It’s a Peppermint Shrimp Party
Our one lonely peppermint shrimp was always hiding in the rocks so we got a few more. Now there are three and they are all over the tank! They are definitely social and happier in a group of more than one!
Entries Tagged ‘lawnmower blenny’
Muddy: Lawnmower Blenny
Kaizen Reef name:Muddy
Common name:Lawnmower Blenny
Scientific name:Salarias fasciatus
Physical description:Contrary to most available information regarding lawnmower blennies, Muddy changes his colours frequently within a wide spectrum of tans and browns and is sometimes striped. A large dorsal fin extends the length of his body. His eyes are adorned with light blue spots and delicate antler-like projections called cirri. He spends most of the day eating microalgae off the rocks.
Distribution:Indo-Pacific
Diet:Algae. Prefers microalgae but also eats the green off some macroalgae.
Important dates: 1/23/10 – added to reef
Personal notes: Muddy lives up to the name of his species by mowing algae from the live rocks all day long with his comb teeth. He was named after Muddy Mudskipper from the Ren and Stimpy show because he looks kind of like him despite not being an actual mudskipper.
Derp: Lawnmower Blenny
Kaizen Reef name: Derp
Common name: Lawnmower blenny
Scientific name: Salarias fasciatus
Physical description: Although it is mostly stated that these are drab in colour and physical appearance on close inspection their markings are actually quite amazing. Mostly shades of grey and brown these really look like lizards especially when they are perched and looking around. Their eyes move independently of each other as well. They have remarkable camouflage capabilities.
Diet: algae, flakes, meaty foods
Important dates:
12/11/09: Added to the tank
1/18/10: Derp got sick and died (removed from tank on January 19)
Personal notes: Yet another noob mistake on this one… Turns out you shouldn’t add two blennies together in such a small tank (we have a 38 gallon). The first few days we saw a different side to our Bicolor Blenny as he chased and bullied this new fish repeatedly. It’s been a few weeks now and they seem to have calmed down. We hope we can keep both of them harmoniously. The lawnmower blenny is awesome to watch and fascinating the way he looks and perches like a lizard. Update: although we have read that it is okay to have a bicolor blenny and lawnmower blenny together we recommend you do this with extreme caution. Our lawnmower blenny got sick and the bicolor blenny would not leave him in peace, we had no quarantine tank so we had to remove the bicolor and return to fish store to see if the lawnmower would recover. He died a day later and it could be a combination of malnutrition, bullying and not acclimatizing properly. We had Derp for just 5 weeks and were sad to have our first fish death. We have since purchased a new little lawnmower blenny and hope to have better luck with this one.