Blenny Problems

[pass1over]

Ok, so today marked the death of my 2nd lawnmower blenny(had them at seperate times, not together in same tank at same time).

Both times I found them, there was like a hole through the liverock that they tried to swim through and it lo0ks like they got stuck.

Has anyone else had or has heard of blenny's doing this?

Also, is getting stuck in a lo0p in the live rock severe enough to kill them?

[graphixx]

wow, that is weird, he may have panicked and that could of been the cause of it. I know my LMB is allways cruising through the rocks so it doesnt suprise me he got stuck, but their head is the biggest part of them

[pass1over]

The first one was like definately stuck. It to0k quite an effort to get him out. This one though, he wasnt as stuck as the first one, or so it seemed.
He was swimmin around fine last night, eatin off the glass.

Then I come home from work for lunch and saw him just layin there dead. And the crabs were having themselves lunch, LoL. I cant figure it out. He seemed to be doing real well. Wasnt afraid of people watching him or anything anymore and was eating all the algae he could.

Oh well, another one bites the dust.

[Reptoreef]

I'm willing to bet that you have an ape crab or other critter nabbing the blennies while asleep and dragging them to that area to eat in peace.

[graphixx]

yep, I agree with Jay, that happened to me with a mandarin!!! those gorilla crabs are sneaky, I have 3 of them in my tank for 6 months before I figured out they were there.

[Tom McKenna]

Ditto to all above almost a guarantee you have a hichhiker on live rock known as KINGKONG crab heheh

[pass1over]

An ape crab?
Can anyone provide a picture of one of these crustaceans?
I do have a few small crabs in the tank. How big would one of these have to be to be able to do that to my blenny?

The only crab that ive seen in there that I havent bought kinda lo0ks like an emerald crab but has like little hairs all over his body. But he's awful small. Also, he was the crab that was having lunch when I discovered the corpse.

Would this crab attack other things than just fish?

[Reptoreef]

The smaller crabs are probably just joining in on the buffet, but I'm sure the hitch hiker is a bit larger and not neccessarily an ape crab... could also be a mantis shrimp, etc. Ever hear a loud popping, snapping, or unexplained banging coming from your tank(usually while lights out)?

[Reptoreef]

BTW, Green serpent stars are notorious for becoming hunters of sleeping fish, too.

[pass1over]

Ive had mantis shrimp problems before, but havent bought any live rock in a long time, so I dont think theres any in there.
But with my tank in the living ro0m now and not the bedro0m, I dont notice their clicking at night like I used to.
I dont have any more starfish in the tank.
Is there anything I can do without knowing exactly whats doing this?

I found a pic of a gorilla crab and the little furry red one I have kinda lo0ks like that but not exactly. But now that you mention it. I havent seen the emerald crab in a long time either. I just dont know what to do anymore.

I guess I can just put out a trap and see what I get.