what do blennies eat?

[edwing206]

on saturday i got a
horse face blenny (http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1427&N=0) and i have put in flake food and i have put in frozen food and does not even look at it. so what do they eat? i read they eat algae so will dried nori clipped to the side of the tank do the trick? thanks

[Sk8r]

Fanged blenny usually is a carnivore. Try mysis or cyclopeeze.

[edwing206]

ok thanks but on the internet it says they are herbivore and I often see him picking at algae on the rocks. is it the same fish? thanks again

[sophia101]

Yes, i have heard that Blennies are for the most part herbivores which means flake food (for carnivores) will not be of interest to it. The algae it is picking on the rock may be the main diet for it, so you dont wanna try feeding too often otherwise it will product ammonias in your tank. You can occassionaly feed it some algae flakes or nori sheets which it should eat but if you have a good supply of natural algae in your tank, it will just eat that. Good Luck!

[Chasmodes]

Actually, there are many types of blennies out there and to quantify most of them as herbivores isn't accurate. A better way to get the point across is that the majority of blenniids available to us for sale in this hobby are herbivorous species, like this blenny, lawnmowers, rock skippers, etc.

Some are mostly herbivorous but will accept alternate foods, like the horse faced blenny. Nori should do well as will spirulina flakes. There may be a period where they won't accept your offerings, but it could be that they need to feel more comfortable in their new environment. Until then you should expect them to graze on algae and such. Your blenny is an Atlantic fanged blenny, a herbivore, not the same genus as the carnivorous venomous members of the genus Meiacanthus.

Many blennies are omnivorous, eating both greens and meats with equal gusto. And there are some that are entirely carnivores or feed on zooplankton (Meicanthids for example). An extreme blenniid carnivore is the wolf fish of the North Atlantic, often reaching lengths of 4' or more. They feed entirely on fish and mollusks and have the teeth to show it. A common meat eating blenny that often turns up in your LFS or on the net is the Molly Miller. They occasionally will nip at algae, but the vast majority of the time they are searching for meating foods, much like hawkfish behaviorally. Another carnivorous type of blenny are the tube blennies, like pike blennies and barnacle blennies (genus Acanthemblemaria), these guys to my knowledge don't eat algae. It's possible that they may take some zooplantonik algal matter though, but I'm not sure about that.

This is a huge family of fish with much diversity. Your fish is a cool fish and should be relatively peaceful. Most Atlantic species know to leave your fish alone because they will nip with those fangs of theirs if threatened. Pacific fish usually learn quickly. The exception would be large predatory fish that can swallow them whole, so best not to keep these guys with larger groupers and the like.

Enjoy it, it's a cool fish!

[edwing206]

ok thank you very much guys, i will get some food for him and feed once in a while or if i see he is getting skinny, because he is always picking at algae so i think there is a good amount to keep him well fed