Starving Blenny

[MartinJ]

I bought an Algae/Lawnmower Blenny (Salarias Fasciatus I think) about 4 weeks ago in the hope that he would help by eating the hair algea in my tank.
He never really took to the task and has always been the very shy.
Moved the rocks around today and he has become much more outgoing but looks very thin to me.
Has anyone got any tricks to get him to start to eat?
I normally feed different combinations of : Formula 1 & 2 Flake, Formula 1 Pellets, Cyclopeeze, Frozen Mysis, Marine Mix and Brineship. I have also put a clip of Ocean Nutrition Green Marine Algae in the tank.

 

[aljndrno]

From my experience from years past working at a LFS; blennies and mandarin fish don't do well with "dead" food. We used to feed these fish live baby brineshrimp, and even then they hardly got any food with competition around (other fish). I've never seen one eat any kind of algae.

My research showed that having a refugium in which amphipods and other prey produced freely gives these fish a good supply of food. Operative word here is "live food".

Good luck.

 

[slvlurph]

i am also having this problem.. he seems to try and eat of the rocks and glass but i don't know if he is eating enough. he is starting to look skinny and he doesn't eat the formula 2 i have for him. any tips on how to get him to eat the formula 2? what should i do?

 

[mr_X]

my algae blenny eats both green hair, and brown algae. he seems plenty plump, mainly because i have a 400watt mh that is about 3 or 4 thousand k, and it makes some serious algae.
i was concerned about that too, so i put out the seaweed stuff on the clip, and he never goes at it. i have a 20k bulb coming in the mail, and i am wondering what's going to happen. worst case scenario, back to the LFS he will go. :?

 

[Anonymous]

I never had any luck with Algae Blennies. First one never really ate anything. Second one ate like a pig, was fat, but still died within two months.

They are cool looking fish, but I think there's just a problem with getting a healthy one to start with.

Louey

 

[shavo]

wey i can defeinitley take the LM blenny off your hands i have eough algea on that rock you didn't get in my tank.
half price of course!!!!!
I could use him, we'll get together one night this week

 

[slvlurph]

what the hell are you talking about im not going to give you my blenny.. i am just looking for advice on how to take care of him properly

 

[mr_X]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .......he meant me.
and no, my lawnmower blenny is one of the most entertaining fish in my tank. i'd rather run my crappy MH longer than get rid of him

 

[Anonymous]

I never had any luck with Algae Blennies. First one never really ate anything. Second one ate like a pig, was fat, but still died within two months.

They are cool looking fish, but I think there's just a problem with getting a healthy one to start with.

Louey

I agree 100% Louey, and I wonder what the reason is, maybe it's an internal parasite or collection practices.

 

[mr_X]

i just picked up some garlic extract. it's supposed to help the finiky eaters eat more......who knows if it will work, but you could give that a try:
http://www.aquariumguys.com/garlicxtreme1.html

a fair warning though...2 drops in my 115 gallon system..and it smells like an italian restaurant in here!!!!!!
8O

 

[Anonymous]

Did it say to add it to the tank directly? I thought it was used as a soak for frozen food before you fed it.

 

[mr_X]

yeah..it said you could put a total of 2 drops into the tank or add to food.
either way...it would have dissolved into the tank anyway..as soon as it hit the water

 

[Anonymous]

Not really the same IMO. If you soak the food, the fish ingests the garlic, while if you put it in the water it's not like the fish takes it in through the skin

 

[mr_X]

the directions say it can be done either way. it's a dietary suppliment, that is completely harmless to fish and inverts/corals. no sweat.
actually, i bought it to soak the food of my tang who resides in the hospital tank. he suffers from ich. the LFS guy told me this would help in removal of parasites. when i read the directions, which stated the benefits, i added some to the main tank. i'm sure it's certainly better for the fish to ingest it directly, but it's also beneficial this way.

 

[bleedingthought]

but it's also beneficial this way.

I agree with lawdawg and don't see how it would beneficial to add it directly to the water. It's like adding selcon directly to the tank. Worthless, IMO. :?

 

[mr_X]

ok, then they falsly advertise and mislead prespective customers (kent marine). shame johnny cochrane isn't alive, i'd have me a case :roll:

what's the sense of putting salt in the tank? they should be able to live in any type of water. as a mater of fact, i'm gonna do a 70% water change tomorrow with chlorinated tap water. i mean, after all, it's not like they ingest it. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

ok, then they falsly advertise and mislead prespective customers (kent marine). shame johnny cochrane isn't alive, i'd have me a case :roll:

what's the sense of putting salt in the tank? they should be able to live in any type of water. as a mater of fact, i'm gonna do a 70% water change tomorrow with chlorinated tap water. i mean, after all, it's not like they ingest it. :lol:

What an intelligent argument :roll:

 

[bleedingthought]

what's the sense of putting salt in the tank? they should be able to live in any type of water. as a mater of fact, i'm gonna do a 70% water change tomorrow with chlorinated tap water. i mean, after all, it's not like they ingest it.

I highly advise against this. But if you decide to go ahead and do it, let us know how it goes...

 

[mr_X]

seriously though...fish, not unlike other creatures, are made up of a percentage of water. how they get that water is?
they don't create it. it must be absorbed, drank...eaten in food....something.
so, something like liquified garlic, or chlorine, or whatever introduced into your tank will enter into, either by being absorbed, consumed, or both, your fish.

i will agree that food soaked in garlic extract will most likely give a much higher dose to the eater, but everybody will get a tiny dose if introduced to the tank.
btw, i had no red slime in my display tank. i had very little in my fuge which i siphoned out pretty easily. i actually haven't seen it in a short while(couple weeks). today when i got home from work i noticed a quarter sized glob of red slime algae in my display. do you think it could have had something to do with this garlic stuff?
it's the only thing i did to the tank different.

 

[Anonymous]

I have tried to "rescue" a few thin lmb's over the years and have never been able to pull it off. It seems once they are thin it very hard to fatten them back up. I pass on them now.