cant find my lawnmower blenny :(

CraigSlice · 07/19/2008, 09:58 PM

So after putting the blenny in my tank yesterday, even saw him eating some algae, i cant find him in my tank today! I looked everywhere in the tank and i dont see anywhere

so either he is a real good hider, or is on my floor somewhere although ive looked on the floor and seen nothing. alsomy cleanupcrew is too small to have eaten him over night ( only 3hermits and a snail)

do blennys jump often? and is there a way i can attract him out of hiding if he still is in my tank?

joshkennedy07 · 07/19/2008, 10:30 PM

They jump, but they also hide. Give 'em time. If you didn't see him on the floor he may just be hiding, and it won't be long before he's hungry.

alextheromanian · 07/19/2008, 10:38 PM

ive had 3 so far.

the first one ive liked a ton! and one day i had to take all the fish out to put new lr in and reaquascape and putting him in killed him...the same way he jumped in ate a bit and then hid...i never saw him again after that for 5 days when i found him under the rocks dead...he had dug his way in.

the second was the same...i loved the first one so much i HAD to have one...hes my parents fav fish and i couldnt tell them i killed him by moving him around to much so i had told them he hides alot lately since i redid the rock....theeyyy even called me one day saying they saw him behind the rocks eating this kinda made me giggle because there was NO lawnmower blenny in there who knows what they thought they saw. so i bought a second one quick and threw him in when my parents were around after waitng for the right moment....and then pulled one of those "hey mom hey dad look hes here...hes fine and eating see"

well needless to saythe second day he was dead too...so. i checked the water parameters ...everything fine so i guess its because i didnt acclimate him well enough and i just put him in there

well the 3rd one i bought was smaller..there was no lying or getting around to that their original fav wet pet had died and was getting replaced. so i put him in slowly got him used to the water and kept him with food over night in a beta fish box inside of the display with a rock on top so that the little plasic box wouldnt flat away.

this way i could monitor him over a period of 24 hours and see how he does...and he couldnt hide from me since hes so cammouflaged.

well guess what? i still have him today and its great.
moral of the story is....ive had 3 two of wich dissapeared and when they did they turned up dead.

id give it 2 more days...then id start slowly IF possibly moving your rock around to look for him they are pretty open fish and LIKE being out where you can see them instead of hiding between rocks.

what other fish do you have in there with him?

Jay1982 · 07/19/2008, 10:48 PM

When I put mine in, I didn't see him for a week, then he started to poke his head out and 3 months later he swims out in the open all the time. Just give it time. I won't ask if you Qt'ed cause I'm gathering you didn't, that's the best way to observe if a fish is sick or on the down swing.

fishy332003 · 07/19/2008, 11:11 PM

i just wonderwhat other foods do your guys feed this blenny?

Jay1982 · 07/19/2008, 11:15 PM

He eats flake food, and frozen algae mixes

CraigSlice · 07/19/2008, 11:19 PM

unfortunately he wasnt qt'ed, he was a surprise b-day present from my mother via the mail, and i didnt have anything to set one up or time that day, and i didnt want to leave him in the bag he had been in all night, so im hoping it will work out, but im going to buy a tank and filter to have on hand incase this happens again (told family not to surprise me with fish anymore)

But from what you guys are saying, i shouldnt worry too much for a couple more days, ill just hope he pops his head out tommarow.

Thanks for the help!

singold · 07/19/2008, 11:32 PM

BTW, my Lawnmower Blenny will eat any food I put in the tank. At first, he was a picky eater, now eats anything I feed the tank with (flake food, pellets, Spirulina Brine frozen, Rod's frozen food, etc.). Mine also hangs out in one of my porous live rocks most of the time. But when I feed tank, he comes out of the LR getting in on the food action. Very cool inhabitant. One of my favorites, for sure. I would say they can be jumpers, so do keep an eye out, if you keep an open top. The one I got when I was at LFS jumped from one ten gallon tank to another tank directly adjacent to it when the employee was trying to net him. They are very fast, jumpy, & skittish when scared. But in my tank, have never had an issue so far with him trying to jump out. I currently use eggcrate on top of tank.

SharkBait_Mtl · 07/20/2008, 08:02 AM

yes they are jumpers....

I got one a few weeks ago and he jumped into my overflow and ended up in my sump twice.

The first ti me I was able to scoop him out with my net and put him back ion the DT.... however the second time I was scooping him out, he jumped out of the net and made his way to where my return pump was :yikes: .... thank god it was off.... I tried to fish him out again but couldnt reach him with the net. so I waited a couple of hours to see if he would move but he didnt... and I had to turn my main pump back on... So I had to undo my plumbing to move my pump. and by the time i got around to removing the pump. I dont know if it was the stress of me trying to catch him or the pump somehow crushing him but he died.

the few days that i actually had him in the DT was great... it was like playing where's waldo cuz he had great camoflage... a few times I was looking right at him and didnt even see it.

I will have to think of a way to prevent my fish from jumping in to my overflow.. eggcrate wasn't good enough, this is the 1st fish that did it. and my wife is sad that it died so I will have to get another one.

Jay1982 · 07/20/2008, 08:50 AM

Sharkbait, ever try plastic netting? It is supposed to be really good. Oh and I'm working on getting you those phone numbers, just so you know I wasn't ignoring your PM

it's just that all of those LFS are far from each other, and I haven't gone on another fish run, lol. When I do, I'll pick up the numbers

CraigSlice · 07/20/2008, 10:04 AM

still no sign of him, moved a couple of rocks around and nothing, if he did jump, how far could he have gotten?

CraigSlice · 07/20/2008, 11:01 AM

Good news, i found him! guess he finally decided to come out of hiding!

Playa-1 · 07/20/2008, 11:12 AM

They can hide really well when they want too.

They can change color to blend in with their surroundings and play dead too.

crazywesc · 07/20/2008, 04:23 PM

I had a blue damsel go missing one time. Fearing he was dead I took out some rock and looked everywhere real good. Looked around the floor but I never found him. Only thing I can think of is that the GBTA ate him, I dont know.

07/19/2008, 09:58 PM	#1
CraigSlice Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maine Posts: 154	cant find my lawnmower blenny :( So after putting the blenny in my tank yesterday, even saw him eating some algae, i cant find him in my tank today! I looked everywhere in the tank and i dont see anywhere so either he is a real good hider, or is on my floor somewhere although ive looked on the floor and seen nothing. alsomy cleanupcrew is too small to have eaten him over night ( only 3hermits and a snail) do blennys jump often? and is there a way i can attract him out of hiding if he still is in my tank?

07/19/2008, 10:38 PM	#3
alextheromanian Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Binghamton NY Posts: 1,007	ive had 3 so far. the first one ive liked a ton! and one day i had to take all the fish out to put new lr in and reaquascape and putting him in killed him...the same way he jumped in ate a bit and then hid...i never saw him again after that for 5 days when i found him under the rocks dead...he had dug his way in. the second was the same...i loved the first one so much i HAD to have one...hes my parents fav fish and i couldnt tell them i killed him by moving him around to much so i had told them he hides alot lately since i redid the rock....theeyyy even called me one day saying they saw him behind the rocks eating this kinda made me giggle because there was NO lawnmower blenny in there who knows what they thought they saw. so i bought a second one quick and threw him in when my parents were around after waitng for the right moment....and then pulled one of those "hey mom hey dad look hes here...hes fine and eating see" well needless to saythe second day he was dead too...so. i checked the water parameters ...everything fine so i guess its because i didnt acclimate him well enough and i just put him in there well the 3rd one i bought was smaller..there was no lying or getting around to that their original fav wet pet had died and was getting replaced. so i put him in slowly got him used to the water and kept him with food over night in a beta fish box inside of the display with a rock on top so that the little plasic box wouldnt flat away. this way i could monitor him over a period of 24 hours and see how he does...and he couldnt hide from me since hes so cammouflaged. well guess what? i still have him today and its great. moral of the story is....ive had 3 two of wich dissapeared and when they did they turned up dead. id give it 2 more days...then id start slowly IF possibly moving your rock around to look for him they are pretty open fish and LIKE being out where you can see them instead of hiding between rocks. what other fish do you have in there with him? __________________ i just cant think of any phylosophical, deep, critical thinking quotes right now. Current Tank Info: 29g Reef, 75g FOWLR

07/19/2008, 10:48 PM	#4
Jay1982 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Doc Brown's Mansion Posts: 704	When I put mine in, I didn't see him for a week, then he started to poke his head out and 3 months later he swims out in the open all the time. Just give it time. I won't ask if you Qt'ed cause I'm gathering you didn't, that's the best way to observe if a fish is sick or on the down swing. __________________ 1.21 Gigawatts?! 1.21 Gigawatts!?! Current Tank Info: 135 reef tank, 50 gallon turtle aquarium, 1.21 Gigawatts?!

07/19/2008, 11:15 PM	#6
Jay1982 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Doc Brown's Mansion Posts: 704	He eats flake food, and frozen algae mixes __________________ 1.21 Gigawatts?! 1.21 Gigawatts!?! Current Tank Info: 135 reef tank, 50 gallon turtle aquarium, 1.21 Gigawatts?!

07/19/2008, 11:32 PM	#8
singold Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lake Saint Louis, Missouri Posts: 1,827	BTW, my Lawnmower Blenny will eat any food I put in the tank. At first, he was a picky eater, now eats anything I feed the tank with (flake food, pellets, Spirulina Brine frozen, Rod's frozen food, etc.). Mine also hangs out in one of my porous live rocks most of the time. But when I feed tank, he comes out of the LR getting in on the food action. Very cool inhabitant. One of my favorites, for sure. I would say they can be jumpers, so do keep an eye out, if you keep an open top. The one I got when I was at LFS jumped from one ten gallon tank to another tank directly adjacent to it when the employee was trying to net him. They are very fast, jumpy, & skittish when scared. But in my tank, have never had an issue so far with him trying to jump out. I currently use eggcrate on top of tank. __________________ "If there is no wind.....row." Current Tank Info: 75gal Reef w/29gal Refugium

07/19/2008, 10:30 PM	#2
joshkennedy07 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: California Posts: 248	They jump, but they also hide. Give 'em time. If you didn't see him on the floor he may just be hiding, and it won't be long before he's hungry.

07/19/2008, 11:11 PM	#5
fishy332003 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago,IL. Posts: 54	i just wonderwhat other foods do your guys feed this blenny?

07/19/2008, 11:19 PM	#7
CraigSlice Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maine Posts: 154	unfortunately he wasnt qt'ed, he was a surprise b-day present from my mother via the mail, and i didnt have anything to set one up or time that day, and i didnt want to leave him in the bag he had been in all night, so im hoping it will work out, but im going to buy a tank and filter to have on hand incase this happens again (told family not to surprise me with fish anymore) But from what you guys are saying, i shouldnt worry too much for a couple more days, ill just hope he pops his head out tommarow. Thanks for the help!

07/20/2008, 08:02 AM	#9
SharkBait_Mtl Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreal Posts: 354	yes they are jumpers.... I got one a few weeks ago and he jumped into my overflow and ended up in my sump twice. The first ti me I was able to scoop him out with my net and put him back ion the DT.... however the second time I was scooping him out, he jumped out of the net and made his way to where my return pump was :yikes: .... thank god it was off.... I tried to fish him out again but couldnt reach him with the net. so I waited a couple of hours to see if he would move but he didnt... and I had to turn my main pump back on... So I had to undo my plumbing to move my pump. and by the time i got around to removing the pump. I dont know if it was the stress of me trying to catch him or the pump somehow crushing him but he died. the few days that i actually had him in the DT was great... it was like playing where's waldo cuz he had great camoflage... a few times I was looking right at him and didnt even see it. I will have to think of a way to prevent my fish from jumping in to my overflow.. eggcrate wasn't good enough, this is the 1st fish that did it. and my wife is sad that it died so I will have to get another one. __________________ SharkBait_Mtl ~700g system 180g in-wall reef (build) 40g coral raising tank 60g DT 80g banggai breeder 29g clown breeder 20g raising tank + 3 sumps, refugium Profilux Plus EX2 controlled Reefing is like racing... the faster you go the harder you crash click red house for my 180 build

07/20/2008, 08:50 AM	#10
Jay1982 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Doc Brown's Mansion Posts: 704	Sharkbait, ever try plastic netting? It is supposed to be really good. Oh and I'm working on getting you those phone numbers, just so you know I wasn't ignoring your PM it's just that all of those LFS are far from each other, and I haven't gone on another fish run, lol. When I do, I'll pick up the numbers __________________ 1.21 Gigawatts?! 1.21 Gigawatts!?! Current Tank Info: 135 reef tank, 50 gallon turtle aquarium, 1.21 Gigawatts?!

07/20/2008, 10:04 AM	#11
CraigSlice Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maine Posts: 154	still no sign of him, moved a couple of rocks around and nothing, if he did jump, how far could he have gotten?

07/20/2008, 11:01 AM	#12
CraigSlice Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maine Posts: 154	Good news, i found him! guess he finally decided to come out of hiding!

07/20/2008, 11:12 AM	#13
Playa-1 Moved On Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA Posts: 7,497	They can hide really well when they want too. They can change color to blend in with their surroundings and play dead too.

07/20/2008, 04:23 PM	#14
crazywesc Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Mobile, Al. Posts: 210	I had a blue damsel go missing one time. Fearing he was dead I took out some rock and looked everywhere real good. Looked around the floor but I never found him. Only thing I can think of is that the GBTA ate him, I dont know.