Scooter Blenny

[rebekwl]

So hubby comes home from the LFS the other day with a Scooter Blenny. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen, hopping around the tank all day eating pods, climbing up and down the rock eating pods, ALL DAY EATING PODS. I did some research on them (which obviously he DID NOT) and it seems that they are a member of the dragonette family and it is very hard to get them to eat prepared foods. I always watch him during feeding time and he completely ignores anything I put in there, just continues to hop along eating the pods. I am very worried that he will deplete the pod population and slowly starve. We have a small refugium set up in our sump with about 3-4" of LS, and maybe 5 lbs. of LR. We will be adding some more cured LR by this weekend. What are the chances that we can get a good enough pod population going to support this little guy? I'm also wondering if there are any tricks to getting them to eat prepared foods. My hubby and I really like him alot, and want to keep him, but I certainly don't want him to starve to death. I know most of you will probably say to take him back, but I am wondering if there is anything I can do to assure that he has a long life with a belly pumped full of food in our tank?

For those who don't know, I have a 55 gal with a 20 gal sump (fuge in center). My tank has only been up since early March.

Thanks so much for any advice!!

[Dentoid]

That's a tough one Rebekah. Perhaps you can suppliment your pod population by adding pods on a weekly bases. You can order them on-line or get them at your LFS. It could be expensive though. They are $20.00 for a small bottle at my LFS.

[DrHank]

I'm going to suggest what you don't want to hear. Take him back and trade for a lawnmower blenny. Actions are equally cute and they are a herbevore. You'll love the antics and not have to worry about the expense of pods.

[DaveK]

If you like the fish, and don't want to take it back without trying, I have been able to get scooter blennies to eat frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, and live blackworms. This also sometimes works with mandarins too.

If you can get yours to do the same, there may be no need to return the fish. However, not all scooter blennies take to these food sources. Sometimes a heavy eating fish can sort of teach the scooter blennie what is good to eat.

[mps9506]

Try some cyclopeeze in addition to the stuff mentioned above. They scooter blennies seem more apt to transition to prepared foods than mandarins in my experience, but they are stilll not an easy fish to get on prepared foods.

[rebekwl]

Thanks guys! I will try my hardest to get him on prepared foods. How long should I try before giving him up? I deffinitely want to try to keep him, but don't want to wait TOO long. I have some cyclopeez and tried to shoot some in his direction the other day, he completely ignored it!! Should I be able to get liuve black worms at most LFS? I will try my Mysis and purchase some blood worms as well. Are there any tricks I could use or should I just keep trying and hoping? I talk to my hubby last night and we agreed to give him up if he does not take to prepared foods. Wish us luck!! I'm hoping he catches on because he's my new favorite fish!! Thanks alot everyone, I really do appreciate it.

[goldenmean]

Hey Rebekah. I dont know if you saw this but it is on the same subject.
Check out this thread. mandarin fish
Especially post # 10 by Advanced Aquatics
Since you have a fuge you could try to raise pods in it. You may have to supplement the pod population periodically but then you could keep your scooter even if he does not take to other foods.

[aquaman3680]

I have had 3 different scooter blennies and every single one that I have had i have been able to get to eat prepared foods. The one I currently have is eating pellets! If you dont turn the pumps off during feeding time I would highly recommend it, especially with a scooter! I use a turkey baster and suck up some mysis and put it right in his general area and he eats a good 5-10 pieces of mysis per day! They are really cool creatures!

Matt

[rebekwl]

Thanks Goldenmean, that was a ton of help. I will try propegating pods in my refugium and will also TRY to set up a place for them in the main display. I'm not sure if I will be able to though, because most of my fish are pretty tiny. We will see. Thanks alot!

Thanks aquaman! I don't turn off pumps during feeding, but will try it out. I do have trouble getting food where I want it to go, because there is so much water movement in my tank. It's great to hear that you have been able to get all of yours to eat prepared foods!! Hopefully I will have success as well! They are REALLY cool aren't they? That's why I don't want to give him up without a fight! He's deff my new fav! Thanks alot!

[lcstorc]

They are adorable fish so I understand why you like him.
Unfortunately even when they eat prepared foods it is not enough nutrition for them. Establishing a good pod population is key to keeping these fish long term. If you are willing to buy the bottled pods periodically that is your best bet. Having a fuge certainly helps but with your size tank I would add them every month or so at least for a while until your tank is more established.

[BigAl07]

Sounds like an excellent plan of action to Me!! Worth a try!!

This is sort of off topic but sort of relevant too! I have always been afraid I would turn my pumps off for feeding and totally forget to turn them back on. Well I did it!! I turned off the pump to my Nano-Cube as I was feeding right before I left for work. Got in a rush and totally forgot to turn it on again. The ONLY thing that saved me is that I was only out of the office maybe 3 hours because I came back that night for my weekly water change. That totally freaked me out.

If you have one of the Neptune Electronic controllers it has an "All-Stop" function which will stop everything and gives you a visual alert during this off time. I don't have one of those (YET) so I had to make it Allen-proof otherwise... what I did was bought a dial timer (just like you use to contrl Christmas lights of a lamp while away). I bought the one with 24 different on/off positions. I set them to ALL ON and this way when I slide the manual dial off the most the pumps can be off is 59 minutes because it will click to the next setting which is ALWAYS ON!!

Give it some thought! I have this at home and here at work.

[rebekwl]

Thanks Lynn, he really is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! I was wondering about the prepared food thing, because I know you had said the same for manderins. I will deffinitely buy pods once a month for a while and breed them in my fuge. I have some chaeto in there, as well as 5 lbs of LR (more to come) and a 3-4" sand bed. I think they will be pretty comfy. The only thing I'm not sure about is, how do I get the pods from the fuge to the main display? Take out the chaeto and swish it around in the display once every few days? I am hoping to have success and will keep everyone posted on how he is doing. Hopefully he will have pleanty of pods, AND eat some prepared foods, then he will be nice and chunky!!

Thanks BigAl for the timer suggestion. That is a pretty scary thought!! I will deffinitely consider one of those timers for my pumps, because I am usually in a hurry while feeding my fish in the morning before work. I deffinitely don't want the pumps off all day!

[lcstorc]

Where does the water going through your fuge go? It usually goes either to the sump and then the water goes back through your normal pumps etc or you have the fuge water directly pumped into the display.
In my case it goes to the sump and back through the normal return pump etc. I do have the water entering the sump in the return section so it doesn't go through the skimmer but many people have success even with the water going through their skimmer. I just want as many pods as I can get since I have a tiny red scooter and a very fat mandarin.

[rebekwl]

My fuge is in the center chamber of my sump. So the water goes through the skimmer, then the fuge, then the return pump. Do they just flow right into the display on their own through the return pump?? That would make putting them in the display a piece of cake!!

[lcstorc]

That should work fine. A bit different from my setup but I don't see why it wouldn't work.