lee, could use advice

[TimH07]

hi, i've had a lawnmower blenny for some time, i knew the risks and he's done fine with the algae i've allowed in the DT, but since i've gotten my own 5 stage ro/di unit, and pretty recently, its faded out.

all this time i've tried to get him to eat sheets of algae as well as algae waffers on top of the grazing he still to this minute does but i've noticed the thinning of his body, and thats being nice, i can see extreme thinning near his dorsal area.

my dillema is that i know i need to feed him desperatly and i've even tried to catch him to put in my algae loaded fuge to no avail, what can i do here...

i fear the end i nigh

[leebca]

Sorry to hear of this. The problem was that fish was never trained to eat prepared foods, in addition to the algae in the tank. Now without algae you want to convince the fish to eat prepared foods, when it is deep in the habit of eating aquarium algae. This will be hard to impossible.

Since you have algae in the refugium you have to move him into that immediately. Find a way to capture it. How to Catch Fish -or- Goin' Fisin'

While it feeds up in the refugium, get a QT up and running. After the fish bulks up again, move it into the QT for training.

[TimH07]

i got him, he likes to sit on top of my k4 powerhead and i put the net over the tank, tapped on the glass and as soon as he looked at my fingers, bam i netted him. i put him in the tank just now and he didnt wait a second to start eating (same water different locaton so no acclimation stress now if he'll only faten up i'll either get him QT'd for training (tips?)

if i can get him eating macros i can feed him in the DT after he's used to it.... cant i train him in my fuge to eat prepared?

[leebca]

The problem with training in the refugium is that he is in a place now that has food, so why would expect to eat other food?

You can't starve a fish into accepting other foods. I know that some people really believe this, but if a fish or any animal is used to a food it recognizes by sight, smell and taste, starving it doesn't change what it expects in a food. Desperate fish die.

Moving the fish into a QT would be a 'new locaton' to the fish -- a place that began with having no recogniseable foods.

I'll provide you some links to posts that deal with food training. You'll get most of your ideas from there. But before the fish eats all of its favorite algae, put a rock with some of it on it, or save some of it off to the side, and keep it alive. Also, take some now and freeze it. You'll use these sources in the training -- you'll want to get the fish to 'recognize' other foods and its fav food will be used in the transition.

Here are those links:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine...tml#post186916

Getting Fish to Eat the Right Foods

http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine...-eat-tips.html

[TimH07]

thank you lee

[TimH07]

bad news, despite my efforts i've lost this fish.

it was a bad choice pre purchase and i assumed i had things under control.

never the less, i have 3 fish in my tank and i do not plan to add any more, they are all healthy and i plan to keep them this way. i mainly wanted an sps tank to begin with but losing a fish, how rare it is for me, is ALWAYS sad for me and makes me gun shy...

edit, i thank you for your advice lee, when i asked about him he was already thinned and i read that happens rapidly with them.

[berkdog]

I'm sorry to hear too TimH07. I'm fond of those cute (and ugly) algae blennys too. Wish you the best.