What do I feed my lawnmower blenny?

[Stephanie]

My new lawnmower blenny doesn't seem to like what we've been feeding it. We have sheets of marine algae as well as frozen food for herbivores. It takes the food in its mouth and spits it out. I haven't seen it touch the algae, and the lawnomower blenny that I used to have loved the stuff. The guy at the fish store said to feed it brine shrimp! Um, no. The new blenny is much smaller than my previous one. The poor thing is soooo skinny. I don't want it to starve to death! Any suggestions?

~Steph

 

[Hara]

If it is not eating anything else, and will eat the brine, it is better than it starving.

 

[reefrunner69]

Did you see the fish eat before you bought it? You should ask to see the fish eat prior to purchase, this ensures that the fish is eating and you can see what it is that the fish is eating. Lawnmower Blennies can be a bit picky at first, how long have you had it? Try a food with a large mix and see if it will eat that. My redlipped blenny wouldn't eat a thing until I started feeding a homemade fish food.

 

[Stephanie]

If it is not eating anything else, and will eat the brine, it is better than it starving.

It won't eat the brine either-its an herbivore.

 

[reefrunner69]

They will eat meaty foods, mine does all the time. If yours refuses it, it's not because it prefers salad. Algae consists of part of it's diet in the wild (a large part) but not all. So these last couple of responses begs the question, does the fish refuse the brine, or do you refuse to feed it to the fish based on it's dietary requirements.

 

[Stephanie]

No, I don't have a problem at all with feeding brine. We feed it to the other fish all the time. I have just noticed that the lawnmower blenny that I had in the past would never eat the brine, and this one hasn't either. I'm also worried because we just set up a 55 gallon (put all the stuff from the 20 gallon into it) and there isn't any algae on the glass yet, and the live rocks don't have much visible algae either for him to eat. I've been feeding a mix of brine, frozen pygmy angel formula (for my coral beauty) and a frozen food that has meaty foods and different kinds of lettuce and algae in it. I've noticed him taking the food and then spitting it out. He may have eaten a little of it, but his stomach looks really shrunken in. I also have the dried seaweed on the clip at all times. Haven't seen him touch it. Are there any marine plants I can buy that he might like?

 

[reefrunner69]

I've never seen one eat macro algae, but I've read of some doing it. You could try some caulerpa, but if it is taking it and spitting it back out, it is probably just a metter of time before it begins to eat the foods offered.

 

[Stephanie]

Thanks for the advice. My blenny seems to be catching on, and definitely looks a lot fuller in the belly area today.

 

[Mutz]

My lawnmower wouldn't eat anything for about 3 weeks. One day out of nowhere he stormed to the front of the tank and started going nuts for flake food! He still wont' touch the brine shrimp but he's the first one out when the flakes hit the tank...Ever since then I haven't been worried.

 

[Stephanie]

Yeah, he eats a ton of food now. He just had to get used to it. He loves this frozen stuff I have that has a lot of vegetable matter in it. I was just a little paranoid because I lost a blenny once and I read that they often starve to death. It doesn't look like this one is going to!