Scooter Blenny

[smokinjoe2122]

So my LFS guy took my Xenia frags and asked what I wanted in return. I've wanted one more small little fish for my tank and always wanted a scooter blenny, so I now have one in my tank. I know they are supposed to be semi-difficult to take care of, but I asked him what he thought. He said they are almost like scavengers and eat anything he puts in the tank. I've been going to that store for almost 3 years, and he's never sold me anything I shouldn't have. He's actually stopped me from making bad choices in the past. What is the actual truth on these guys? Are they really that hard to feed like a mandarin or is he being honest?

I've seen him picking at things in the sand already, not really sure what he's eating. I fed the tank today with a few pellets and some frozen silversides chopped up.

Any info or experience would help.

Thanks!

 

[PSU4ME]

He is difficult to keep because he will pick through your tank/rocks sand for pods so you'll need a mature tanks with a good pod population to keep him healthy.

 

[dmatt88]

Yep. They eat live. Culture some pods.

.......thanks for listening.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

My tank is semi mature - It's only been setup for 4 months, but the LR, most of the sand, and water were from mature tanks (3+ years old). I introduced macro algae in the DT growing on the sides to help with pod population when I set it up.

I'm hoping he'll be able to find some pods and also start eating frozen.

 

[Built347]

My lfs has fed one mysis right in front of me.. it chased it and ate it... maybe a rare occasion.. idk

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Well I'll do trial and error for a week, if he doesn't start accepting things I put in there, I'll have to order some pods till I figure out how to culture them. Are they like hatching sea monkeys? haha jk

Also, what your guys' opinion about the best place to buy pods on the interwebs?

 

[von G]

there's a story (I tried to find it, but no luck) of a guy who bought a mandarin... his wife loved it so much that she insisted this guy buy pods to feed it.

...after only a few months, he'd spent hundreds in food for this little critter to keep him alive.
if your tank cannot produce enough pods to support the fish naturally..... buying pods will likely put you into deep water.

it will develop the appetite for pods beyond what the tank can produce and then when the balance drops.... you get dead fish and light wallet syndrome....

mandarins and scooters are pretty much the same.
most often starve to death. you can only tell if they expose their hollow belly that they are starving.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Well I have yet to see him eat any of the food I put in the tank, but maybe he does without me seeing it. I don't have any real pod eaters in the tank, and I know I have them. Hopefully he can do a mix of pods and frozen/pellets. The only real competition he has is a dottyback, and he's well fed.

 

[yankieman]

My scooter eats frozen food like a pig ,, I have had him now 7 months I added pods when I first got him and none since , as long as the frozen food falls close to his face he goes after it,,but he wont go outa his way to "go and get" it but if its close hes eats like a little pig , we love our scooter,,,

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Yeah it's a hard balance of trying to force him to eat vs over feeding the tank. I remember when I first got my YW Goby, he didn't eat for a month or so, and I really polluted my tank trying to get him to eat. Lesson semi-learned.

 

[ReefApprentice]

My mandrain eats frozen and flake like a fat little pig.

 

[Built347]

Wow.. mine eats the frozen Cyclops.. but I never imagined flake food..

= All lies.

 

[Janka]

I got my little scooter Blenny "scout" almost 2 months ago now. Since my tank was a merger of two tanks, I believed I had some sort of population. I still bought 2000 pods and now almost 2 months, Scout is eating frozen and what ever else he finds. I drop in the frozen and as it drifts by, he tries not to let anything to get by. I don't think ur gonna have trouble with ur scooter. Mix some pods with some frozen in a jar and put it in the tank next to ur Blenny's favorite spot to help the food change.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

yeah so far he gets excited when I drop some mysis in the tank, but I haven't seen him really go after it. He buried himself in the sand most of the first week I had him, but now he's been out and about a lot more, picking at the sand (Hopefully eating pods and left over food). To be on the safe side, I bought some cyclopeeze off the interwebs. I know all my other fish love them, but since my dog ate the container of them, I haven't had any in a while.