Lawnmower blenny wasting away

Lenett · Jan 13, 2024

Blenny used to be fat and competed with clowns for flakes and shrimp. Runs up when fed, takes a bite or 2 and then hides. Doesn't seem to be afraid of clowns. Very thin. Have had in same tank for over 2 years with same fish. No new fish have been added since setup. Did stop feeding flake food because read durties tank faster. Feeding flakes and some nori last few days, but still same behavior. Hope he will survive! Was so cute and a character! Zoa like looking coral is taking over rock though. What's going on?

Tired · Jan 13, 2024

Coral probably unrelated. Pictures of it or the fish would be needed to really figure anything out. Probably a good idea to check parameters, also, just in case.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 13, 2024

Lenett said:
Blenny used to be fat and competed with clowns for flakes and shrimp. Runs up when fed, takes a bite or 2 and then hides. Doesn't seem to be afraid of clowns. Very thin. Have had in same tank for over 2 years with same fish. No new fish have been added since setup. Did stop feeding flake food because read durties tank faster. Feeding flakes and some nori last few days, but still same behavior. Hope he will survive! Was so cute and a character! Zoa like looking coral is taking over rock though. What's going on?

Problem may be diet. A blenny with a pinched belly isn’t finding enough food. Its a misconception that these blennies are algae eaters. The important part about keeping a blenny is making sure it gets enough to eat. You can tell this visually by looking at the abdomen, which should have a golf ball shape. Its true a blenny needs algae to survive, its a misconception is that it can survive on algae alone. Often you will see them scraping their way along rocks and pounding on coral, and eating detritus, or waste from the coral, coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and fish eggs and tiny crustaceans. This is for calcium needs. If a blenny is not getting enough calcium carbonate in its diet, it will deteriorate and get thin. They also need meats such as chopped krill, shrimp, mysis and even sponge