Lawnmower blenny...

[MikeP]

I have read conflicting info on this fish. One website says its a great reef fish and another says it may nip at SPS and clams. Can anyone comfirm one or the other?

Thanks

[albert_dao]

A little of both. They will vary in disposition and eating habits. Kinda like CBB's.

[Sebae again]

I've had one for a couple years. Eats algae off glass. Sometimes will carry off a snail and drop it or ''eat'' something off the black cucumber or starfish .Never killed or damaged anything.Kind of comical to watch sometimes.

[sphelps]

It's most likely just a false accusation, a lot of times people will see a fish allegedly picking on a certain coral and assume they are feeding on the actual coral and then report it to the world. However the herbivores and omnivores in my tank will often "pick" at the stony corals many times a day and the corals show no sign of any damage. I believe the corals are just getting somewhat of a cleaning, as in the wild schools of tangs and other fish will often eat the algae off large colonies of stony corals.

In addition I've never heard of anyone having such problems with a lawnmower blenny.

[fishmaster]

Mine eats nothing but algee. Fustrating because he seems to only really like eating from the front glass...I have to leave patches uncleaned or he will go on a "hunger strike" and get skinny for a few days. He will pick at the rocks somtimes, but mainly just the front glass. He also won't touch the nori in the food clip in the same pane of glass.

[Captainhemo]

I had one for a couple of years and it was a great reef fish.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=6061&cat=500&ppuser=1140
Definately comical to watch as mentiioned above and really semed to love to interact with people at the glass. Be prepared to buy lots of nori LOL. They also love to have lots of caves and rockwork to swim through.
I lost mine to a carpet surfing episode, I've since heard that this is a common end to a lot of blenny's

[Delphinus]

Mine lived for about 4 years before he started to look "old" and eventually passed on. I don't know if that's a normal lifespan or short or what. Anyhow, I had him in a tank with SPS and clams and never had a problem. He had one of the biggest personalities out of any fish I've had, if I cleaned the outside glass he would chase the cloth away. Was greatly entertaining to any visitors, I could lure him out of hiding with as little as waving a paper towel in front of the tank. :)

[skylord]

Mine would sit on top of the nori clip and if you got too close to the tank he would start swimming in circles never leaving the clip. First time he did that I thought he was stuck so I went to "save" him and he bumped my hand letting me know I was in his space and swam away. Problem was, that was his clip and he wouldn't let any other fish get close to it so I had to have a separate clip for everyone else. He was about 2 yrs old and just didn't get out of bed one morning, no idea what happened to him but he was large when I got him so I really have no idea how old he was.

I cant imagine having a reef tank and not having one of these fish in it.

Scott

[Moogled]

Larger herbivores like Tangs may pick on them if there is not an abundance of food sources.

These Blennies are awesome. They will sit on top of SEIO powerheads and watch you and pick algae off the front glass.

[clipperfish]

Mine eats from the glass , eats marine pellets and brineshrip amd never seen him pick at the corals .

[MikeP]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. A LM blenny sounds like a really interesting fish to have. I like to be sure of what I'm putting into a tank this size because of how difficult it may be to catch once he/she is in there.

Thanks again

[fishoholic]

I love this fish they are very personable and fun to watch. Ours was in a full reef tank and we never had any problems. They do however love to carpet surf (that's how we lost ours and how our friend lost theirs) I would recommend a lid or egg crate cover.

[Captainhemo]

I found it so strange to hear that these fish had the rep of being carpet surfers. The entyire time I had one, I never once saw her jump or even break the surface of the water. Then when I mentioned it at my LFS , I was informed that it was pretty common. Guess it only takes that one jump ....

[DanG]

I've had 2 of them, and they both met the same fate. Carpet surfing.

They're amazing fish to have, so much personality and very active.
I will get another one when I get a canopy for my tank.

[super7]

At the store I work at the LM blennie is 8-9 years just in the store. The one at the store and in my tank don't do harm to any of the corals. They do nibble on macroalgae though.

[Doug]

They will jump if harrassed, such as adding another blennie or something similar.

Mine has been with me about two years now. As others said, has a great personality. Eats everything I feed, like a pig. His belly gets so big sometimes, I swear he,s going to explode. Just like my dogs, he gets all excited when he see,s me going to the closet where the food is. Swims in circles & waggles.

I have never seen him bother anything. I would guess he gets his fill from the hatching clown eggs at times or I have seen him eating snail eggs on the glass. He appears to be eating alage but how much, who knows. He does love to eat nori from the clip.

[fishmaster]

Mine eats nothing but algee. Fustrating because he seems to only really like eating from the front glass...I have to leave patches uncleaned or he will go on a "hunger strike" and get skinny for a few days. He will pick at the rocks somtimes, but mainly just the front glass. He also won't touch the nori in the food clip in the same pane of glass.

Major breakthrough for my LB!!!! He just finally started to eat nori!!!!