at the rock, the power heads, where things like to get caught, and I'm sure I've seen them go for mysis as well. So they seem to be opportunistic.

For herbivores, Rainford Goby. They are so small, they don't need much algae. Mine picks at rock all day and ignores any other food that goes into the tank.
My tommini tang seems to ignore flake food and mysis, and grazes the rock, but I am sure he's eating more than just algae as well. Kinda like the lawnmower, I think he's more like a swimming garbage receptacle.