Scooter Blenny

[Clownfishman]

I have one of these.. and he seems to scoot around and eat stuff that I can't see.... I decided to try to give him so brine shrimp... it just went to the sand but maybe he will find it and take a liking to it...

Should I be able to see amphipods at night or copepods.... surely some come with cured live rock and multiply from there...

Anyone else have scooters..

Also from time to time mine displays his fins and such..

[JennM]

Pet peeve of mine--It's a Scooter Dragonet, not a blenny. They are often misnamed - just as Mandarin "gobies" are not gobies, but dragonets too.

Scooters (and Mandarins) typically only eat live food... those copepods and amphipods that you can see at night.

Keep an eye on him make sure he doesn't start getting thin. Not sure what size tank you have or how mature it is, but these fish seem to do best in 75 g tank or larger, with 100 lbs or so of LR, and no competition for food.

HTH

Jenn

[Clownfishman]

Are they big enough to see, do they swim around.... I have him in a 30 gallon, he is the only fish right now though with 30lbs of cured live rock..

[ShirleyM]

We had two in a 120-gal. They did fine for over a year, and then we lost both within a couple months of each other. Ours only ate live copepods and such. Yes, we could see the pods swimming and bouncing around, especially at night. I'm not sure a 30-gal can support them....jmho...

I also don't know why we lost ours, but I figured it was due to lack of adequate food...they ate all the time, day and night, it seemed. They were actually quite active in the daytime.

~ Shirley

[Clownfishman]

Yeah mine eats all the time during the day... at night he goes away and I can't see him..

[JennM]

Hmmm inappropriate fish for a 30, IMO.

Sorry...

Better to research BEFORE you buy... save a life and save your money.

Jenn

[Reefdude5]

Jenn, actually Oscellated Dragonets....

I have one in my 120, but since i just broke it down he's in the 45 holding tank with the other fish and corals. There's rock but no sand. He's starving to death, he won't eat frozen brine. Should i put him in the 120 with 100lbs of LR in the dark? Will there be pods in there? Is there enough in there without the LS? Help! DOn't mean to hijack though!

[JennM]

You mean Synchiropus ocellatus, if you want to be a stickler about it

As long as the water params are fit, yes I'd move him in with the lotsa rock. These fish rarely eat prepared foods. I've heard of a few Scooters taking mysis or brine, the former is more nutritious. They can still suffer from malnutrition on brine, especially if it's not enriched.

You could try getting some live brine, gut loading it with plankton or Selcon and he *might* take it. Don't bother with live brine unless you do plan to enrich it. But I'd still think that it would fare best with the more rock and therefore more food.

HTH

Jenn

[Reefdude5]

Maybe i do want to be a stickler!

Even if the rock isn't lighted and there is no sand bed? I won't be able to get out to get live brine for a week. If i put him in the big tank with the rock in the dark, i won't be able to get him out even if i obtaine live brine in a week. See the dilema?

[Scott11]

My scooter eats frozen brine. I bought him when I first started in a ten gallon, he is now in my 37. He is doing great.

[JennM]

Stick a lamp over the tank. I've never known pods to need light, they grow on the filter sponge in the sump in the dark.

Jenn

[Reefdude5]

But the whole idea of the rock in the dark is to be free of algae! Can he find them in the dark is the question and can he himself do with only a couple of minutes of light every day for three weeks?

[salt creepette]

"We had two in a 120-gal. They did fine for over a year, and then we lost both within a couple months of each other. Ours only ate live copepods and such. Yes, we could see the pods swimming and bouncing around, especially at night. I'm not sure a 30-gal can support them....jmho...

I also don't know why we lost ours, but I figured it was due to lack of adequate food...they ate all the time, day and night, it seemed. They were actually quite active in the daytime."

i can echo this exactly, except i had mine for six months, AND he ate frozen brine, formula one, flake, and other foods, and STILL starved to death in six months time. I just dont recommend keeping this fish unless you have a refugium and a very large tank and no competition for food. it was heartbreaking to lose mine. he was one of my favorites, he would bury himself in the sand at night, and was the most mildmannered fish. i miss him. RIP mr. scooterfish!!!!!!

[salt creepette]

mr. scooterfish the night before he passed on. sorry, crappy camera.

[JennM]

I've had Mandarins for a while. I bought one over a year ago to eat flatworms, which she did not. When I used the Flatworm eXit in May, I moved her to my reef system, and I got a male as a "surprise" in a shipment (I do not stock Mandarins, for reasons mentioned above), so I placed him with the female in my coral system. They are in one of my coral tanks and have been for about a year now - still lots of visible pods and the fish are fat. No other fish in the system, lots of rock. Fat and sassy.

Jenn