Lawnmower blenny over night deaths?

[cbro212]

And hello there everybody I just wanted to reach out because I am stumped and I don’t know what could be causing this. So I’ve gotten a lawnmower blenny about a year ago and I put him in my tank and then I went to bed and then the next morning he was passed away. I didn’t get another lawnmower blenny for a year. I recently went to frag swap last night, and I decided that I was going to pick up another lawnmower blenny and then this morning to my surprise again my lawnmower blenny is dead. All of my other marine life is thriving and doing exceptionally well. I only have problems with the lawnmower, blennies and people say that they are pretty hardy so I don’t understand what could be the problem?

 

[W31Olds]

I believe it's a misnomer the Lawnmowers are easy fish. Not true as many seem to simply starve to death in the LFS or are too thin and weak to survive in peoples Tanks. They typically do not do well in Sterile QT Tanks and lose more weight. Mines over a year old and will not eat any prepared food. Only Tank Algae. Many people claim that they will eat meaty foods and I believe them, but these fish have evolved as grazers and rock scrapers and a meaty diet may cause internal digestive problems longer term. They should always be grazing and have a pot belly. They probably get all the meaty foods they need by mass intake of Algae that contains all sorts of pods and small crustations. Also, can you post a better pic? Hard to tell but he looks somewhat thin.
@Jay Hemdal

 

[cbro212]

I believe it's a misnomer the Lawnmowers are easy fish. Not true as many seem to simply starve to death in the LFS or are too thin and weak to survive in peoples Tanks. They typically do not do well in Sterile QT Tanks and lose more weight. Mines over a year old and will not eat any prepared food. Only Tank Algae. Many people claim that they will eat meaty foods and I believe them, but these fish have evolved as grazers and rock scrapers and a meaty diet may cause internal digestive problems longer term. They should always be grazing and have a pot belly. They probably get all the meaty foods they need by mass intake of Algae that contains all sorts of pods and small crustations. Also, can you post a better pic? Hard to tell but he looks somewhat thin.
@Jay Hemdal

For sure! Thank you so much yeah i don’t understand why people say they are “extremely hardy” because i dont believe that to be the case i as well have seen them stave to death in pet stores. This fella in particular looked to be a decent sized individual but somehow still just passed over night. Im honestly just wanting to get to the bottom of this as i love lawnmowers and i really want to keep one in my reef tank!

 

[NanoSteam]

Yes very difficult I found. My lawnmower starved itself basically for the first two months, it was just bones, you can see it's spine. It didn't accept any food, just wanted to graze but there just isn't enough for it in a smaller tank. I thought I was going to find it dead any day.

I think I got lucky because after transferring to my 80g out of desperation it started taking frozen food and dry foods. It now comes out in full vengeance to gobble up anything I put in there including pellets, flakes, emerald entree, mysis, LRS frenzy. Doesn't matter what it is it'll devour it. Issue is now it doesn't want to graze rocks

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

For sure! Thank you so much yeah i don’t understand why people say they are “extremely hardy” because i dont believe that to be the case i as well have seen them stave to death in pet stores. This fella in particular looked to be a decent sized individual but somehow still just passed over night. Im honestly just wanting to get to the bottom of this as i love lawnmowers and i really want to keep one in my reef tank!

I’ve seen thinner ones than that, but to be honest, they just are not as hardy as people make them out to be:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/skinny-blenny-issue.922129/

 

[W31Olds]

Cbro, It doesn't look like he was eating for a while. Bad sign. This is a pic of mine about 5" long and they are cool fish.